Mia Scheel

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Purpose

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The purpose pillar in fashion is crucial for brands to drive and inspire businesses and consumers. As Bourdieu once said, ‘what is involved is not the rarity of the product, but the rarity of the producer’ (Bourdieu, 1983, as cited by Stevenson, 2023). The people in the fashion industry and the values that they are passionate about are individual and can bring authenticity and purpose to their brand.

The philosophy of a brand can refer to the values and vision it represents. Silva (2020) explains that brand philosophy helps create a strong identity. This can allow differentiation for a brand to be unique within the market. By spreading the values of a brand to the target market, it could result in more profit if consumers feel aligned with the principles and vision of a brand.

There are many methods for brands to communicate and engage their propositions or values with Gen Z such as online communication. In a 2020 Drapers article, research found that TikTok is most popular with Gen Z as ‘50.3% use it versus 25.7% of millennials’ (Moran, 2020). This statistic indicates that brands could reach Gen Z’s attention through visual content on social media platforms. The article also highlights that there is an increase in fashion consumption via social media for Gen Z which may encourage companies to utilise digital platforms further helping to promote its values.

Brand philosophy also includes its objectives or mission which brand communication can help raise awareness. Christopher Raeburn, a British fashion designer known for his environmentally conscious and responsible design methods, includes sustainability into his brand philosophy. RAEBURN has an eco-conscious purpose and offers free lifetime repairs as well as fully compostable bags (Sutherland, 2020).

Other designers are also prioritising the environment into their vision through design. In the book ‘Psychology of Fashion’, Mair (2018) discusses how compulsive buying disorder could be environmentally harmful and cause overconsumption. As a psychologist, she explains that a ‘framework of emotional durable design’ may be a solution for consumers with compulsive buying disorder (Mair, 2018). This suggests a psychological approach in sustainable design may help achieve environmental goals which could align with the purpose of some fashion brands. 

Bourdieu, P. (1983) as cited in Stevenson, C. (2023) lecture. Fashion: Art and Commerce

file:///Users/mia/Downloads/Week%204%20Intro%20To%20FBS%20Profit%20Reflection%20Writing.cleaned.html

https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/my/

Mair, C. (2018). The psychology of fashion. Taylor & Francis Group (pp 75-89) 

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=5303445

Moran, G. (2022). Drapers, Gen Z and Millennials 2022.  Drapers

Gen Z and Millennials 2022

Access

Silva, P. (2020). Why philosophy has much to do with brand-building (and what that looks like). Forbes. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/piasilva/2020/11/19/why-philosophy-has-much-to-do-with-brand-building-and-what-that-looks-like/?sh=1305248671f9

Sine, R. (2022). How to Appeal To Gen-Z Without Obviously ‘Marketing’to Get-Z. Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/08/24/how-to-appeal-to-gen-z-without-obviously-marketing-to-gen-z/?sh=30a361e02ae4

Sutherland, E. (2020). Raeburn’s ‘three Rs’ of sustainable innovation. Drapers

Raeburn’s ‘three Rs’ of sustainable innovation
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Profit

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Profit in fashion refers to the financial and commercial sides of the industry. After the Second World War, consumption in fashion started to grow as people had a higher excess income once the economy started expanding. Since then, the fashion industry has continued to become a very large and profitable industry. 

COVID-19 was a long period of uncertainty in the fashion economy and impacted many businesses pressuring them to be innovative to adapt to different lockdown measures globally.  Many jobs in the fashion industry and social events such as fashion weeks are complex to transition to online and socially distanced. However, the challenging period was also an opportunity for fashion businesses to focus on digital and technological creativity. In a Forbes article (Roberts-Islam, 2020), Matthew Drinkwater discusses how the workload for the team at the Fashion Innovation Agency ‘escalated sharply during the crisis’ due to a ‘dramatic shift towards digital solutions’ throughout quarantine. The continual demand for fashion as well as fashion week throughout lockdown, led to more fashion companies utilising online platforms to receive consumer engagement.

In addition to digital skills, brand differentiation and authenticity are also key elements for creative directors to bridge the gap between creativity and commerce in a fashion business. Virgil Abloh, former managing director of Off-White and artistic director at Louis Vuitton, is an example of how creative directors can drive commerce and innovation through art. In his biography by the Business of Fashion, Virgil Abloh ‘reinvented the role of a creative director’ and is compared to Karl Largerfield as a ‘multi-tasking creative genius’. Combining and integrating artistic expression with commerce is necessary for fashion businesses to develop.

In the United Kingdom, the fashion industry is the biggest creative industry (Donaldson, 2016) and was ‘worth £26 billion & 800,000 jobs to the economy’ in 2016 according to the British council. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry was ‘generating $2.5 trillion in global annual revenues’ (Amed et al. 2022) according to research in the 2023 State of Fashion by McKinsey.  These statistics demonstrate the extensive size of the industry with thousands of jobs in areas of fashion just in the United Kingdom. 

The recent State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Co also explains that the non-luxury sector may have difficulty in achieving significant progress in 2023 and success in different sectors in the industry varies globally. Depending on a country’s economy and general accessibility to technological platforms, this may influence the performance of digital and luxury clothing markets in a particular location.  As artificial intelligence continues to develop, it is predicted that generative AI could add ‘up to $275 billion to the apparel, fashion, and luxury sectors’ operating profits, according to McKinsey analysis’ (Harreis, et al. 2023). 

Amed, I. et al. (2022). The State of Fashion 2023: Holding onto growth as global clouds gather. McKinsey & Company

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion

Donaldson, A. (2016). The Power of Fashion. British Council

https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/power-fashion

Harreis, H. et al. (2023). Generative AI: Unlocking the future of fashion. McKinsey & Company

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/generative-ai-unlocking-the-future-of-fashion

Roberts-Island, B. (2020). Virtual Catwalks and Digital Fashion: How COVID-19 Is Changing The Fashion Industry. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookerobertsislam/2020/04/06/virtual-catwalks-and-digital-fashion-how-covid-19-is-changing-the-fashion-industry/?sh=4e5a2b95554e

Virgil Abloh: Bof 500: The people shaping the global fashion industry. (2022). The Business of Fashion.

https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/virgil-abloh

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People

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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.

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies

Dixon, M. et al (2022). Diversity and Inclusion in the Fashion Industry, British Fashion Council.

https://www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk/uploads/files/1/J037890%20MBS%20Diversity%20in%20Fashion%5B40%5D.pdf

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

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Screenshot 2023-10-08 at 16.43.33

Planet

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According to the United Nations (2021), textile dying is ‘the second largest polluter of water globally’. With water systems being impacted and carbon emissions increasing, prioritising sustainable guidelines in the fashion industry is necessary to give way to a better future for the planet. 

Circular economy in the fashion industry refers to a more regenerative system by minimising waste and carefully monitoring the processes in the supply chain. Possible methods in creating a more circular fashion industry could include up-cycling materials and shifting to cleaner technology. Many companies are setting initiatives to reduce disposal and educate consumers. In the 2022 Drapers Sustainability report, in 2021 ‘Nona Source rescued 70,000 metres of fabric… from a single LVMH brand’, and continues to work with different labels to help repair and recycle fabrics. By reusing dead stock fabrics, Nona Source significantly reduces material waste which improves the circularity within the textile industry.

More transparency, from fast fashion to designer brands, could help prevent greenwashing. This would allow consumers in the industry to make more informed decisions and shop from eco-friendly brands. Over the recent fifteen years, ‘the number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36%’ (UN 2021). This causes environmental issues if consumers are purchasing and disposing clothing more frequently. From a psychologist’s perspective, in chapter ‘Fashion Consumption’, Mair (2018) addresses how psychology can be utilised as a sustainable solution for compulsive buying disorder through ‘the framework of emotional durable design’. By an understanding of consumer buying disorder and how to improve the consumers relationship with clothing, design trends can continue evolving with the intention of creating longer lasting clothing. This framework would minimise waste that ends up in landfills or bodies of water, benefitting the planet.

‘Life Below Water’, one of the seventeen sustainable development goals from The United Nations, consists of ten targets which work towards conserving the oceans. In 2023, the ‘number of stations reporting ocean acidification data worldwide has tripled’ since 2021 (UN sustainability report 2023). The chemical treatments used when dying textiles in the production stages, directly impact water systems by leaking harmful chemicals. Dyecoo, a waterless dyeing technology company that avoids the use of chemicals, helps to preserve clean water and marine life. Other strategies fashion companies are using to help this ecosystem include donations to ocean charities through conservation partnerships and using biodegradable resources. To continue working towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, stricter regulations in the fashion industry must be placed.

References

Mair, C (2018). The Psychology of Fashion (pp 75-89)  https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=5303445

Moran, G (2022) Drapers, Collaborating for Change: Sustainability Report 

United Nations Environmental program (2021). Putting the breaks on fast fashion https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/putting-brakes-fast-fashion

United Nations (2023). The Sustainability Development Goals Report https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2023/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2023.pdf

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