Megan Sheppard

The Profit pillar introduces the concept of a business earning money for the payment of staff and the expansion of the business. In order to earn profit a business must earn back what has been spent in revenue, and ideally gain some extra money which can be reinvested.

 The fashion industry is incredibly large in size, with a fashion show hosted by Versace succumbing 38.9 million views on tiktok alone as well as searches being up by 44%, which exemplifies the continued importance of this industry for the younger generation given the social media response. In particular, the luxury sector of the industry appears to be performing the best, likely due to higher prices and established brand image. In the first quarter of 2023, the top performing brands were Loewe, Prada and Versace, all of which are in the luxury sector. (Lyst, 2023)

With a changing society, brands are likely to experience different periods, some of which sales are high and some of which the brand is struggling. This could be down to a changing market and a lack of awareness of the current consumers, for example, a lack of understanding towards Gen Z needs and instead keeping the brand image and products the same and not evolving with consumers. 

An example of the regeneration of a brand is YSL’s successful rebrand. In 1965 YSL were incredibly successful, with the brand shaping trends. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the brand was highly thought of due to their creative outlook on fashion, for example, their first tuxedo for women and collections inspired by artists such as Andy Warhol. However, as the late 80’s arrived, the brand’s collections were no longer revolutionary, and although the brand was still highly admired, the image of revolutionising fashion started to change. During this period, the brands founder Yves Saint Laurent stepped back, and the brand started to see new faces later on in the 2000’s. The brands first attempt at revitalisation was in 2012, when they officially changed the companies name to Saint Laurent Paris, and subsequently their newest designer created a grunge inspired collection, which made the brand a point of discussion again and saw the brands sales rise. (Mitterfelner, 2023)

In recent years, it is important for a brand to have someone who is considered a “creative leader”, which entails someone who prioritises their creativity in a way that is marketable to the general public. For example, quality is becoming an expectation amongst consumers, especially when considering luxury fashion price points, and therefore creativity and revolutionising fashion is incredibly important to keep consumers interested. Given a business creates products which consumers have seen before, its easy for the consumer to get bored therefore a creative and unique product portfolio is a key component of luxury brands. (K-Hole, 2023)

Furthermore, understanding varying consumer needs is a vital part of any fashion company, in order to be able to effectively market garments towards its intended audience. In understanding the “people” aspect of marketing, it is integral to comprehend the differences between each generation.

Gen Z as consumers are very unique in their approach to purchases, with an emphasised need for morality and social responsibility, which has caused companies to be more cautious of their actions, and how these effect their own society and the wider world. This generation has become tech dependent, given that they have grown up in a technologically involving world, in which technology is a vital part of their lives. As well as this, gen Z have an increased desire for unique pieces, which identifies the generation’s increased need to express individuality, as opposed to purchasing items which are “on trend”. (Francis & Hoefel, 2018)

Given that Gen Z are becoming such a large demographic and provide fashion companies with opportunities to both evolve their brand and earn profit in the process, attracting this generation is incredibly important. Acknowledging that Gen Z are technology natives, many people of this generation use social media to find new brands and garments which interest them. In comparison to millennials, Gen Z browse more often on social media for fashion inspiration, and have an overwhelming majority of Tiktok users (which many claim they use this often to find inspiration). Due to this statistic, Tiktok is adapting its app in order to make it a more appealing place for businesses to market themselves, therefore using Tiktok would likely attract Gen Z to a new or expanding brand. (Drapers Bespoke, 2023)

In understanding the importance of social responsibility to Gen Z, we can acknowledge the importance of diversity within fashion. With an expanding industry it is important to cater to everyone and especially with Gen Z’s emphasis on individuality, it is to be assumed that many people would want to see fashion become more inclusive and diverse. In particular, the makeup brand “Fenty Beauty” launched their first product with the aim of promoting diversity and ensuring that their product would be accessible to everyone, which not only gives the brand a good reputation, but also allows everyone to purchase their product, as opposed to the limited amount of people who would be able to buy the product given that they had only created a limited shade range. (The State of Fashion Beauty, 2023)

With Gen Z becoming such prominent consumers, companies must adapt in order to understand and cater to the people skills needed in promoting to this generation. Given that technology is constantly adapting and the use of social media and AI are rapidly increasing, within a company it is important to find people with these skills in order to transition into a new era of fashion marketing. Understanding the changes within the industry is vital and therefore new people are crucial at a company who have little understanding of the current state of technology usage amongst young people. (Zilkha, 2023)