Profit Blog:
Profit by definition (according to Cambridge Dictionary, 2019) is “money that is earned in trade or business after paying the costs of producing and selling goods and services”.
According to Fashion United, the industry has a labour force of 3,384.1 million. Its value is equivalent to 3 trillion dollars. That means, it corresponds to 2% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Joint Economic Committee of The United States released a survey in 2019 affirming that, only in the US, consumers spent nearly $380 billion on apparel and footwear. The industry, which encompasses everything from textile and apparel brands to wholesalers, importers and retailers, employs more than 1.8 million people in the country. Its numbers have only grown and the post-pandemic scenario is optimistic. The fashion industry continues to have positive growth, especially in emerging markets within the Western, Asian, and European regions. Regarding the Asian market exclusively, it was forecast to have a 38% share of global apparel demand in the past year (Vilaça, 2021).
A brand can remain competitive in uncertain economic times by using social media as a tool to appear to the masses and stay up to date with technology and the younger generations. This is because “Social media has transformed the way we campaign as an organisation but also the way that people around the world can connect and unite behind a cause. Hundreds of thousands of people can come together and take action instantly, news can be shared faster than ever and, as an organisation, we are able to mobilise, inspire, and talk to our supporters like never before”(Hethorn and Ulasewicz, 2015). For example, when the Rana Plaza collapsed; killing at least 1,132 and injuring more than 2,500 people (International Labour Organization, 2017); the #WhoMadeMyClothes Twitter campaign was launched this is an annual social media movement that emerged after the collapse of the Rana Plaza, a building in Bangladesh that housed five garment factories, in April 2013. The global campaign serves as a remembrance day for the factory victims. It gives social media users an outlet to address ethical concerns towards retail apparel companies that were buyers of the Rana Plaza factories (Kim, 2020).
“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art” Andy Warhol stated, having famously spent much of his career bending the American consumerist system to work to his artistic advantage. Both an artist and a businessman, Warhol blurred the lines between art and commerce. Warhol’s success proves that the marriage of art and business is a savvy move that, perhaps, more of those in the business world should be considering (Meaning Conference, 2018).
References:
Cambridge Dictionary (2019). PROFIT | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Cambridge.org. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/profit.
Hethorn, J. and Ulasewicz, C. (2015). Sustainable fashion : what’s next? : a conversation about issues, practices and possibilities. New York: Bloomsbury, Fairchild Books, An Imprint Of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.
International Labour Organization (2017). The Rana Plaza Accident and its aftermath. [online] International Labour Organization. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/geip/WCMS_614394/lang–en/index.htm.
Kim, C. (2020). Social Media Activism’s Impact on Global Retailers. escholarship.org. [online] Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6gg6j13r.
Meaning Conference. (2018). Bridging the gap between art and business. [online] Available at: https://meaningconference.co.uk/blog/bridging-gap-between-art-business.
Vilaça, J. (2021). Fashion Industry Statistics: The 4th Biggest Sector Is More Than Clothing. [online] Fashinnovation. Available at: https://fashinnovation.nyc/fashion-industry-statistics/.u