Sofiia Baran

The third pillar is profit. It’s an important part of the industry, because all the brands want to experience profit in their business to keep thriving in the industry. In our economy, fashion is demanded to grow continuously and it’s driven by the demand in apparel market. Profit helps businesses grow and keep making new products for the benefit for consumers.

The growth of the apparel market was very noticeable when events influence the change. Especially after the global Covid pandemic, it grew tremendously and was forecasted to increase more in the year 2023 (Smith, 2023). We can see the influence of this on one of fashion category that is accessories. The revenue of the market development in the year 2019 had increased from 6.73 billion dollars and to 8.88 billion dollars in 2021. It is forecasted to increase even more in the next 4 years.

There are sectors in the industry that are contributing to a brand’s success that are manufacturing, designing, distributing, marketing, advertising and retailing. They keep working on each sector to create new products and promote while having various employers for each sector. This contributes for a brand to be successful. But there is a lot of uncertainty and changes arising lately which makes the business consider what a brand should do to becompetitive in an unstable economy.

It won’t be easy to keep competing while being in a difficult and quickly changing situation. “They will need to develop risk mitigation strategies that can be implemented quickly as conflicts, fiscal policies, and government regulations evolve.” (McKinzey & Company, 2022). They have to think beyond the lines, while trying to bring something new. New collaborations could help with that. It can help explore a new style of the brand. But considering increasing customer demand for sustainability and inclusivity of sizes it could be challenging to accept and embrace the changes in the brand.

One of the examples of exploration between creativity and commerce is when a brand is collaborating with artists. The 2021 collaboration of Stella McCartney with Nara Yoshimoto has explored the new unisex rebellious side of the brand with a non-conforming style (Hughes , 2022). The artist underlines social problems through his works. Inspired by that was the reason behind the name of the collection “We are Punks”. It is a good exploration of a new style of a fashion brand that can be suited for a bigger amount of customers han before. This shows how the brand can combine art pieces which are made for admiration with the daily wear pieces that can shape our self expression.

Hughes, N. (2022). “Art-Fashion Collaborations.” Harper’s Bazaar. Available at: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/a41645278/art-fashion-collaborations/#r3z-addoor   [Accessed: 20 October 2022].

McKinsey & Company. (2022). “The State of Fashion 2023: Holding onto growth as global clouds gather.” Available at:  https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion#:~:text=State%20of%20Fashion%202022%3A%20An%20uneven%20recovery%20and%20new%20frontiers&text=Companies%20are%20adapting%20to%20new,pressure%20on%20the%20bottom%20line.  [Accessed: 20 October 2023].

Smith, P. (2023). “Global Apparel Market – Statistics & Facts.” Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/821415/value-of-the-global-apparel-market [Accessed: 20 October 2023].

https://www-statista-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/fashion/accessories/united-kingdom#revenue

https://www.stellamccartney.com/gb/en/unisex/yoshitomo-nara-x-stella-mccartney

Out of the four pillars of sustainability, the second one is People. And it may be the most impactful of all other three. People play a major role in the fashion world. They are the creators of clothes, accessories and fashion. Everything in fashion starts with people themselves. And fashion changes as the people change. Which brings us to our current generation. 

Gen Z are a progressing generation that grew up with complete access to technology. This could be what makes them comfortable with the new technology that is used for fashion right now like meta verse and AI. They care about sustainability and views of the brand and enjoy community and uniqueness in shopping. (Moran, 2022)

Generation Z are the group of people who would like the brand not just for its clothing but also for its values. And it is becoming more important these years. As McKinsey&Company (2023) point out, equality for all and sustainable practices are something that they expect from brands to start doing more. This means for brands to attract this generation they should first of all be inclusive of all sizes, genders and races, and also establish or change themselves into a sustainable business. 

As an example, Nike recently announced a campaign that promotes more physical activity in younger people while starring popular influencers. It is Called “How We Do”. They are focusing on the fact that doing sports can be helpful for anyone, and that people don’t have to look a certain way to be able to do sports well. (Tyus, 2023) 

This is a successful way to promote and encourage more people into purchasing their products, by making everyone feel like they do belong in the “Nike world”.

Because of the fast ongoing shift in the economy and technology in the world, people for the brand would need to be fast paced and determined to follow up fast changes while learning new data with efficiency (McKenzie, 2023, p. 6). They also would have to know how to lead people well, while working in a community and be able to inspire other people to give the brand a fresh and interesting feel.

This all would contribute to a fashion brand that would potentially do well in the future and be popular within our society. 

References:

Moran, G. (2022). “Gen Z and Millennials 2022.” Drapers. Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/gen-z-and-millennials-2022  [Accessed: 12 October 2023].

McKinsey & Company. (2023). “What is Gen Z?” McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/mckinsey%20explainers/what%20is%20gen%20z/what-is-gen-z.pdf [Accessed: 12 October 2023].

McKinsey & Company. (2023). The State of Fashion (p. 6). Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/state%20of%20fashion/2022/the-state-of-fashion-2022.pdf [Accessed: 12 October 2023].

Tyus, B. (2023). “Nike’s New Series Encourages Youth to Be More Active.” Brand&Culture. Available at: https://brandandculture.com/nikes-new-series-encourages-youth-to-be-more-active/ [Accessed: 12 October 2023].

In our fast paced and innovative world of fashion, there have been many positive developments. But they came with some of the biggest problems that we have to face to further improve the situation. Fashion industry is based on the key pillars that are Planet, People, Profit and Purpose. This blog I will be focusing on Planet and how we are affecting it with our fashion choices. 

Our planet is facing environmental challenges like pollution, global warming, mostly being caused from the disposal cycles and never ending fast production cycles. Because of this, the act of sustainability has become more important than ever. 

Circular economy

Circular economy is the approach of giving second life to already existing materials and use it into something new. This could be making clothes through eco friendly materials like organic cotton or hemp, that are reused and recycled to ensure that there is minimal waste. 

It advises designers to make better quality of garments and products that will have more longevity. But all of this is not an easy task to achieve., as noted by Gwilt (2014) “ To engage with this process, designers need to have a good in of the activities and phases of a garment’s life style.”

And because sustainability is such a difficult but important task, it aligns us to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, and particularly, goal 12.

Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production 

In our planet, the resources are not forever and the more we take, the worse it becomes. This goal states to produce responsibly and mindfully. Fashion designers hold a a big role in this field. They have to genuinely start moving towards becoming more sustainable whether through reselling, providing repair services and most of all – using safe materials that do not affect the environment.

Some brands are moving into that direction more, like Patagonia, Nike and Stella McCartney. (Gwilt 2014).But challenges still remain, as Mitterfellner (2023) states, some brands do not want to reveal real material details just not to lose customers, which makes sustainability still a long way to achieve fast and efficiently without greenwashing.

It is in our hands to start within ourselves, and little by little we can create fashion industry that will benefit the aesthetic and be mindful of the planet.

References

Gwilt, A. (2014). A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion (p. 15). London: Fairchild Books. Available at: https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781350067059&tocid=b-9781350067059-chapter1&pdfid=9781350067059.ch-001.pdf [Accessed: 06 October 2023].

Gwilt, A. (2014). A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion (p. 20). London: Fairchild Books.https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781350067059&tocid=b-9781350067059-chapter1&pdfid=9781350067059.ch-001.pdf [Accessed: 06 October 2023].

Mitterfellner, O. (2023). Luxury Fashion Brand Management: Unifying Fashion with Sustainability (p.187). Publisher: eBook Central. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/UAL/printPage-b.action?bookType=pdf&op=toPDF&ct=&chaptId=59&rds=chapter&docID=7260416&st=178&ed=239&fromDD=1&dt=1696540185843&downloadToken=1696540185843[Accessed: 06 October 2023].