Profit
Profit is one of the most important pillars within the fashion industry, the amount of profit maintained by a business determines the economic success which enables them to stay afloat within a fast paced, oversaturated industry. According to statista, as of 2022 the global apparel market revenue was calculated as $1.53 trillion in 2023 is estimated to increase to over $1.7 trillion which demonstrates the overwhelming size of the industry that’s continuously expanding. Profit is a main goal for fashion entrepreneurs and this influences a brands decision towards people, planet and purpose. In 2023, the current ‘hottest’ brands include Prada, Miu Miu and Moncler who have all used celebrities, collaborations and fashion events relevant to todays generation to promote their brands and lead them to the top. (Lyst, 2023)
Fashion brands must stand out to make a stable profit within this competitive climate meaning its vital they consistently create uniqueness through innovative creative decisions which can be done by combining art and commerce, a great example of this is Louis Vuitton who have successfully collaborated with numerous artists including Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama. These collaborations were so successful as they combined Louis Vuittons recognisable print and luxury with contemporary art designes which intrigued both fashion and art consumers. Focusing on the Yayoi Kusama collaboration Delphine Arnault, Louis Vuitton’s executive vice president stated “it’s going to be in our advertising so it exposes their art to people who would not necessarily have been to a museum” (MADE IN BED, 2023) and the unique marketing certainly gained traction from the general public as surreal trademark street marketing was spread all over social media. This demonstrates the importance of a creative director in generating profit as collections must capture consumers to generate revenue to be deemed successful by CEOs and shareholders, if the figures aren’t impressive the creative director will simply be switched out (Mitterfellner, 2023)
Being able to make profit in uncertain times is of the upmost importance in the survival of a brand, covid-19 severely impacted the fashion industry as the average market capitalization of apparel, fashion and luxury players dropped by almost 40 percent (Mckinsey, 2023). The uncertainty meant job loss and profit declines for many brands as they had to retract any business plans made, however e commerce contributes thrived in this environment as people turned towards digital shopping such as ASOS. To survive a time where fashion moved online, brands had to take advantage of this time to refurbish and innovate to make substanstial amounts of profit.
Bibliography:
Amed, I et al Balchandani, A et al Berg, A et al Hedrich, S et al Ekeløf Jensen, J et al Rölkens, F. (2023) The State of Fashion 2023: Holding onto growth as global clouds gather [online]
Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion [accessed 21/10/2023]
Baran, M. (2023) Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama: A Fresh Take or Careless Mistake? [online]
Available at: https://www.madeinbed.co.uk/the-luxury-edit-1/ka2vu02bf7nrbkvh17ilnvgdzv7z6p [accessed 21/10/2023]
Lyst. (2023) Fashion’s Hottest Brands and Products Q1 [online]
Available at: https://www.lyst.com/data/the-lyst-index/q123/ [accessed 21/10/2023]
Mitterfellner, O. (2019) Fashion Marketing and Communication: Theory and Practice Across the Fashion Industry, Taylor & Francis Group, Milton. [online]
Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=7260416 [accessed 21/10/2023]
Schwab, P-N. (2023) Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton: the best of street marketing [online]
Available at: https://www.intotheminds.com/blog/en/yayoi-kusama-louis-vuitton-best-street-marketing/ [accessed 21/10/2023]
Statista. (2023) Revenue of the apparel market worldwide from 2014 to 2027 [online]
Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/821415/value-of-the-global-apparel-market [accessed 21/10/2023]