Holly Bolton

The purpose pillar in the fashion business school looks at the missions, visions, values and propositions of a brand or company. It is vital that a brand holds its own unique purpose as this helps to drive creation and consumption, especially when advertising of Gen Z, a generation that holds strong values on elements of fashion like: sustainability and ethicality. Furthermore, with such high competition in fast fashion, holding a distinctive purpose is highly beneficial for a brand to stand out through creativity and authenticity. Even more importantly, maintaining consistency with these values shows strength and morality, an attribute that Gen Z deems important. 

A consumer is more likely to be interested in a brand that holds similar values to oneself. For example, “Japan had the privilege of near complete isolation from the world for such a long time that it could develop a very unique culture and philosophy which equally permeated the relationship with luxury.” This quote demonstrates the power of individuality and furthermore personal connection to philosophy. The purpose pillar also plays a paramount role in social responsibility, which can be tested “by investigating potential misalignments between brand identity as intended by the brand owner, and the way in which the brand image is perceived by young consumers”. Misalignments like this show weakness, further proving the importance of not just purpose, but commitment to one’s purpose. 

Gen Z has been the first generation to grow up with technology, therefore it is heavily engrained in their lifestyle. “Almost 7 in 10 say they are influenced by friend’s social media posts”, “They discover products online before going out to shop”. Due to this, communication with Gen Z is best done through online advertisement and shopping. 

“To meet consumer demands for attention to social and environmental issues, brands now advertise their efforts to develop sustainable products (Han et al., 2017, Jang et al., 2012) and to show corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Aoki et al., 2019, Fineman, 2001, Minton et al., 2012).” This further highlights the fundamentality of transparency and responsibility when advertising purpose in a fashion brand, particularly when communicating with Gen Z.

Ram, S. (2017). Meeting millennials where they shop: Shaping the future of shopping malls. McKinsey & Company, 15.

Mitterfellner, O. (2023). Luxury Fashion Brand Management: Unifying Fashion with Sustainability. Taylor & Francis.

Ross, J., & Harradine, R. (2011). Fashion value brands: the relationship between identity and image. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 15(3), 306-325.

Kong, H. M., Witmaier, A., & Ko, E. (2021). Sustainability and social media communication: How consumers respond to marketing efforts of luxury and non-luxury fashion brands. Journal of Business Research, 131, 640-651.

Profit in fashion is dependent on a wide variety of factors, including marketing, innovation through design, trends and popularity. Currently, the industry is heavily dominated by fast fashion, which holds many ethical and economic issues, having an impact on profit in fashion, creating difficulty and tension for creative directors when it comes to bridging the gap between creativity and commerce when designing. “The fashion apparel industry has significantly evolved, particularly over the last 20 years. The changing dynamics of the fashion industry have forced retailers to desire low cost and flexibility in design, quality, and speed to market, key strategies to maintain a profitable position in the increasingly demanding market”. 

“The European fashion industry sales equalled approximately €170 billion in 2012, with more than 181,000 companies, of which the 30% are Italian companies (SMI (Sistema Moda Italia), 2013).” It is a global industry that spreads worldwide, creating vast amounts of competition and, furthermore, sustainability issues with elements like supply, demand and sourcing. Since Generation Z possesses such high ethical standards; is the main target market and contributor to the industry, companies must, more now than ever, “reorganise their supply networks, searching for a new balance between local and global sourcing and production”, whilst remaining distinctive and popular. 

“Fashion is a “cross-sector concept” that encompasses several industries, such as apparel, footwear, leather, jewellery, perfumes, and cosmetics (Brun et al., 2008).” The various sectors of the fashion industry all strive to find a unique and individual style, in order to remain competitive in such uncertain economic times. For example, it is anticipated that the luxury sector of fashion will outperform the rest of the industry, as patterns show wealthy shoppers continue to travel and spend, estimating growth of 5-10% in 2023, remaining more insulated from the effects of hyperinflation (Mckinsey state of fashion 2023). 

Other sectors of the market are determined to struggle due to our unstable economy. For example, “McKinsey analysis of fashion forecasts projects relatively slow sales growth of between –2 and +3 percent, weighed down by a contraction in the European market (expected to shrink between 1 and 4 percent)”. This is due to inflation, stemming from mass production and consumption. Therefore, in order to create enough profit, it is vital that creative directors remain distinctive and relevant. 

Bhardwaj, V., & Fairhurst, A. (2010). Fast fashion: response to changes in the fashion industry. The international review of retail, distribution and consumer research, 20(1), 165-173

Macchion, L., Moretto, A., Caniato, F., Caridi, M., Danese, P., & Vinelli, A. (2015). Production and supply network strategies within the fashion industry. International Journal of Production Economics, 163, 173-188.