Nicole Ioannou

About Nicole Ioannou

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Profit

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Profit is one of the biggest parts of the fashion business and any business for that matter. Profit helps keep the companies in balance and ensures they can keep their companies running stably and successfully.

Statista has estimated the market size in 2022 to be around 1.53 trillion US dollars. However, this number decreased from 2021 as the market peaked after it increasingly dipped in 2020 due to COVID-19 but is set to increase to 1.7 trillion US dollars in 2023. The different sectors of the fashion industry can massively affect the overall market size depending on economic, political, seasonal, or environmental factors. This is shown through loungewear peaking throughout COVID-19 and an increase in winter or summer clothes depending on climate change or how much people are travelling which was little to nothing during COVID-19. The women’s US market size is set to be around 163 billion, more than men’s and children’s US market size combined. There is also a higher increase in the second-hand market as the newer generations look for a greener future. (P. Smith, 2023)

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Figure 2 (Smith, 2023)

Every year brands must learn all different ways to cater to their audiences facing different issues around every corner. It’s a struggle for brands during uncertain economic times, but there are multiple ways they can figure out how to work around this. Brands are unable to use the same strategies they once used multiple years ago as they went from magazine articles to TV advertisements to social media. Social media is such a vital role in fashion and a lot of people look to it to help them with their own personal styles. Normal people can become celebrities overnight just by people enjoying their content and the things they post online. Influencers have a much more accessible platform than celebrities, which is why so many people look to them, they are more relatable and started off in the same position as everyone else. By using this, brands can create a relationship with influencers and use their products to show off the influencer’s natural environments where their audience can be ‘Influenced’ by this ‘relatable’ lifestyle.

Creative directors bridge the gap between creativity and commerce by working with logistics understanding the business side of the company and implementing that into the creative side of the company. They understand what the brand needs visually and creatively for the business side to take over and be successful.

Bibliography:

Statista (2023) Global apparel market – statistics & facts. Statista: P. Smith. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/5091/apparel-market-worldwide/#topicOverview (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Mathew, J. (2018) Understanding Influencer Marketing And Why It Is So Effective. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/07/30/understanding-influencer-marketing-and-why-it-is-so-effective/?sh=be4c8f71a94b (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Mitterfellner, O. (2023) Luxury Fashion Brand Management Unifying Fashion with Sustainability. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=7260416 (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Picture bibliography:

Smith, P. (2023) Secondhand apparel market value worldwide from 2021 to 2027. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/826162/apparel-resale-market-value-worldwide/ (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

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People

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Generation Z. The people of our future Generation. Gen Z is the generation roughly between the years 1996 and 2010, The generation is seen as the technical generation being exposed to technology and social media from such a young age and being brought up with them as part of their world which no other generation before had experienced. As a big part of this came great positives and negatives. The generation was exposed more to the media and informed about greater things going on around the world which has allowed them to become more culturally aware but exposed to the cruelty of the world from so young age. The authors, Fromm and Read express ‘Gen Z has never known a world without war and the world without war and the threat of domestic terrorism, (2018, page 2).

The biggest way brands can put themselves on the Gen Z radar is through social media, influencers and the Metaverse. As Gen Z has grown up on social media and has been exposed to online circles from such a young age, it’s a comfortable and safe environment for them where they feel they can explore and be their best selves. Fashion brands exploring those worlds will allow Gen Z to grow into those brands and eventually become a customer. ‘Zoomers spend time in virtual worlds to hang out with friends, with 90% of US Gen Z spending time playing video games and in virtual worlds.’ (Elizabeth Tan, 2023).

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Figure 1 (Kessler, 2022)

As Gen Z get older and start to impact the economy by deciding where they shop, brands have become aware that Gen Z is a very diverse generation who looks towards the future and not the past. Knowing this as a brand you would choose to follow the generation’s morals to become or remain successful moving on. For example, Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty lingerie brand received a lot of attention casting the first-ever male-plus size model back in 2020, which was praised highly on social media as it was something never seen before. (Larsen, 2022).

One of the biggest skills needed for a brand to be successful is authenticity. Moving into the adulthood of Gen Z, growing up watching the world slowly crumble around them and understanding actions have consequences, including fashion being one of the main killers. Consumers want something they can trust and rely on to bring something unique, innovative beautiful and most importantly authentic and sustainable.

Reference list:

Fromm, J. and Read, A. (2018) Marketing to Gen Z. Proquest: Ebook Central.

Tan, E. (2023) Gen Z: Digital Media Profiles. Available at: https://www.wgsn.com/insight/article/64d20ce7f01b130be5d3c3da (Accessed: 14 October 2023).

Larsen, M. (2022) Diversity & Inclusion in Advertising 2022. Available at: https://www.wgsn.com/insight/article/6316035377f700abf0168b5f#page7 (Accessed: 14 October 2023).

Rahilly, L. and Finneman, B. (2020) Meet Generation Z: Shaping the future of shopping [Podcast]. 4 August. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/meet-generation-z-shaping-the-future-of-shopping (Accessed: 14 Ocotber 2023).

Photographic reference: 

Kessler, A. (2022) Is Metaverse Fashion Week The Future Of The Industry? Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/metavese-fashion-week-decentraland (Accessed: 14 October 2023).

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Planet

Planet

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The planet is home to almost 8 billion people and almost every 1 out of that 8 billion people at some point in their past or future lifetime will harm the planet in some sort of way.

Some may argue that it is impossible to completely have a circular economy and that some of our day-to-day lives harm the planet without our knowledge. Fashion is one of the planet’s biggest polluters and the industry’s production processes, fast fashion brands and consumer habits contribute to the environmental downfall. “The fashion industry accounts got about 8-10% of global carbon emissions and nearly 20% of water waste” (BBC, 2020). Every time consumers buy even just one pair of jeans they use roughly 1,800 gallons of water, by looking around a room and counting how many people are wearing a pair of jeans you can work out how many gallons of water are flooding that one room alone.

Zara, one of the biggest high-street brands globally is also one of the biggest polluters globally. Producing ‘more than 450 million clothing items every day’ (EARTH.ORG, 2022) the brand is single-handedly polluting the planet with consumer habits encouraging it by cultivating their cheap prices and mass amounts of stock. The majority of Zara collections are trends or pieces produced before, which consumers can find either second-hand or will eventually chuck away once ‘out of style.’ On the other hand, Stella McCartney Is known for their sustainable image, their most recent runway Summer 2024 show in Paris was “Crafted from 95% responsible materials, it is our most sustainable edit to date.” The brand believes the ‘future of fashion is circular,’ and hopes to guide the way for other brands and set a positive example of how we can save our planet and how it needs to be implemented before it’s too late. (Stella McCartney, 2023). 

The planet is a community, those who are killing the planet are also those who are saving the planet while remaining naive to the situation. Most people do not realise what they are doing is killing the planet which is why learning is one of the biggest and the first step into moving to become a greener planet. The inner development goals teach people that as individuals they can make a difference, and the more people learn, understand, and grow the rest of the planet can follow.

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My favourite fashion brand

My favourite fashion brand

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Uniqlo

The brand started in 1984 and sells clothes for men, women, and kids. Uniqlo is a strong brand in my eyes as it has never disappointed me with the pieces I’ve purchased. They produce good quality affordable basics which is the key to building a strong wardrobe. They understand what their consumer needs in their day-to-day lives. They use technology to create tops that are able to cool you down and heat you up which allows you to wear more stylish pieces on top of these pieces that will keep you comfortable in any type of weather.

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