Urvi Ashar

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PURPOSE

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The 4th and final pillar is purpose. With purpose being such a subjective ideology, many people might have different views on their purpose. Individuals have their own purpose which could include goals, ideas and more, however just like a human the fashion industry also has its own purposes. Which include, Mission, vision, and values. These three ideologies equate to a brand philosophy. 

A brand philosophy refers to the brands way of “doing things” and the belief in that method (Brand Master academy, 2023)  within the brands philosophy as mentioned above, it includes three areas, mission, vision and values. Each area being different in its own ways. The first one Mission is asking the questions, where are we now? And why do we exist? Both questions are analyising the brands existence and future pathways. The mission tries to make the brand examine its purpose. Next is the vision, the vision of a brand questions where the brand wants to be and their future ambitions. Which helps a brand align with their values to try to achieve their goals. Lastly, Values. Values are again subjective, and just like they are subjective to humans, they are alos subjective to fashion brands. Each brand might have their own value, for example, H&M’s brand value is that they are open honest and humble (H&M culture and workplace, 2023). Which makes them approachable to their costumers as a lot of consumers want to shop at brands who have these values. 

Gen Z is a generation with a lot of opinions and it has been know to be a generation who is blunt about what is right and wrong. A lot of brands have faced backlash over their brand values and not sticking to them such as H&M, as mentioned above their brand values are being open honest and humble. However, they are not honest about how their clothes and products are manufactured, as they are a brand that uses fast fashion values to produce their items. Therefore, when communication to a generation such as Gen Z, a brand must be honest about their, mission, vision and values, and most importantly they should stick to what they are portraying their brand as.

H&M, 2023  https://career.hm.com/culture-and-benefits/#:~:text=We%20are%20open%2C%20honest%20and,let%20the%20best%20idea%20win.  

Brand master academy, 2023 https://brandmasteracademy.com/

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PROFIT

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The definition of profit is the percentage of total sales revenue that a business can consider a profit earned. Profit is the drive that keeps any business going, especially within the fashion industry where profit is earned by selling the product. 

The size of the fashion industry has evolved over the years, with it’s value increasing and decreasing. According to, mckinsey, the fashion industry delivered a 21% increase in revenues in the years of 2020-21. However, within the different sectors the size of those sectors can differ. For example there can be a difference between luxury fashion brands and fast fashion brands, the luxury sector has grown and will grow over the next few years much more than the fast fashion sector. As we are discussing the various sectors within the fashion industry, they are each showing different levels of performance, some performing better than others. The various sectors within the industry range from shoes to accessories. Therefore, each performing at a different level for example, in 2018, 53% of the total revenue was generated by the womenswear sector ( fashion united, 2018). With all the external factors various sectors within the industries and their performance can be affected, these external factors could include, consumer shifts, the global economy and more (Mckinensy). 

There is no specific period of uncertain economic times, with all the external shocks the world has experienced, consumers are used to an elongated period of uncertainty. Therefore, when a brand is trying to remain competitive, the most important strategy they could use to survive would be to listen to their consumers because at the end of the day, consumers are the backbone of a brand. With all the trends going around on social media, brands should try to keep up with them and create products consumers will keep buying. Which will therefore keep the brand competitive, because even in the most uncertain economic times, consumers will continue to purchase items as the basic economic problem shows us that everyone has unlimited wants and needs. 

Creative directors are the backbone of every major company, as they bridge the gap between creativity and commerce, not only do they have artistic skills that make the products what they are, but they also have the mindset of a business owner as they need to understand their consumers and what product will sell and bring in the most profit for their company. The creative director, who requests alterations, different lengths, cuts, drapes and fabrics or cancels them altogether if disenchanted, There is a wasteful element to the design and production of sample pieces: a certain percentage of garments will be cancelled and not make it to production.The decision to be economical should not be a fnancial decision only but consider the waste which is generated during production. According to Mitterfellner, the creative director is involved in every step of the process, from the design to the economic decisions behind that design.

Bibliography:

Mitterfellner, Olga. Luxury Fashion Brand Management : Unifying Fashion with Sustainability, Taylor & Francis Group, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=7260416.

Created from ual on 2023-10-22 09:25:38.

Mitterfellner, Olga. Luxury Fashion Brand Management : Unifying Fashion with Sustainability, Taylor & Francis Group, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=7260416.

Created from ual on 2023-10-21 19:30:50.

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion

https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics

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People

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Consumers are a significant pillar within the fashion industry, with being one of the most important out of the four. Consumers are the people who invest their time and money towards the brand making it crucial for brands to draw in consumers to survive. A brand that knows how to market it’s products well attracts more consumers.

Gen Z, are currently the most important generation within the market, as they are the upcoming target market for brands. Being born after 1995, members of Gen Z have values and opinions brands care about. They have a potent influence on people of all ages and incomes, as well as the way those people consume and relate to brands (Francis & Hoefel, 2018)

With social media having the biggest role in marketing, one of the main ways to attract Gen Z consumers is to market the brand on social media. Gen Z users watch more than 7.2 hours of TikTok tok every day according to fantybes.com. 7.2 hours is almost a third of their day. When a brand tries to attract Gen Z they should use TikTok as a tool as their brand could gain consumers in an efficient way. Even though 53% of Gen Z consumers choose to shop in physical stores, using TikTok as a platform to market your brand could attract consumers into stores.

Diversity has no definition but it can be categorized into four types which include: Internal, External, organizational, and world view. With all of these categories, the different types of diversity include age diversity race diversity etc. With so many new views on things, Gen Z has to acquire a different mindset to face these new views, therefore they are more adamant about brands and products reflecting their values on to topics such as mental health, climate change, and more( BOF, 2023) Diversity can be a difficult aim to achieve but according to Mitterfellner, O (2023) with all the new ideas that are fueled by the diverse culture capital that these talents possess, luxury brands can harness a fresh approach and attract new equally diverse consumers from all global cultures.

People skills can range from listening to being empathetic, however, in the fashion industry, brands should give importance to a large amount of people skills for them to be successful. If a brand doesn’t listen to its consumers it will not succeed as it’s not listening to what the consumers want. Especially with all the trends changing so fast, brands need to listen to their consumers on what trends to follow and not to follow. Another people skill that is different from listening is organization, which is an understated skill that turns out to be very important for not only a fashion brand but for any brand to succeed.

Bibliography:

  • Francis & Hoefel (2018)
  • fantybes.com
  • Mitterfellner, O (2023)
  • BOF (2023)
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Planet

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Within the Fashion Industry, there are 4 pillars that make up the industry, these include Planet, Purpose, People, and Profit. Throughout this blog post, the main focus will be the pillar: PLANET and its importance within the fashion industry. Over the years the Fashion industry has had a major role in polluting the earth. Sustainability has been something the human population has been trying to improve for a few years, however with all the obstacles we have faced CO2 emissions within some countries have reached an all-time high. Even though sustainability is something everyone tries to improve on, according to WRAP (2017) 300,000 tonnes of clothes are discarded, which therefore affects our planet. (Gwilt A, 2014) 

The circular economy is one that tackles climate change and other global challenges such as biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. There are three main principles of the circular economy: design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). The circular economy is meant to lead us towards a different path away from the linear system model: Take, Make, waste. 

Sustainability within the fashion industry is improving every day, Even though many brands aren’t moving in the right direction many are such as Patrick McDowell. Patrick McDowell’s brand focuses on crafts that are made from reclaimed fabrics and ethically produced materials that have a low carbon footprint. Patrick Mcdowell proves that luxury fashion can still be sustainable but stylish. The term “sustainability” has a significant impact within the industry as many practices such as the circular economy, life cycle thinking, and overall awareness have led to a more sustainable industry. 

There are 17 SDGS outline 169 targets that need to be met by 2030 (Gwilt A, 2014). The SDG out of the 17 that has relevance and impact on the fashion industry is gender equality, eventhough this may not seem like a significant one there are many brands lacking but also improving this SDG. A brand that has met this SDG well is H&M. H&M has 148,000 people working for them out of the 148,000 58% are female (Cornerstone OnDemand, ). This SDG has been met well as H&M is a major fashion brand, with a well-known reputation within the industry. This could have a positive impact on brands throughout the industry as many brands might take SDG into account and try to meet it, which could lead to gender equality within the fashion industry. 

Bibliography: 

  1. Gwilt, A (2014)  A practical guide to sustainable fashion 
  2. Gwilt, A (2014)  A practical guide to sustainable fashion- Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017) 
  3. Patrick Macdowell-https://patrickmcdowell.co.uk/pages/sustainability
  4. CornerStore Demand (2021) https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/article/when-it-comes-gender-equality-what-companies-are-leading-charge/ 
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My favourite fashion brand: Loro Piana

My favourite fashion brand: Loro Piana

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With Luxury fashion existing for decades, it has always been consistent. Over the years trends, especially fashion trends have changed so much and so often, quiet luxury has always been and always will be there. The most classic quiet luxury brand over the years has been Loro Piana. Its consistent clothing and footwear style has been popular with different generations. Loro Piana has always been a brand I have been drawn to, as it’s classy chic style of clothing attracts me. The brand started in 1924, however, it started taking off after the war and gained a reputation for it’s premium wool and cashmere textiles. Some of their most popular items include summer walk shoes and their cashmere coats. The brand has stayed consistent with it’s styles, such as the summer walks which have been a popular shoe since 2005, they have become so highly demanded that they aren’t even displayed in stores anymore and can only be ordered as customization. Loro Piana’s brand values have always focused on quality and authenticity, which makes it such a superior brand.

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