Purpose Blog

The purpose pillar relates to the subjective term wellbeing. The American Psychological Association (APA) describes wellbeing as “a state of happiness and contentment, with low levels of distress, overall good physical and mental health and outlook, or good quality of life”.

Brand philosophy refers to “the brand’s “way of doing things” and the belief in that method. It answers the question ‘what is “our way” and why is that important to us” (Shela-heramis, 2020). 

Brands must consider their mission, vision and value proposition; this is important because it helps shape and define a brands image and what they embody, stand for and represent in order to define and differentiate themselves within the fashion industry. 

Brands communicate their purpose to GenZ by stressing their brand values through campaigns. GenZ are the generation known for acting for change, technology, innovation and activism. 

Stella McCartney for example is known for “being responsible, being honest, and making decisions and practicing with an eye toward the future. This means engaging in practices that will sustain not only the business but also the environment and the people residing in that environment. There are also secondary ethical concepts embedded in McCartney’s website: respect, trust, and the need for the fashion industry to practice reflection every day of its work. Decisions that are right and just, not only for brands, designers, and retailers but also for the environment and people, ultimately will build trust between all of the key participants in the fashion industry. Sometimes difficult questions must be asked so that difficult decisions can be made that take into account CSR and corporate philanthropy” (Londrigan and Jenkins, 2018).

(www.bearingpoint.com, 2018) explains that the sharing economy, “predominantly aimed at women, is the idea is to make a wide range of high-end clothing accessible to everybody. No longer do your wardrobes need to be the graveyards of ‘never-to-be-worn-again’ items”. For example online “sites like Poshmark and threadUP allow individuals to sell their gently used clothing while services like Le Tote offer subscribers the ability to borrow clothes and return them like a Netflix subscription for your closet” (Marr, 2016). Also, “Rent the Runway allows women to rent designer gowns for a special event at a fraction of the price of buying one.” (Marr, 2016).

The sharing economy is another approach towards sustainable fashion, as instead of buying clothes new, it allows people to rent clothes. This prevents people buying clothes and only wearing it once and never again and also clothes going to landfill.

References:

Adam, H. and Galinsky, A.D. (2012). Enclothed cognition. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, [online] 48(4), pp.918–925. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.008.

Clothes and Self-Perception. (2012). The New York Times. [online] 3 Apr. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html.

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Londrigan, M.P. and Jenkins, J.M. (2018). Fashion supply chain management. New York: Fairchild Books, An Imprint Of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.

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Marr, B. (2016). The Sharing Economy – What It Is, Examples, And How Big Data, Platforms And Algorithms Fuel It. Forbes. [online] 23 Oct. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/10/21/the-sharing-economy-what-it-is-examples-and-how-big-data-platforms-and-algorithms-fuel/.

Shela-heramis (2020). What Is Brand Philosophy? [+How To Find Yours]. [online] Brand Master Academy. Available at: https://brandmasteracademy.com/brand-philosophy/.

‌www.bearingpoint.com. (2018). The Sharing Economy – will we be sharing a wardrobe in the future? [online] Available at: https://www.bearingpoint.com/en-gb/insights-events/insights/the-sharing-economy-will-we-be-sharing-a-wardrobe-in-the-future/.