Kehan Zhou

Purpose in the fashion industry means to achieve a goal through the long-term strategy of a plan, strategy exists to help people to determine the purpose of the direction and scope of the purpose. for example, asos    set out their goal of achieving a net-zero emissions commitment by 2030, realizing that the brand’s products and packaging are made of sustainable or recyclable materials, product chain transparency and industry inclusiveness. And these are its STRATEGY, his PURPOSE is to protect the environment and the fashion industry, to realize the goal of sustainability. “Delivers positive benefits for people and minimizes its impact on the planet.” “As the next step in our sustainability mission, we’ll be working towards four 2030 goals, under two pillars-planet and people.”（Asos official website）. For those strategies, they need a destination which is the purpose. The brand philosophy also very important to a brand and it is divided into three parts which are mission, vision and values. These three parts represent the brand for the present and future and brand operation, it represents a brand in addition to the product and the competitiveness of the brand. The most important thing for a brand to do is to position itself, for example, they need to take a clear stance on social and political issues because social media is the most important source of information for current millennial and generation z consumers, according to the survey “76% of respondents said they have purchased, or would consider purchasing, from a company to show support for the issues the company supports, and 67% had stopped purchasing, or would consider doing so, if a company stood for something that didn’t align with their values.” (Curry, 2020). So, brands need to make good use of social media to communicate their brand messages to consumers. Brand integrity is also important for brands “mission before taking a public stand, lest they be accused of hypocrisy. Next, the company must invest in the issue in a comprehensive manner, meaning going beyond making donations or running a one-time ad campaign.” (Curry, 2020). And it’s also about how a brand operates, not only do they need to take a unified stance internally and externally, but they also need to utilize social media to make a statement to the public such as posting regularly about the racial diversity of their workforce or gender equality, so that the new generation of consumers will be supportive of the brand, and so that the brand can accomplish its profit goals. The brand supply chain is also a part of value, which is define for “the complex collaboration of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, dealers, customers, and so on to ensure a seamless production and delivery of finished goods.”（Londrigan and Jenkins，2021）.Vision of brand also important cause It determines the future of ambition. For example, Stella McCartney is a brand where they say their vision is to “We are committed to doing our part in helping to create a better and more equal world, as envisioned in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

We believe that the future of fashion is circular – it will be restorative and regenerative by design and the clothes we love never end up as waste.” （Stella M ccartney Webiste）.And for most of fashion brands the final destination is sustaibility. Then the fashion brand mission exists for the reason that designers created it in the first place and a promise to the consumer. For instance，Zara “Zara is committed to satisfying the desires of our customers. We pledge to provide new designs made from quality materials that are affordable” (Adam, 2014) and Gucci: “Gucci is a world-renowned Italian fashion brand dedicated to the exploration of modern luxury, producing fashion-forward, eco-conscious designs.”(Gucci Website). So those are the brand pjilosophy.

And nowadays, Gen Z has become a target demographic for many businesses. So they want to communicate the purpose to them. “Digital campfires became a force defining not only how Gen Z audiences connect, but also how they experience and shape the culture at large. For this reason, marketers can no longer afford to ignore them.” (Wilson, 2021) For the digital age, BUSINESS needs to take advantage of everything there is about DIGITAL. Not only use the digital things but also create some interesting brand story to attract them “personalized “for you” feeds on their phones, filled with photos videos and memes” “Cross boundaries to stand out” (Bails,2023) become different also a chance to attract them. And “this generation expects the brands they love to stand for something.’ (Fromm, 2019). Those are useful ways to attract them.

Reference List

• Asos announces ambitious new 2030 ESG goals (no date) ASOS plc. Available at: https://www.asosplc.com/news/asos-announces-ambitious-new-2030-esg-goals/ (Accessed: 25 October 2023). 
• Curry, L. (2020) How brands can follow through on the values they’re selling, Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2020/08/how-brands-can-follow-through-on-the-values-theyre-selling (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 
• Londrigan,M and Jenkins,J (2021) Fashion Supply Chain Management. Available at:https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia?docid=b-9781501317798 (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 
• Our vision (no date) Social Sustainability | Stella McCartney US. Available at: https://www.stellamccartney.com/us/en/sustainability/social-sustainability.html (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 
• Adam, P. (2014) The Strategic Management Analysis of Zara (relative to the case in developing countries), Academia.edu. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/5492552/The_Strategic_Management_Analysis_of_ZARA_Relative_to_the_Case_in_Developing_Countries_ (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 
• About Gucci: Gucci® (no date) About Gucci | GUCCI®. Available at: https://www.gucci.com/us/en/st/about-gucci (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 
• Wilson, S. (2021) Where brands are reaching gen Z, Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2021/03/where-brands-are-reaching-gen-z (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 
• Fromm, J. (2019) Gen-z and the three elements of Purpose Brands, Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2019/07/26/gen-z-and-the-three-elements-of-purpose-brands/ (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 
• Bails, J, (2023) How the Best Brand-Influencer Partnerships Reach Gen Z. Available at: https://hbr.org/2023/06/how-the-best-brand-influencer-partnerships-reach-gen-z?ab=at_art_art_1x4_s02 (Accessed: 26 October 2023). 

Reference List For Images

• Systrom,K. (2010). Instagram [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram (Accessed 26 Oct. 2023)

Profit is an important part of marketing. The definition of profit is “Profit describes the financial benefit realised when revenue generated from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs, and taxes involved in sustaining the activity in question.” （Kenton）. So profit is the most basic and important goal for the fashion industry and the fashion industry is massive. Because “Fashion is one of the world’s most important industries, driving a significant part of the global economy. It is one of the key value-creating industries for the world economy. If it were ranked alongside individual countries’ GDP the global fashion industry would represent the seventh-largest economy in the world.’’ (McKinsey ,2016) Therefore Fashion industry is one of the biggest industries in the world. There are some detailed information about the fashion industry. Prior to covid-19“he fashion industry global revenue was estimated between $1.7 trillion and $2.5 trillion” (McKinsey ,2016). The economic impact on all sectors during the epidemic was significant, but in the aftermath of the epidemic, the world saw a retaliatory spending “The world’s apparel retail market is expected to enjoy a 7.5% growth in 2021-2022 to $1.84 billion dollars in 2022 and a 6.1% growth in 2022-2023 to $1.95 billion dollars in 2023.” (McKinsey ,2016). So the size of fashion industry is really big. But for a industry, it is also divided into many sectors like Production of textiles, Fashion design and manufacturing, Fashion retailing, Fashion marketing, Fashion merchandising, Fashion shows. The meaning of sector is “A sector is an area of the economy in which businesses share the same or related business activity, product, or service. Sectors represent a large grouping of companies with similar business activities, such as the extraction of natural resources and agriculture.” (Kenton, 2022). Those sectors of fashion industry like a process of making clothes. First production of textiles, many brand trend to be eco-friendly brand” Natural fibers that include wool, cotton, silk and linen are greatly used in the fashion industry.” (Mazharul, 2022). Second fashion design and manufacturing, all brands are for consumers that means most of designers they do not decide the popular style “they prefer to endeavor to design clothes that will meet consumer demand” (Mazharul, 2022). Third, for the fashion retailing, they must realize the customer preferences and living style cause retailer is an important bridge between consumers and manufacture. Fourth fashion marketing, “Marketers use sales tracking data, attention to media coverage, focus groups, and other means of ascertaining consumer preferences to provide feedback to designers and manufacturers about the type and quantity of goods to be produced” (Mazharul, 2022). The purpose of those people is maximizing profits. Fifth, fashion merchandising. There is a strong relationship between fashion marketing and fashion merchandising, fashion merchandising staff need data from marketing staff to base decisions on because they” Merchandising aims to maximize sales and profitability by making consumers to buy a company’s products. As per the definition of the term, merchandising involves selling the right product, at the right price, at the right time and place, to the right customers.” (Mazharul, 2022). It also includes tore windows, in-store displays, and special promotional events to attract customers. Sixth fashion shows which is a channel to recommend your clothes to consumers without any distributors.“In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, fashion shows became more elaborate and theatrical, were held in larger venues with specially constructed elevated runways for the models, and played an increasingly prominent role in the presentation of new fashions. (Mazharul, 2022)

Many companies have explored ways to keep their brands competitive in the marketplace during times of economic uncertainty like the epidemic and war. Then all they can do is make the brand stand out in this marketplace like no other. With the evolution of digitalization brands must use it to effectively engage consumers and now that consumers are environmentally conscious they can make it clear to the public that they are a sustainable brand, these are the key points to stand out and it’s also about reassuring your target audience that they’re not affected by these external factors, so that you can make sure that your fans still support the brand and retain your base.

Creative directors exist to reduce the gap between creativity and business, so that designers understand the market better and the market understands designers better. So creative director is more like a company with only designers, he needs to think about brand development, brand design and brand philosophy，to minimize the gap between design and business, the creative director needs to understand the designer’s ideas and design concepts at the time of the product launch and make it a better bed for the marketing and merchandising people to better understand the brand so that they can better promote the brand. Therefore，the profession is like a bridge.

Bibliography

• Kenton, W. (no date) Profit definition plus gross, operating, and net profit explained, Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/profit.asp (Accessed: 22 October 2023). 
• McKinsey (2016) The state of Fashion, Mckinsey State of Fashion. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/the%20state%20of%20fashion%202017/the-state-of-fashion-mck-bof-2017-report.pdf (Accessed: 22 October 2023). 
• Kenton, W. (2022) What is an economic sector and how do the 4 main types work?, Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sector.asp (Accessed: 22 October 2023). 
• Mazharul,K.(2022) Key sectors of Fashion Industry Available at https://textilelearner.net/key-sectors-of-fashion-industry/  (Accessed: 22 October 2023). 
•  Decor, E. (2019 ) II riassunto della Fashion week (Accessed: 22 October 2023)
• https://www.hermes.com/uk/en/ (Accessed: 22 October 2023)

“People”This word represents a species that lives on Earth, but they have a higher IQ compared to other species because they know how to utilize all the resources on Earth. And they are divided into many generations, for Generation Z this generation has turned into a consumer group that every business wants to attract, because they are the people with the most spending power in this current age.Gen Z is defined as“ Generation Z comprises people born between 1996 and 2010” (2023) . So ” This generation’s identity has been shaped by the digital age” (2023).” They’re called “digital natives”—the first generation to grow up with the internet as a part of daily life” (2023). Which means that they are very skilled in the use of the Internet, and often use social media like Instagram in their lives, so the Internet can be the fastest and easiest way for them to get information about products “Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram heavily influence Gen Z fashion choices, with 58% actively following fashion influencers for style inspiration.“(Nguyetkieuthu, 2023) . And for Generation Z, they like to express their attitudes and personalities through their clothes. For example, “This generation has a penchant for vintage-inspired looks, such as high-waisted jeans, oversized blazers, tie-dye prints, and chunky sneakers, Gen Z is highly conscious of the environmental impact of the fashion industry and actively seeks sustainable alternatives and gender-neutral fashion style” (Nguyetkieuthu, 2023) these are the factors that Generation Z will consider when buying clothing. And there is a more detailed information to justify those points.Like “According to recent studies, 73% of Gen Z consumers prefer to purchase from sustainable brands that align with their values.” (Nguyetkieuthu, 2023). So for a brand they need to make good use of social media, posting photos on social media can make Gen Z consumers feel that this brand style can express their own attitude as well as their life ideas. In addition to social media, the brand’s website is also an important channel to be seen by consumers, the website can add some vintage elements to be close to the consumer’s preferences, and the brand should also be sustainable and publicize the protection of the environment, and the clothing should be stated that it is genderless.Those ways are very useful to attract consumers from Generation Z. Moreover，there should be a connection between fashion brands and diversity. For example, if the fashion industry wants to be diverse, then people in the fashion industry can be of different skin colors because companies in the fashion industry need to give jobs to people other than white people. “ When you have five white people, one Black person and then one LGBTQ+ person in a room you’re then expecting this one Black person and one LGBTQ+ person to support and navigate the entire diversity of this brand.” (Ishmael,2022) and “More inclusive hiring practices would be implemented. Black visibility would be represented in marketing and advertising campaigns. At what rate, no one was sure. Six months to a year, companies boasted more diverse campaigns, hosted panels with people of color and made their internal evaluations a top priority. But as the fashion weeks return, mask mandates yo-yo, and companies push forward, the question remains: Has anything actually changed?” (Ishmael,2022). Like the article says they are starting to advocate for diversity to be honored because then they can be supported by people other than the white race and the brand will see a big increase in sales, but they are not living up to that promise. So if they want to fulfill brand diversity they have to treat every race equally.

For a person, if who want to be successful, they must have some key skills like interpersonal skills, good time management and leadership. First the interpersonal skills, if a person want to have good achivement that they need to communicate with many people, this includes clients, models, agents and photographers. Second they need to plan their time wisely and work with maximum efficiency. Third They need excellent leadership skills to lead the team to optimize the organization of their work, to save the day in times of crisis and to keep a positive attitude.

Bibliography

• What is gen Z? (2023) McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z (Accessed: 15 October 2023).
• Nguyetkieuthu (2023) Gen Z fashion trends 2023 unveiling the future of style, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@nguyetkieuthu/gen-z-fashion-trends-2023-unveiling-the-future-of-style-f8b58c66e64d (Accessed: 15 October 2023).
• Ishmael, A. (2022) Are we making progress in fashion? experts weigh in, Teen Vogue. Available at: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/future-fashion-industry (Accessed: 15 October 2023).
• Picture Racial equity vs. Equality – Definitions & Differences (2023) United Way NCA. Available at: https://unitedwaynca.org/blog/racial-equity-vs-equality/ (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

First of all, pillar include the planet, people, profit and purpose. For the planet, many business leaders recognise their negative impact on the environment and want to adopt sustainability strategies such as using compliant materials and streamlining transportation processes to address issues such as climate change, poverty, and inequality in order to achieve business success. Planet is one of the most important directions for achieving sustainability. Second, circular economy is divided into two parts which are technical and biological. Circular economy exists because it is hoped that the resource will be used for a longer period of time and that maximizing the use of the resource will lead to better solutions to the existing problems of the planet. Third,

sustainability has a big relationship with fashion like many fashion brands put sustainability first (Vivienne Westwood, Guerlain, Miu Miu etc.) and consumers now attach great importance to the sustainability of brands, brands are also adopting new technologies to sustainability to reduce the environmental pollution caused by the fashion industry. On the Prada group website. It shows “Upcycled by Miu Miu is a special collection of vintage dresses reworked and transformed by Miu Miu, carefully sourced from vintage clothing stores and markets worldwide. “But they did it for a reason. “following the petroleum industry, the fashion industry is the second largest cause of pollution worldwide” (G. & B, 2019) and”  Impacts from the fashion industry include over 92 million tonnes of waste produced per year and 79 trillion litres of water consumed” (Niinimäki et al., 2020). Fourth, nowadays we have 17 SDGS, they are sustainable development goals and the one of goals which life below water has a lot to do with and influences the fashion industry.They cited ways to address the problem, such as reducing marine pollution and ocean acidification, to which the fashion industry has contributed.According to the research”It can be composed of the wastes and particles of abandoned waste textile products, synthetic garments and their fragments produce plastic particle”(Kumartasli & Avinc, 1970). And textiles not only produce plastic particles in production, but even our daily laundry can cause plastic particles to detach from the clothes due to friction. “Microfibers and microfibrils, which may be generated during ordinary home laundry cycles due to the agitation and beating nature of the washing process and end up in sewage, are also a subcategory of microplastics. Ingestion of microplastic and microparticle marine litter can cause many health problems”(Kumartasli & Avinc, 1970)，This suggests that plastics not only affect the environment in which marine life lives but also the health of the marine life itself. And “ It is stated that approximately 90% of the marine litter is composed of plastic material wastes and 5–13 million tonnes of plastic waste litter are released to the marine-related environment per year.” (Kumartasli & Avinc, 1970). And while plastics currently make up a large portion of the ocean, they take a long time to degrade. “egradation of these plastic waste litters in the marine environment needs centuries”(Kumartasli & Avinc, 1970). So plastic particles are growing at an alarming rate every year, but it takes a long time for them to degrade naturally, which means that the marine environment is getting worse and worse, and the underwater creatures will have health problems due to the change in the marine environment and the accidental ingestion of plastics, so we need to protect the marine environment by buying fewer clothes and washing fewer clothes!

Bibliography

• Upcycled by Miu Miu (no date) PradaGroup. Available at:https://www.pradagroup.com/en/sustainability/environment-csr/upcycled-by-miu-miu.html (Accessed: 07 October 2023).
• G. , A. and B. , M. (2019) Sustainable fashion themes in luxury brand storytelling: The …Arch G. Woodside. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20932685.2019.1573699 (Accessed: 07 October 2023).
• Niinimäki, K. et al. (2020) The environmental price of Fast Fashion, Nature News. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0039-9 (Accessed: 07 October 2023).
• Kumartasli, S. and Avinc, O. (1970) Recycling of marine litter and Ocean Plastics: A vital sustainable solution for increasing ecology and health problem, SpringerLink. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-38013-7_6 (Accessed: 08 October 2023).