Profit
The profit pillar is defined by the economic face of the fashion industry. In this pillar success is defined as mass production and rising profits.
The fashion industry is currently valued at $1.7 trillion globally and 430 million workers (Ariella, S 2023). “Fashion is believed to be one of the world’s most important industry, and if it were ranked alongside individual countries GDP, the industry would represent the seventh-largest economy in the world,”(McKinsey, 2017). Like every industry, the fashion world were negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, where the market dropped almost 40% between the start of January and March, 2020 (McKinsey 2023).According to the Euromonitor apparel and footwear shrunk by -18.1% in 2020, however the market also grew 18.1% post-pandemic due to ‘revenge shopping’. (McKinsey 2023).
The effects of the pandemic and inflation on the fashion industry are impactful, with the footwear and apparel market forecasting to lose many consumers. Despite the public tightening their purse strings against the rising energy prices hasn’t stopped the growth of the luxury market. It’s sales are projected to grow 5 percent to 10 percent in 2023 (McKinsey 2023). This can be explained by the wealthy people who are the target demographic for luxury brands, and are also the least affected by inflation, therefore will continue to purchase goods (Kim 2023). On the other hand, non-luxury fashion sales are forecasted to grow between negative 4 percent and positive 1 percent (McKinsey 2023), explained by inflation, energy prices from the Ukraine crisis and a post-pandemic environment.
For brands to remain competitive and raise profits, they use trend forecasting. However, in uncertain economic times trend forecasting can be difficult, and therefore companies may not be able to keep up. One way for companies to survive challenging times is to create partnerships amongst each other and share their consumer data, increasing the accuracy of forecasts made by designers (A, Berg 2023). In 2023 demand patterns aren’t as stable as they used to be, so brands need to learn how to be more flexible and adapt. Until the nineteenth century, fashion wasn’t considered art and any fashion illustrations were for costumes or logical use (Goethe-Jones, S 2019). In 2023, clothing is viewed drastically different, with museums and galleries exhibiting garments, and events such as Paris Fashion Week and the Met Gala showcasing designer’s creations. Fashion brands hire creative directors to bridge the gap between the designer’s artistic view. A creative director takes the brands creative vision and translates this into a visual language that resonates with consumers (YellowBrick 2023). They turn art into commerce and build the brands profits, upholding one of the pillars of fashion.
References
Ariella, S. 2023.
28 Dazzling Fashion Industry Statistics [2023]: How Much Is The Fashion Industry Worth – Zippia
Berg, A. June 2022. How current global trends are disrupting the fashion industry.
Fashion industry challenges and global disruptions | McKinsey
Goethe-Jones, S. March 2019. Fashion illustration from the 16th century to now.
Fashion Illustration from the 16th Century to Now – Illustration History
Kim, W. May 2023. The surprising reason luxury goods are booming.
Dior, Tiffany, Le Creuset: Why we’re buying luxury goods like crazy – Vox
McKinsey. 2017. The State of Fashion Report
The-state-of-fashion-2017-McK-BoF-report.pdf (mckinsey.com)
McKinsey. November 2023. The state of fashion 2023 holding onto growth as global clouds gather.
Yellowbrick. March 2023. Unleashing creativity what does a creative director do.
Unleashing Creativity: What Does a Creative Director Do? (yellowbrick.co)