Rachel Johnson

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Purpose.

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Purpose can be defined as the deeper meaning and philosophy that brands follow and therefore apply to their practices, a Harvard review defining it as the overarching ‘goal of a business’ and the ‘essential reason’ that they have been established; purpose driving the decisions that are made and the outcomes that are desired. To achieve such a purpose, McKinsey (2020) identifies several key areas that should be focused on; portfolio and products, people, processes, performance, positions and engagement. By doing so not only can businesses elevate their purpose, but it also means that it can be clearly translated to the consumer and therefore influence their decision. Therefore, brand philosophy is a principal factor as it often determines the consumers response to the brand, the products they sell and the profits that they make – the current consumer being particularly demanding of social engagement and ethical practices.   

One example of a brand who have made efforts to communicate their brand philosophy is Stella McCartney. The overarching core message of Stella McCartney is one that focuses on sustainable practices that prioritise surrounding environments and those that are reliant on them. For instance, in 2021 Stella released its ‘capsule collection’ which aided Greenpeace in stopping deforestation. As suggested by Londrigan et al (2018), Stella McCartney’s practices have considered the growing demand for sustainability in its consideration of the environment; their continued action meaning a philosophy of sustainability has become embedded in their brand. 

Brand philosophy, demonstrated through practices such as sustainability, has been driven by Gen Z in their demand for ‘authenticity’ and redefinition of ‘corporate responsibility’ to consider ethics and values over profit (Finneman, 2020). To communicate such a purpose, Doyle (2021) notes the way in which brands have had to adapt their strategies to suit the platforms, such as TikTok, that are most typically used by Gen Z; 60% of TikTok users being Gen Z. Also, in their demand for authenticity and personal relationships Gen Z have turned to influencers such as Alix Earle, Emma Chamberlain and Olivia Neill who act as relatable characters through their vulnerability (Balis, 2023). Many brands have successfully leveraged such characters and incorporated them into their marketing approach, allowing them to reach and translate their philosophy and overall brand message to Gen Z of whom are particularly resistant to traditional advertising. For instance, Levi’s recently collaborated with Emma Chamberlain on a collection that emphasised patchwork and the importance of repairing clothes in creating sustainable practice.  

Balis, J. (2023) ‘How the Best Brand Influencer Partnerships Reach Gen Z’. Available at: https://hbr.org/2023/06/how-the-best-brand-influencer-partnerships-reach-gen-z?ab=at_art_art_1x4_s02 (Accessed: 28 October). 

Doyle, B. (2023) ‘Tik Tok Statistics’. Available at: https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/ (Accessed: 28 October). 

Finneman, B. Rahilly, L. Spagnuolo, E. (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: 28 October). 

Joly, H. (2021) ‘Creating a Meaningful Corporate Purpose’. Available at: https://hbr.org/2021/10/creating-a-meaningful-corporate-purpose (Accessed: 28 October). 

Londrigan, M.P. Jenkins, J. (2018) Fashion Supply Chain Management. 1st edn. New York: Fairchild Books. 

McKinsey & Company. (2020) ‘More than a mission statement: How the 5Ps embed purpose to deliver value’. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/more-than-a-mission-statement-how-the-5ps-embed-purpose-to-deliver-value (Accessed: 27 October). 

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Profit

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When defining the four pillars, profit refers to the revenue a business generates after covering expenses, such as manufacturing costs. With a total global revenue of $1.5 trillion in 2022 (Statista, 2023) the fashion industry can be described as one of the most profitable and largest growing industries with an estimated annual growth rate of 1.27% (Fashion United, 2023). When looking at specific brands, Louis Vuitton of the LVMH group is of the greatest financial value with Forbes (2020) estimating a total of $47bn in brand value and therefore suggesting the continued relevance of classic luxury brands. However, due to the rising popularity of streetwear and sportswear amongst Gen Z (Wong, 2019), as seen with the boom of brands such as Supreme, Nike and Palace in regard to menswear, and Lululemon amongst womenswear (Berlinger, 2019), Forbes (2020) listing Nike as the second most valuable brand, after LV, at a combined value of $216bn, many brands have attempted to capitalise off the athleisure wear boom through collaboration or unique collections. For instance, Gucci previously collaborated with Palace and most recently launched a collaboration with Adidas.  

The previously mentioned examples demonstrate brands attempts to remain competitive through following and therefore capitalising off trends, often using trend forecasting and prediction tools, of which are available externally (e.g WGSN) but may also be internal to the business (Mitterfellner, 2023). Furthermore, the competitiveness of brands is also particularly reliant on their social media presence; for instance, Hethorn (2015) identifies the way in which social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools with 5/6 millennials stating that they use social media sites to interact and stay informed on brands and their practices. One brand who have successfully integrated social media into their marketing approach is Marc Jacobs with their launch of the ‘heavn’ Instagram page to promote the release of their ‘heaven’ collection, the page featuring many popular figures amongst Gen Z/Millennials such as Ice Spice.  

Creative directors play one of the most important roles in bridging the gap between creativity and profit by not only generating sales and therefore revenue through successful collections, but also through demonstrating a strong and clear ‘artistic vision’ (Mitterfellner, 2023). Furthermore, it is also important that they incorporate and clearly reflect the ethos and vision of the brand, of which can often act as a major selling point. For example, Stella McCartney, designer of her self-titled brand, has ensured that their message of sustainability is continued throughout the brand in its products and practices; incorporating sustainable materials such as ‘vegan’ leather, organic cotton and recycled polyester. (Wolfe, 2022) 

Reference List.

Statista, (2023) ‘Fashion & Accessories‘ Report. [online] Available at: https://www-statista-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/markets/423/topic/463/fashion-accessories/#overview (Accessed: 21 October 2023).

Fashion United. (no date) ‘Global Fashion Industry Statistics’ Report. [online] Available at: https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics (Accessed: 21 October 2023).

Forbes. (2020) ‘The World’s Most Valuable Brands’. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/the-worlds-most-valuable-brands/#562febdd119c (Accessed: 21 October 2023).

Wong, Z.B. (2019) ‘Supreme Appeal: How Brands Use Streetwear To Attract Gen-Z‘. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zoewong1/2019/07/31/heres-how-brands-are-using-the-streetwear-trend-to-attract-gen-z/ (Accessed: 21 October 2023).

Berlinger, M. (2019) ‘The next billion-dollar streetwear brand‘. [online] Available at: https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/next-big-streetwear-brands-supreme-palace-off-white (Accessed: 21 October 2023).

Mitterfellner, O. (2023) Luxury Fashion Brand Management: Unifying Fashion with Sustainability. 1st edn. Milton: Taylor & Francis Group. 

Kim, E. Fiore, A.M. Kim, H. (2011) Fashion Trends: Analysis and Forecasting. 1st edn. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 

Hethorn, J. Ulasewicz, C. (2015) Sustainable Fashion What’s Next?: A Conversation about Issues, Practices and Possibilities. 1st edn. London: Fairchild Books.

Wolfe, I. (2022) ‘How Ethical is Stella McCartney?’. Available at: https://goodonyou.eco/how-ethical-is-stella-mccartney/ (Accessed: 21 October 2023).

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People

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Of the four key pillars, people is the way in which fashion interacts with society and the individuals that compose it. People have the overall power with their ability to choose which products they consume and therefore which products are successful; brands choosing to take an approach in which they target specific and niche audiences, such as Urban Outfitters who appeared in the BOF Gen-Z insight report (Schneider et al, 2022), or taking a general approach in catering to a wide range of consumers, like Zara in their expansive product range (e.g homeware, beauty).

When breaking down the consumer base of fashion, Gen Z are identified as one of the largest groups; accounting for than 40% of buyers. One of the most key differences between Gen Z, of whom are born in the 90’s and 2000’s, and other generations such as millennials is the way in which they desire transparency from businesses; McKinsey (2018) labelling them as the ‘true gen’ who seek to redefine corporate responsibility by putting a greater emphasis on values, such as inclusivity and diversity.

As a result, in order to attract and retain Gen Z, of whom have a relatively low rate of retention with only 30% stating they have a ‘go to brand’ (McKinsey et al, 2023), brands need to make effort to reflect the values of Gen Z. For instance, Rhianna’s chain of brands under the Fenty name have made major steps in regards to diversity; her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty using a diverse range of models, such as plus size model Tabria Majors, and reflecting this in their products with underwear sizes ranging from XXS-4XL. Such diversity, is one of the key reasons for Fenty’s success amongst Gen Z; 63% having an awareness of the brand (Statista, 2023).

Furthermore, it can be said that the usage of influencers and social media is one of the most successful ways businesses can target Gen Z, of whom can be described as ‘digital natives’ (Francis et al, 2018). For instance, Louis Vuitton recently signed influencer Emma Chamberlain as a representative; Emma being LVMH’s first influencer signing and being a significant figure amongst Gen Z with her combined following of 15.7m.

However, it can be said that authenticity is also a key skill that businesses need, with Gen Z not being afraid to call out brands on practices such as greenwashing and tokenism. Zara, for example, was criticised for their release of an ‘ungendered’ collection that claimed to be gender neutral with its feature of items such as basic and loose fitting athleisure; however, the collection was critiqued for only including elements of masculine style and completely ignoring feminine elements of fashion (Sciacca, 2016), therefore purely attempting to capitalise off the concept of gender fluidity.

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Planet

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In regards to the 4 pillars of sustainability, as defined by the Fashion Business School, planet puts an emphasis on the environmental impacts that businesses have and the way they acknowledge such impacts; sustainable practices balancing both contemporary and future needs (Hethorn, 2015) . In previous societies, the ecological impacts of fashion were minimal; slow fashion being that of a common practice with processes such as remodelling, saving fabrics and the sale of unwanted items (Hethorn et al, 2015); even prior to these processes, production was laborious with fabrics being created through time consuming methods. However, in the 1960s a greater awareness was raised for the shift that had occurred with the growth of consumerism (Gwilt, 2020) being highlighted due to the development of industrial technology, of which allowed for rapid and mass production; thus further leading to the development of what is now defined as ‘fast fashion’ with brands such as Zara, Shein and Primark being at the forefront of this modern day development.

In response to the ever increasing issue of sustainability, such as a growing poverty gap and a rapidly increasing climate, the United Nations (UN) introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s); these goals highlighting areas of focus and giving an overview of the ways the identified ecological issues can be overcome. For instance, ’12’ places importance on ‘responsible consumption and production’; this being something the fashion industry often fails to prioritise, further resulting in its label as one of the least sustainable industries with it being responsible for over 40,000,000 tonnes of textile waste each year (Conde Nast, 2021) and 8% of CO2 emissions. In order to align with such a goal the fashion industry must place greater emphasis on implementing sustainable practices not only in the production process, but also in the usage and aftercare of products; polyester garments releasing significant amounts of harmful chemicals in the washing process (Italian National Research Council, 2020).

In order to reduce such impacts and further align with the SDG’s, a circular economic model is suggested. A circular economy addresses ecological issues, such as climate change, through detaching consumption and production from the usage of finite resources; finite resources being those that cannot be renewed, such as oil and natural gases (Allaby, 2006). Furthermore, this circular economy is reliant on the development of more sustainable future systems; it being argued that the three most important features of these new design methods are the elimination of waste in the production of garments, the circulation of products, and the regeneration of natural resources (EMF Foundation, 2013). A key example of such implementation is that of LVMH and their partnership with weturn in creating a recycling chain that repurposes offcuts from ‘major fashion houses’ into new fabrics.

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My Favourite Fashion Brand

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Founded in the year 2000 by Frans Truelsen, GANNI can often be described as contemporary brand whom primarily focus on producing ready-to-wear collections. Initially, GANNI was established as a line of cashmere clothing; however, after being taken over by the Reffstrup family, GANNI shifted its focus and instead took a more diverse approach and began establishing itself as a luxury brand.

GANNI Butterflies!

When comparing GANNI’s prices to other retailers, such as Chanel, a ‘high end brand’, and Zara, a ‘fast fashion’ retailer, it can be said that GANNI is a luxury brand with lower prices when compared to other luxury retailers; for instance, the majority of GANNI apparel falls under the $1000 price point. The reasoning for such pricing, according to CEO Nicolaj Reffstrup, is that it is very much the ‘sweet spot’ in regards to creating balance between costs and benefit balance. Although, there may be a shift in such middle range pricing following the recent, and particularly rapid, growth of GANNI as revealed by Net a Porter who listed GANNI as one of their top 20 selling brands.

One of the most notable features of GANNI is its emphasis on sustainable fashion, something that is particularly stand out in a world where fast fashion sales account for over 200 billion units each year. For instance GANNI recently unveiled a new repurposing scheme whereby production waste, such as excess material, is recycled and used to create new garments. Alongside, GANNI also works closely with its suppliers in order to tackle its carbon emissions, recently stating that they have identified the ‘carbon hotspots in the supply chain and were developing ways to mitigate such ‘hotspots’. Tactically, GANNI has also ensured that such efforts in regards to sustainability remain profitable; for instance, they recently joined a pilot alongside other major brands, such as H&M, Patagonia and Reformation, that raised over $13.5m upon its startup in order to test an entirely carbon negative production and supply chain.

Additionally, GANNI has made sure to incorporate inclusivity and representation into the brand. For example, it has put particular emphasis on size inclusivity as shown by its collaboration with online retailer Honoré; the collection featuring pieces that were typical of GANNI’s signature aesthetic and ranged from sizes UK 4 to 24. More recently, GANNI also collaborated with the popular lingerie brand PARADE. The collection not only put an emphasis on sustainability, each piece being composed of recycled materials, but also accessibility with sizes ranging from XS-3XL. Although, despite putting so much effort into producing responsible and curated products GANNI is still able to maintain its signature look; the Parade collaboration featuring archival GANNI prints such as leopard and floral.

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