Beth Ayana

About Beth Ayana

Posts by Beth Ayana:

Purpose

Purpose

⋅

Purpose is the fundamental reason for why something exists, in business this consists primarily of their vision and ethics. For example some businesses may prioritise sustainability and making the fashion industry more circular i.e. going beyond the profit aspect. Brand philosophy is especially more important for current and future fashion businesses as gen z values transparency and ‘demands purpose and accountability’ (McKinsey, 2023). Having a purpose, especially one that goes further than increasing profits is favoured and aligns with the values of Gen Z who want to see a businesses values reflected in their involvement in supporting, advocating and being involved in social issues. Being successful as a business involves ensuring that consumers are kept in loop and being open about progress and areas that need improvement. Engaging in communication, especially with Gen Z is vital so that they can assess whether their visions align with the business, and that they are supporting and giving their money something that they are proud of. 

Patagonia is a designer of outdoor clothing, its main purpose being to save the planet. The business ‘appreciates all life on earth is under threat of extinction’ (eu.patagonia.com, n.d.) therefore they have taken the initiative to make all their products sustainable so that they are fulfilling their aim to protect and defend life on earth. They communicate well with their customers to show they are sticking to their core values consistently, which is a major reason why they have a strong customer base who trust that the company is being honest with their business activities and therefore align with their own important values of how a business should operate. They have been able to build trust through having a clear and maintained purpose that is showcased throughout. The commitment that they have to social and environmental responsibility is a unique selling point for patagonia and sets it apart from other competitors in the outdoor clothing industry. 

Generally Gen Z are for decreasing or controlling the intensity of the climate crisis and also for other world issues such as better working conditions and reducing the negative effects of fast fashion and over consumption. The strong opinions and demand for purpose demonstrates the importance of brands having a vision for their business so that they can connect with their consumers and create a stronger relationship through shared values. Without this purpose, it may be difficult for not only consumers but those working in the business to feel connected with the brand and what it’s about. 

eu.patagonia.com. (n.d.). Business Unusual – Patagonia. [online] Available at: https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/business-unusual/.

McKinsey (2023). What is Gen Z? [online] www.mckinsey.com. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z.

‌‌

Liked Liked
No Comments
Profit

Profit

⋅

The fashion industry is a major sector in the economy, in the UK alone being worth £26 billion (britishcouncil.org, 2016). In the fashion industry profit is usually one of the main objectives of businesses, with companies primarily working towards increasing their profit margins. Thus leading to fast fashion businesses dominating the market such as Zara and H&M, these brands encourage overconsumption through the constant introduction of new products, often using low quality materials. This helps businesses to consistently meet new demands of consumers, allowing them to optimise the amount of sales and therefore profit that they are making. As well as this, fast fashion brands operate their production in factories, usually in a lower income country, for example h&m outsourcing most of their production to Asia, allowing them to benefit from low labour costs and retain more revenue from each product that they sell and hence become more profitable.

However other markets in the fashion industry are seemingly becoming larger and therefore more appealing for businesses to operate in. Such as consumers that are interested in sustainability, this sector is becoming increasingly profitable with the growth of environmentally conscious cosumers. The luxury fashion sector is also increasing in size and is ‘anticipated to outperform the rest of the industry’ due to those with higher incomes continuing to spend despite fluctuations due to hyperinflation (Mckinsey, 2022). The fashion industry is facing a more challenging situation due to hyperinflation causing declining growth rates in 2022 and continuing to affect businesses in 2023, a new approach may therefore be vital in businesses reducing the affect of this (McKinsey, 2022). H&M although being fast launched a collection partnered with Mugler in May 2023, a luxury fashion designer, allowing them to expand into other markets whilst also giving those who want more affordable luxury fashion the opportunity to buy due to this collaboration. Therefore this allows creative directors to bridge the gap between creativity and commerce by creating new and innovative ideas that can help the business to grow further, like the mugler x h&m collab where the creative director stated that ‘ the capsule collection showcased the best of both brands.’

In uncertain economic times businesses can remain competitive through contingency planning which consists of making a backup plan for situations, allowing for a more effective response if the situation were to occur. For example during economic uncertain times more people are likely to travel less, which encourages businesses to focus more on their online sales and marketing where consumers are more easily reachable. 

Britishcouncil.org. (2016). The power of fashion | British Council. [online] Available at: https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/power-fashion#:~:text=Clothing%20has%20always%20been%20big.

McKinsey (2022). The State of Fashion 2023: Holding onto growth as global clouds gather. [online] McKinsey. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion.

Liked Liked
No Comments
People

People

⋅

People play a vital role in the fashion industry, from setting trends, influencing changes in the market and through social media. Therefore it’s important for fashion businesses to have a large focus on their consumers in order to maximise their success. With changing generations, and therefore changing experiences and mind sets, the fashion industry has to adapt to this and respond to the changing needs and wants of their consumers. Gen Z care more about making a difference primarily through their social and environmental consciousness. With 94% of Gen Z advocating that ‘companies have a responsibility to make the world a better place’ (Novelli, n.d.). Consumers have become more vocal on the environmental issues that the fashion industry has largely contributed towards. This influence leading to UK politicians calling out the government to do more so that businesses would have to comply with environmental and social standards and tackle issues such as forced labour (The Independent, 2019). Therefore you can see that businesses listening people, in this case through adopting these standards, will benefit in their success as it is what consumers currently value in a business. 

With Gen Z being hyper connected and more prevalent in social media as the ‘first generation to grow up with internet as part of daily life’ (McKinsey, 2023). Individuality and self-expression has become important for consumers, with more being open minded and welcoming to new ideas, brands need to set themselves apart and provide something that is new and exciting to entice Gen Z. Being hyper connected also means that its easier for people from different cultures to communicate and share experiences and thoughts. Gen Z recognises the values of diversity, and how authenticity is the greatest strength as mentioned in a lecture with Caryn Franklin. Diversity in fashion is about creating clothes that cater to different groups, such as through sizing, race and religion (Nizzoli, 2022). Brands such Nike have increasingly focused on promoting diversity and actively work towards representation of women with a target of ‘50% of global corporate workforce to be women by 2050’ (Global data, n.d.), and also focusing on empowerment of different racial groups, promoting this mainly through their advertisements. In 2018 Nike launched the first sports hijab, which opened the doors for businesses to be creating more modest clothing and being more inclusive to muslims through this. It’s evident that people have a large part in influencing brands through Gen Z having strong opinions and ‘favouring brands that are aligned with their values and avoiding those that don’t’ (Amed et al, 2019) therefore brands should respond to this by integrating people’s values and responding to changing consumer needs effectively to be successful.  

‌Giada Nizzoli (2022). Diversity in Fashion: Are Ethical Brands Doing Enough? | Sustainable Fashion Blog| Project Cece. [online] Available at: https://www.projectcece.co.uk/blog/548/diversity-in-fashion-for-ethical-brands/.

‌Global Data (n.d.). ShieldSquare Captcha. [online] Available at: https://www.globaldata.com/data-insights/consumer/nike-diversity-in-workforce-2095670/.

Imran Amed, Anita Balchandani, Marco Beltrami, Achim Berg, Saskia Hedrich, and Felix Rölkens (2019). The influence of Gen Z on fashion | McKinsey. [online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/the-influence-of-woke-consumers-on-fashion#:~:text=Younger%20consumers%20are%20seriously%20concerned.

McKinsey (2023). What is Gen Z? | McKinsey. [online] www.mckinsey.com. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z.

‌ Novelli, P. (n.d.). Gen Z: The Next Conscious Group of Consumers. [online] www.3blmedia.com. Available at: https://www.3blmedia.com/news/gen-z-next-conscious-group-consumers.

The Independent. (2019). Government rejects calls for companies to fight environmental impact of fast fashion. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/fast-fashion-government-environmental-audit-committee-labour-waste-a8963226.html#

Liked Liked
No Comments
Planet

Planet

⋅

Planet in relation to fashion has become of increasing relevance, especially in recent years, with a rise in businesses taking Corporate social responsibility more seriously and a larger part of the way that they operate especially in the production, distribution, and end life of their garments. This is primarily due to the significant impacts that the life cycle of garments has on the planet, for example through over consumption, which leads to more than a million tonnes of textiles waste to be generated each year (Gwilt, 2020) causing an increase going into landfills. One reason for the rise in over consumption is due to social media, which has led to people moving on from trends faster and follow whats new, causing consumers to dispose of clothing at an increased rate. As technology is developing and more consumers are influenced by social media this issue could worsen, which poses a great threat to the planet. 

Increased textiles in landfills affects the planet through its enhanced greenhouse gas emissions ultimately contributing to climate change, a major issue that the planet is currently facing. A focus on mitigating and adapting to climate change is the 13th sustainable development goal created by the UN. SDGs reflect the ongoing work of the United Nations, endorsed in 2015 and adopted by 193 member states (Gwilt, 2020). One of the main aims of SDGs is to tackle social and environmental issues, which the fashion industry evidently contributes towards. Through textiles waste, as previously mentioned, and other processes in the life cycle of garments, the fashion industry has become a prominent contributor towards enhanced greenhouse gas emissions that is resulting in climate change. The industry is responsible for almost 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions (Fleischmann, 2019) which is primarily due to overconsumption and disposal.  

Through circular fashion the detrimental impacts on the planet could be lessened, ‘circular fashion combines the principles of both sustainability and circularity’ according to Dr Anna Brismar who came up with this term in 2014 (Alexander, 2019)  It focuses on making sure that we elongate the life of garments through ways other than disposal, such as employing chemical and mechanical recycling to develop recycled fibres and materials (Gwilt, 2020) that enable us to use textiles for longer periods of time. Embracing a circular economy allows for individuals and businesses to become more sustainable and make fashion less negatively impact on the planet. 

Alexander, E. (2019). Introducing circular fashion: the shopping concept that could save the planet. [online] Harper’s BAZAAR. Available at: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/a27189370/circular-fashion-definition/.

Fleischmann, M. (2019). How Much Do Our Wardrobes Cost to the Environment? [online] The World Bank. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/09/23/costo-moda-medio-ambiente.

Gwilt, A. (2020). Practical Guide To Sustainable Fashion. S.L.: Ava Academia, p.6-27

Liked Liked
No Comments