Amy Batten

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/.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Meaning Conference. (2018). Bridging the gap between art and business. [online] Available at: https://meaningconference.co.uk/blog/bridging-gap-between-art-business.

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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

The fashion industry is known to be eurocentric and ethnocentric, therefore lacking diversity. Meaning that there are a lot of demographics and minatory groups that find themselves unrepresented. It does not help when some brands use monocultural marketing, historically aimed at one specific demographic (the dominant one: white, European, young and skinny).

Recently, the fashion industry has strived to redemption in the field by making the former unrepresented groups represented. For example, PLT supports diversity by advertising their #everyBODYinPLT. This hashtag is inclusive as it supports body positivity, racial equality, LGBTQ rights, female empowerment and diversity in the workplace; as an umbrella term;  the brand wants to be welcome to anyone and everyone regardless of their religion, race, gender, sexual orientation etc. 

GenZ is a young person born between 1997 and 2010. They are the generation known for bringing about change and speaking up in times of injustice through actions such as protests and social media posts. Social media and the internet have become popular and highly used by GenZ as they have grown up alongside it. It has now become second nature and a massive part of their lives. 

For a brand to attract GenZ as a consumer it must have good ethics/corporate responsibility. GenZ believes in social causes. They tend to be informed consumers and often research and weigh up options before making a buying decision. They tend to be much less attached to specific brands, preferring to shop around for the best deal. Despite being the most online generation, GenZ likes shopping in-store. They also like having real shop assistants to help them with queries. GenZ has high expectations, both in terms of customer service and product quality. They like individualised shopping experiences that can be tailored to their personal preferences. A survey conducted by IBM found that product choice, availability, convenience and value are the top influencing factors for GenZ when choosing shopping channels.

For a fashion brand to be successful today it needs to acquire people skills including good communication and negotiation skills, technology skills (web-savvy), and a good understanding of business, creativity and innovation. In order to keep GenZ engaged and to keep up with the ever-changing pace and trends of the fashion industry.

Social media has contributed to more change and diversity due to the the larger target audience. This means that more inclusive media campaigns can be shared internationally faster and by people of any demographic, meaning the number of potential sales is higher. 

References-

Bewicke, H. (2021). Gen Z Consumer Behavior: What You Need to Know | Talon.One. [online] www.talon.one. Available at: https://www.talon.one/blog/gen-z-consumer-behavior-what-you-need-to-know.

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James Hillman Fashion Consultancy. (n.d.). The Fashion Entrepreneur Skills You Need in 

2022. [online] Available at: https://www.jameshillman.co.uk/blog/2021/1/24/the-fashion-entrepreneur-skills-you-need-in-2022 [Accessed 16 Oct. 2022].

Lamb, J. (2018). 13 Ways to Target Generation Z. [online] Zazzle Media. Available at: https://www.zazzlemedia.co.uk/blog/target-generation-z/#gref.

www.prettylittlething.com. (n.d.). Diversity | PrettyLittleThing. [online] Available at: https://www.prettylittlething.com/diversity.

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The planet pillar relates to fashion’s environmental impact on the planet. Everyone benefits from prioritising the health of the planet. We all must ensure sustainability is holistic in its ethos and execution. Major trends nurturing our planet include creativity, value creation for all stakeholders, social and cultural responsibility and increased awareness of the importance of education and transparency in business supply chains. For example, online fast fashion retailers ASOS (Asos.com, 2020) and PLT (www.pltmarketplace.com, n.d.) have recently launched marketplaces where consumers can buy and sell unwanted secondhand fashion items, preventing them from going to landfill and extending their product lifecycle.

We must also remind ourselves that the fashion industry is incredibly damaging to our planet’s environment and it has a massive strain on the carbon/water cycles. The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all global emissions, one t-shirt and one pair of jeans use five thousand gallons of water to produce; contributing to 20% of industrial water pollution globally. Also, over 60% of garments contain fabrics derived from fossil fuels (Thomas, D. 2019); finite natural resources high are in CO2. Consuming fossil fuels at the rapid rate we are currently isn’t sustainable; as the demand is much higher than the supply. 

In 2015 Adidas and Stella McCartney launched the first ever garments made with Evrnu’s Nucycle yarn and KOBA fur free fur; a sustainable, recyclable animal alternative made from recycled polyester and plant-based plastic (www.stellamccartney.com, n.d.)

The UN issued seventeen Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. Goal thirteen ‘Climate Action’ aims to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. The mission of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action aims “to drive the fashion industry to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050 in line with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees” (unfccc, 2018). Sustainable fashion ensures garments are made in a way that is mindful of many environmental issues. Circular fashion is a sustainable approach which ditches the linear “take-make-waste” model and instead asks the fashion industry to close the loop on production, including responsible manufacturing, use, and end-of-life for every garment. It’s a regenerative system in which garments are circulated for as long as their maximum value is retained, and then returned safely to the biosphere when they are no longer of use. Patagonia has a programme that allows customers to return every one of their products for recycling, to make into new items; “from polyester, recycled nylon, down and wool – this company advocates for the earth at every turn.” (Recycle Coach, 2022).

References:

• Asos.com. (2020). Hot New Brands | Labels & Vintage Boutiques | ASOS Marketplace. [online] Available at: https://marketplace.asos.com.

• www.pltmarketplace.com. (n.d.). PLT Marketplace | Buy & Sell Clothing | PrettyLittleThing. [online] Available at: https://www.pltmarketplace.com.

• Recycle Coach. (2022). 8 Ethical Companies that Recycle Clothes (+Fashion Waste). [online] Available at: https://recyclecoach.com/blog/8-ethical-companies-that-recycle-clothes-fashion-waste/.

• www.stellamccartney.com. (n.d.). Designer Clothing | Latest Luxury Fashion | Stella McCartney UK. [online] Available at: https://www.stellamccartney.com/gb/en/?ad=mainline&ad=RSA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-fmZBhDtARIsAH6H8qgC3w0YBsgYM6C3Tefm7jOwhtDg8KjUAhd-xeQybU8fnlBPGIA2dwgaAg-0EALw_wcB [Accessed 6 Oct. 2022].

• Thomas, D. (2019). Fashionopolis : the price of fast fashion and the future of clothes. London: Apollo.

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• United Nations (2022). Goal 13 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. [online] sdgs.un.org. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13.

• unfccc (2018). About the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action | UNFCCC. [online] Unfccc.int. Available at: https://unfccc.int/climate-action/sectoral-engagement/global-climate-action-in-fashion/about-the-fashion-industry-charter-for-climate-action.