PROFIT
Profit refers to the beneficial gain of a fashion brand; whilst some designers may measure profit in terms of artistic expression, traditionally and most widely the fashion landscape measures profit in terms of financial gain. In this contemporary fashion climate, however, perhaps profit should be redefined to align with the consumer behaviour of Gen Z; according to McKinsey and Company, the primary drive of the hypercognitive generation is the pursuit of the truth, meaning as consumers they value transparency and sustainable innovation. As businesses adapt to new consumer demands and amend how to deliver value to the customer, perhaps the way profit is measured should also be reconsidered, such as in terms of environmental gain being equally important as financial gain.
Fashion is one of the largest industries in the world, in fact, ‘if it were ranked alongside individual countries’ GDP the global fashion industry would represent the seventh-largest economy in the world’ (McKinsey and Company, 2016). However, fashion brands are challenged with navigating 2023– amid the highest inflation in a generation, escalating geopolitical tensions, climate crises and changes in consumer behaviour – the global economy is in a volatile state (McKinsey and Company, 2022). In these unpredictable economic times, a brand can remain competitive through exploiting the opportunities that also accompany the uncertainty of 2023; for example, if a brands target audience is Millenials and Gen Z, social media is essential to the marketing strategy. A 2011 Pew survey found that Millennials were more supportive of stricter environmental laws, likely to pay more for responsibly made products and roughly 80 percent want to work for companies that care about their impacts (Hethorn and Ulasewicz, 2015); this highlights if brands use social media as a tool to demonstrate transparency and sustainable innovation, they are more likely to appeal to modern consumer mindsets.
We tend to view fashion as commerce and art as creativity, but perhaps they are inextricably linked. In the 1960s, the fashion world and art world began interacting with each other; one of the earliest collaborations include the ‘Organza Dinner Dress with Painted Lobster’, by Salvador Dali and Elsa Schiaparelli and is considered to be one of the most iconic pieces of that era. There are also contemporary examples of this, such as in 2003 when Louis Vuttion and Takashi Murakami created a very popular accessory collection, conveying the ability for the integration between fashion and art to increase economic revenue. The inclusion of fashion in galleries and exhibitions since the Second World War has enabled fashion to be a cultural product in its own right, not just costumes. Thus, we have seen a shift in the definition of fashion, once a mass produced consumer item, now it is often thought of as an elegantly designed, luxury item – something that can be preserved and displayed, increasing the economic value of an item to a brand after it has been exhibited.
Ultimately, the conventional measure of ‘profit’ has shifted in the modern fashion landscape; consumers tend to value transparency and sustainability, and by extension brands must respond in concordance with this and reconsider profit as not just financial gain but also environmental benefit. The role of the designer has also changed, not only in terms of environmental accountability, but being able to innovatively exploit the tension between creativity and commerce in the fashion world.
Bibliography:
Francis, T. and Hoefel, F. (2018). ‘True Gen’: Generation Z and Its Implications for Companies. [online] McKinsey & Company.
Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies.
Mckinsey (2017). The State of Fashion 2017. [online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Retail/Our%20Insights/The%20state%20of%20fashion/The-state-of-fashion-2017-McK-BoF-report.pdf.
Hethorn, J., & Ulasewicz, C. (eds). (2015). Sustainable Fashion: What’s Next? A Conversation about Issues, Practices and Possibilities. New York: Bloomsbury
ogin.arts.idm.oclc.org. (n.d.). University of the Arts London WebLogin. [online] Available at: https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781501312250&tocid=b-9781501312250-chapter4&pdfid=9781501312250.ch-004.pdf.
Editors, A. (2019). Top 10 Most Iconic Art and Fashion Collaborations. [online] Artland Magazine. Available at:
https://magazine.artland.com/top-10-iconic-art-fashion-collaborations/#:~:text=The%20%E2%80%9COrganza%20Dinner%20Dress%20with [Accessed 22 Oct. 2023].
