Eleanor Rowe

Profit

Although glamorised, the fashion industry at its core is still powered by profit. An industry with a glitzy exterior, just like everything else the industry is powered by profit, profit will always win out, it’s a necessity, however sustainable a brand is trying to be if they are unable to turn a profit their business is unable to do any good. 

The fashion industry has huge economic power, in 2022 it was reported that the revenue of the global apparel market was $1.53 (Smith, 2023). In the UK alone the estimated revenue is £58.5 billion (Smith, 2023). Although these are still high levels of revenue, the fashion industry has taken a large hit, first from Covid-19, and then due to the recession that followed the industry did take a hit and only in 2023 is it expected to reach pre-COVID levels. With the growth of social media, and TikTok in particular, there has been a surge in new short trend cycles. Coach saw this, in 2021, with their rebrand, and the introduction of the TABBY bag coach saw a huge growth in sales but as trends changed Coach has since seen their brand value fall by 31% (Adegeest, 2021). Instead, there has been a growth in ‘quite luxury’ brands such as Longchamp and their Le Pliage as well as Goyard and their Mini Anjou tote, with the La Pliage reaching number 9 on the Lyst index for Q2 of 2023 and Goyard who was an increase of 95% in Q2 (2023, Lyst). 

For creative directors, they often have to sacrifice their integrity as a designer inorder for the business to be profitable, most brands don’t make their money through the glitzy collections, there fashions shows are for a select group so instead they have to resort to other methods, perfumes and beauty products are for many brands their main source of income and growing and maintaining these streams allows the creative director and the designers to create the collections they want to, these streams are vital for the business to succeed. These tactics seem to be working as the luxury market is expected to grow by 5% to 10% in 2023 (McKinsey, 2022). As well as using other revenue streams brands are trying out different marketing tactics to try and convince the younger audience to part with their cash, using influencers and young celebrities to try and convince Gen-Z to spend and partnering with brands such tiktok and youtube to show their fashion shows. 

Adegeest, Don-Alvin (2021) Nike is world’s top valuable apparel brand (Article) https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/nike-is-world-s-top-valuable-apparel-brand/2021040839336 (Accessed 22/10/2023) 

Lyst Index (2023) – The Lyst Index, Fashion’s Hottest Brands and Products Q2 2023 (Report) https://www.lyst.com/data/the-lyst-index/q223/ (Accessed 20/10/2023)

McKinsey & Company (2022) – The State of Fashion 2023: Holding onto growth as global clouds gather (Report) https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion (Accessed 21/10/2023)

Smith, P (2023) Revenue of the Apparel Market Worldwide from 2014 to 2027 (Report) https://www.statista.com/forecasts/821415/value-of-the-global-apparel-market (Accessed 20/10/2023 )

Smith, P (2023) Apparel Market in the United Kingdom (Report) https://www.statista.com/topics/3348/apparel-market-in-the-uk/#topicOverview (Accessed 20/10/2023)

People

People are the lifeline of the fashion industry, they are everything, from start to finish, even with the growth of AI, the fashion industry still revolves around people and communities. Gen Z is the penultimate generation, a generation that has grown up on the internet, Digital Nomads (Mckinsey, 2023) are at the forefront of this as consumers. 

Gen Z is an increasingly integral part of the fashion economy, with a reported $360 billion in disposable income(Pollard, 2021). Gen Z is the one moving forward and spearheading the global economy. Very few have any real financial responsibilities, they are free to spend on what they want when they want and as a result, they, as a generation, are proving vital to supporting the global economy. Although Gen Z has a large disposable income, getting them to part with their money is an increasingly challenging task, with almost 10% more of Gen Z’s consumers being concerned by brand names than their prior generation millennials (Drapers, 2022). Gen Z is an image-conscious generation, digital nomads that have not known the world without social media. 

As well as being digital nomads, Gen Z are also shopping more sustainable than ever, or at least trying to, with 58.2% of Gen Z shoppers reporting that being environmentally or ethically sustainable is either fairly or very important to them (Drapers,2022) this growing trend amongst Gen Z to be environmental shoppers is making brands work harder to get the generation to part with their cash. As well as being environmental shoppers Gen Z are highly motivated by brands and their social ethics, ‘cancelling’ brands when they feel they have acted unexpectedly. Their power as consumers means that brands have to diversify, it’s no longer acceptable for brands to only carry sizes XS-XL, their global media, means that brands can be called out. Gen Z can be a fickle consumer often turning them back on brands they had previously celebrated, two weeks ago Matilda Djerf, Djerf Avenue, was the latest brand to be attacked by Gen Z, shoppers disapproving of their standpoint as a supposedly ethical company when the brand where outed for not paying their garment workers in Portagul a fair wage. Their support can be short-lived and as a result, brands are having to become much more transparent to win over this new generation. They need to be willing to engage with their consumers, asking them what they want, for a generation spoilt for choice needs to clear incentives from brands to get them to part with their cash. 

Drapers (2022) – Gen Z and Millenials, (Report)  https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/gen-z-and-millennials-2022 (Accessed 14/10/2023)

McKinsey & Company (2023) – What is Gen Z? (Report)  https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z (Accessed 14/10/2023) 

Pollard, Amelia (2021) – Gen Z Has $360 Billion to Spend, Trick is Getting Them to Buy  (Online) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-17/gen-z-has-360-billion-to-spend-trick-is-getting-them-to-buy?leadSource=uverify%20wall (Accessed 14/10/2023) 

Planet

The fashion industry has been a place for change for generations, a place for political statements. It’s designed on 4 pillars, Planet, People, Profit and Purpose and has been at the forefront of change and innovation, but there is one element Planet, where they have been falling behind for years. Their environmental impact has been growing at rapid rates, from the classic two collections a year to the now expected fifty, growing consumer demands as well as normalisation of overconsumption, “53 % of 1,000 people living in Hong Kong revealed that they owned clothes that were still tagged” (Castro, 2021) spearheaded by the fast fashion movement. The fashion industry has created an unethical and unsustainable environment.   

The trend for overproduction, with 30% of clothes produced never being sold (Rauthurier, 2022), its meant that it has fallen to brands to commit to their own corporate social responsibility. Brands like Good Squish and Patrick McDower are working on a made-to-order platform. The aim is to try and limit waste in both raw materials and and then overproduction. Brands are taking it upon themselves to run their business with a circular economy at the forefront, the advancements in both information and solutions are making it more accessible than ever before for brands to try and combat their unsustainable practices. A circular economy is designed to try and tackle the idea of overconsumption of finite resources by redesigning, moving over to life cycle thinking (Gwilt, 2020), creating a product that can have multiple lives, that was created to be repaired or recycled rather than the use once and discard mentality that society had turned too. 

Another way that brands are trying to be sustainable is by committing to the UN’s sustainable development goals, these are a universal call to action to try and slow the destruction of development before we reach the point of no return. There are 17 of these SDGs all of which play a part in the wider issues of sustainability but goal 6, clean water and sanitation is one that has major importance on the fashion industry, their water consumption has grown exponentially. It takes Levi’s 3,800L of water to make a pair of their iconic 501 jeans, so Levi’s has created their Water<Less process to reduce the amount of water needed in the finishing process by 96% (Levi’s, 2019). The fashion industry is an unethical industry at its core, it thrives on overconsumption and the growing demand for more so it has fallen to the brands willing to make a difference, and the consumers who want to make changes to educate and think more circularly about where they are shopping and what they are spending their money on. 

Castro, Orsola de. (2021) – Loved clothes last: how the joy of rewearing and repairing your clothes can be a revolutionary act (Book)(Accessed 07/10/2023)

Gwilt, Alison (2020) – A practical guide to sustainable fashion, Chapter 2 The Life Cycle of a Garment (Ebook) https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781350067059&tocid=b-9781350067059-chapter2&pdfid=9781350067059.ch-002.pdf (Accessed 07/10/2023)

Rauturier, Solene (2022)  – Everything you need to know about waste in the fashion industry (Online) https://goodonyou.eco/waste-luxury-fashion/ (Accessed 07/10/2023) 

Unzipped Staff, Levi’s (2019) – How is Levi’s saving water? (Online) https://www.levistrauss.com/2019/03/25/world-water-day-2019-saving-h2o/#:~:text=Our%20Water%3CLess%E2%84%A2%20process,of%20a%20pair%20of%20 jeans. (Accessed 07/10/2023)

Maison Cléo

Maison Cléo is a French slow fashion business. The brand is run by a mother and daughter and took off through the popularity of one of the founder’s Instagrams, Maria was posting clothes made for her by her mother, and then the brand was launched through her own social media through the demand of her followers. However, one thing that Maison Cléo does is publicise their transparency, they mainly use deadstock materials and as a result are only able to produce limited numbers of their garments, creating both a more ethical and a more exclusive brand image. 

As well as their environmentally friendly standpoint, Maison Cléo interprets a traditional French style in a modernised way, puffy shoulders and exaggerated collars are paired with sheer lace, a French icon, as well as traditional shapes styles with suggestive bows, their modern interpretation of such classic style has amassed them a cult following online.

Their motto “F*** Fast Fashion” encapsulates the growing change and awareness of the fashion industry and the importance of being ethical to win over customers in 2023. Maison Cléo financial transparency, they share their production costs online with customers giving the power to the consumer to make an informed decision on who to spend their money on is another one of their attempts at transparency. They are one of my favourite bands due to their unique approach to sustainability for a business their size, They now keep a small stock level on net-a-porter, and they are willing to sacrifice fast growth to protect their image and integrity. Their designs and their business model are why they have been able to amass a cult following including myself.