As part of creating my documentary , It is important that I conduct some secondary research that will be used within the making of it. This research will help me in terms of presenting my information and applying it to my piece. My documentary is based on careers in the Fashion Industry so my research will be based on this topic.
The Fashion Industry
What is the Fashion Industry? The fashion industry is a globalized sector that works to meet the demand for apparel and dictates the trends that should be worn. Fashion is best defined simply as the style or styles of clothing and accessories worn at any given time by groups of people. There definitely appears to be differences between the expensive fashion shows on the runways in Paris or New York in comparison to the mass produced styles / street wear sold in shopping centers and markets around the world. Fashion Designers and manufacturers promote their clothes not only to retailers but to the media and directly to customers.
As part of my documentary , It would be interesting to visit some local fashion shows. In relation to this , I have carried out some research into fashion shows which would accompany potential wall paper shots and cutaways. By the early 21st century , fashion shows were a regular part of the fashion calendar. Ready-to-wear fashion shows, separately presenting both women’s and men’s wear, are held during spring and fall “Fashion Weeks,” of which the most important take place in Paris , Milan, New York and London. These shows have huge commercial importance and they are aimed primarily at fashion journalists and at buyers for department stores. Extensively covered in the media , fashion shows reflect and advance the direction of fashion change.
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Fashion industry – Fashion retailing, marketing, and merchandising. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/fashion-industry/Fashion-retailing-marketing-and-merchandising#ref296478 [Accessed 15 Oct. 2019].
I am going to be looking at careers in Fashion in my documentary from the angle of somebody setting up a small business and striving to be successful within the fashion industry. The online market is so huge , so it is easy to get lost among the others who are already bigger.
https://thewardrobeoutlet.com/
The percentage of the fashion Industry market share currently is 7%. Currently around 555’000 people are employed in fashion , textiles and fashion retail in the United Kingdom. Most jobs in fashion related industries are in the retail sail of clothing. This is my focus in terms of my documentary which is why I want to visit some retail stores in and around cities in the UK. This sub industry employs 75% with 414,000 people working in the retail sale of clothing. Also the retail sale of footwear and leather goods provides a fair amount of jobs in fashion, about 11 percent, 59,000, employers work within this sector. Another 8 percent, 43,000 employers, work in the wholesale of clothing and footwear. With respectively 34,000 en 5,000 positions, 6 percent and 1 percent, the least amount of jobs are in the manufacturing of wearing apparel and the manufacturing of footwear.
Fashionunited.uk. (2019). UK fashion industry statistics. [online] Available at: https://fashionunited.uk/uk-fashion-industry-statistics/ [Accessed 15 Oct. 2019].
Fashion Companies
Top companies based on market capitalization
| 1.Burberry: | 10 billion |
| 2.Next: | 7.16 Billion |
| 3. Mark & Spencer: | 6.18 billion |
| 4. ASOS: | 6.18 billion |
The biggest company in the UK based on its market capitalization is Burberry. The luxury fashion company is valued over 10 billion dollars and had revenue of 3.8 billion dollars in 2017. Burberry sells its products through retail and wholesale channel, retail sales accounted for 77% of revenue compared to 22% from wholesale.
Fast-fashion retailer Next is the second largest fashion company in the United Kingdom, based on its market value of 7.16 billion pounds. Next is mostly active in retail market in the UK, where it makes most of its 4.0 billion pound of annual sales. Only a small part, 2 percent, of Next’s’ revenue comes from international retail. Marks & Spencer is number 3 in the Top 10 largest fashion companies in the UK. It is currently valued over 7 billion pounds and has annual sales of 10.3 billion pounds. With a market value of 6.2 billion dollar ASOS is fourth largest company in the UK and has annual sales of 1.8 billion pounds. The online fashion store sells over 850 brands as well as its own range of clothing and accessories. International retail sales for ASOS accounted for almost 63% of total retail sales.
Social media has definitely increased everyone’s appetite for fashion due to the fact that it exposes an overload of new information and products. Although Fashion is easily and quickly copied nowadays. This change of pace in production and competition has brought problems such as damage to the environment, loss of value, fashion waste and unethical behaviour.
How has fashion changed over the years ?
Fashion is extremely fast paced and constantly changing and women’s fashion especially has always changed over the years. The fashion Industry is a multi million dollar industry that has been around forever. It is unique from any other industry and is largely ruled by change. Decade after decade , new trends have been introduced heavily influenced by pop culture , music and inspiring style icons at the time. Trends are still being used to this day from 50, 60 years ago and we are just as consumed by fashion icons , instagram influencers and fashion bloggers. Today the fashion industry is a highly reputable , competitive and influential business and peoples commitment to fashion and wanting to work in the industry is still , if not more passionate.
Manufacturing
From the invention of the sewing machine , to the rise of e-commerce , fashion is always going to be forward looking and cyclical. The £2.4 T fashion sector is one of the largest industries in the global economy. Fast fashion has created an instant gratification mentality. Brands like Zara, H&M, Top Shop, and Forever 21 have built their businesses on speed and agility. Once these retailers spot a new trend, they can deploy their hyper-rapid design and supply chain systems to bring the trend to market as quickly as possible. This allows fast fashion brands to beat original labels to the market. I recently have watched a documentary on BBC iplayer called Breaking Fashion as part of some research. This documentary is based on a new popular fast fashion brand called In The Style. Kylie Jenner , a huge fashion icon was seen wearing a particular body suit on instagram , and founder of In The Style wanted to create a similar garment. The team managed to get samples , fit the product , order stock and put it up online within just 10 days before any other retailer got the chance. This shows how competitive fast fashion is and how fast paced it can be. Some garments that are walked in in fashion shows are often replicated by fast fashion stores , enabling them to sell online before they hit the original stores. With a nearly real-time ability to get the newest styles on shelves, fast fashion brands can also push out broader varieties of clothing styles to cater to the preferences of smaller, more targeted segments of customers.They can also push smaller runs to test the waters for customer demand, or sell collections for hyper-short lifespans.
No more fashion seasons
The rise of fast fashion has definitely effected the biannual seasonality that has always structured the Fashion industry. To keep up , traditional apparel brands are now debuting around 11 seasons a year. Fast fashion brands may issue as many as 52 weekly “micro-seasons” per year. Topshop, for example, introduces ~400 styles per week on its website. Social media accelerates that cycle. Influencer marketing and other social media strategies help new trends travel fast, creating rapid consumer demand for hyper-cheap fashions. Shoppers act on that demand instantly. Fashion Nova is one example of a fast fashion e-commerce brand that has successfully leveraged social media to build its customer base and its brand. The company has more than 15 million followers on Instagram, as well as more than 3,000 influencers, known as #NovaBabes, promoting its clothes. Fast fashion brand Boohoo has said that its profits doubled after paying celebrities to promote its products on Instagram to 16- to 24-year-old fans.
CB Insights Research. (2019). The Future Of Fashion: From Design To Merchandising, How Tech Is Reshaping The Industry. [online] Available at: https://www.cbinsights.com/research/fashion-tech-future-trends/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].
year 2 media blog 