People
The fashion community is reliant on people from a variety of professions and global locations. Due to the size of the industry, strong interpersonal skills are a crucial element in building a positive work environment as well as many other factors such as workload and wages.
According to research conducted by the British Fashion Council in 2022, only half of fashion businesses have a diversity and inclusion strategy in comparison to over seventy percent in other industries such as retail and beauty. This demonstrates that the industry should have higher standards in diversity and there is progress to be made in the future.
Featuring body diversity in fashion, particularly on the catwalk, is still not widespread in some of the major fashion capital cities. Paton (2023) addresses a lack of size diversity in the 2023 Paris fashion week as ‘the overall number of midsize or plus size models cast in women’s wear shows declined by 24%’ following the last season. Having more ‘plus-size’ models on the cat walk as well as through media would help spread body positivity as well as help create a more size inclusive beauty standard. Girlfriend collective is a size-inclusive activewear brand with eleven different sizes for tops and bottoms. The brand provides a variety of styles in all the sizes making it easier to find better fitting pieces. Another brand that is inclusive to many body types and uses ‘plus-size’ models is Djerf Avenue. This brand was launched only four years ago by Matilda Djerf, a Swedish fashion influencer, and has been very popular with over six hundred thousand instagram followers.
In a biography about Stella McCartney by the Business of Fashion, it’s mentioned that her ‘collections are distributed in over 77 countries’. Fashion being a global industry, having cultural sensitivity, including body language and hand gestures, to prevent miscommunication in other countries is necessary. As well as this, for a fashion brand to be successful, having soft skills such as teamwork, patience and empathy is vital to communicate well with others in the industry.
An article in McKinsey & Company (Francis & Hoefel 2018) explains that companies with a Gen Z target market could view ‘consumption as a matter of ethical concern’. This indicates that people born between 1995-2010 are aware of non-ethical fashion issues and perhaps by prioritising sustainability brands could attract Gen Z consumers. As Gen Z generally grew up learning digital skills from an earlier age, for example through education or personal interests, they might find online shopping easier. This could mean Gen Z consumers are more online in comparison to other generations and social media marketing plays a big role.
References
Francis, T. & Hoefel, F. (2018). ’True Gen’: Generation Z and its implications for companies’. McKinsey & Company.
Dixon, M. et al (2022). Diversity and Inclusion in the Fashion Industry, British Fashion Council.
Paton, E. (2023). Why did ultrathin models make a comeback at Fashion Week? The New York Times.
Stella McCartney: Bof 500: The people shaping the global fashion industry. (2022). The Business of Fashion.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/stella-mccartney