Xiaoxuan Fu

About Xiaoxuan Fu

Posts by Xiaoxuan Fu:

Purpose

⋅

Purpose is the last of the four pillars being introduced at London College of Fashion. It underlines the reason of brand’s existence as well as delivering the message directly from the design and production to the customers.


Brand philosophy, also known as the mission; vision; value; proposition of brands. Brand philosophy is also the key on making effective communication with their costumer, especially Gen Z who would intentionally seek for information behind each products. Bo Finneman stated in the Mckinsey podcast: “They’re looking beyond tangible products and actually trying to understand what is it that makes the company tick.” (2020). This presents the individuality of identity that Gen Z customers would hold, which illustrates the amount of information that brands are required to output in order to attract this specific group of customers. The importance of brand philosophy has been picked up by more brands, this can be noticed from brand’s website. Lululemon has included a section named community, containing sustainability; social impact; inclusivity and diversity, which are the fields that Gen Z customers would seek for in order to resonant with the brand.

By having more active customers in the fashion market, brands are encouraged to give firm stands on political and social views, as audiences, especially Gen Z customers have the habit of agreeing the brand values when it comes to purchasing items. In response to the change of consumption method, brands have started to publicly support events and activities which are in relation to equality and inclusivity. From famous street brands, such as Fear of Gods, designing merchandises only allocated for supporting minorities; to designer brands, such as Beepy Bella, selected specific items for raffle to support BLM events, are all examples of showing attention and care that has been delivered from brands (Vogue, 2020). Collaborations are also the skills that brands use these days to communicate their purpose from a different perspective. The collaboration between Nike and Ambush has been a success as it has successfully delivered its message on self- expression, which is the interested field of Gen Z customers, as well as making a decent profit. The written content included in the collaboration page can deliberately deliver the message from the designer to the customers which allows a deeper connection to be made.

Bibliography

  1. Farra E. , Yotka S. Auctions, Raffles, and Other Ways Independent Fashion Brands Are Supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement. Published on 9 June 2020. https://www.vogue.com/article/auctions-raffles-and-other-ways-independent-fashion-brands-are-supporting-the-black-lives-matter-movement
  2. Lululemon Community page. Lululemon official website. [online] Available at: https://www.lululemon.co.uk/en-gb/c/community/about-us/our-sustainability Accessed at 6 November 2023.
  3. Meet Generation Z: Shaping the future of Shopping (2020) McKinsey & Company. [online] Published on 4 August 2020. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/meet-generation-z-shaping-the-future-of-shopping
  4. Nike Official website, collaboration section. [online]Published on 25 July 2023. Available at: https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/the-nike-x-ambush-collection-amplifies-sport-style-self-expression
Liked Liked
No Comments

Profit

⋅

The pillar profit is tightly linked into the fashion industry as all industries are driven by profit with no exclusion. The profit of the industry, breaks down into specific brands, this determines the level of success it gains.

The fashion industry is the fourth largest industry in the world, with the value of $2.5 trillion (Amed, Et al, 2020) . S.Major stated: “However, the fashion industry encompasses the design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, retailing, advertising, and promotion of all types of apparel. ” (2023). This suggests the complexity of the fashion industry, as well as stating how different sectors within the industry are tightly linked together to work most effectively.

Being adaptive and respond quickly are essential skills in the fashion industry when facing uncertain economic situations. COVID-19 has been one of the most significant economic downhill in the recent decade. Although fashion industry has been one of the industries that was least effected, due to its uniqueness and irreplaceable element of fashion, actions were still needing to be taken to avoid any damage as possible. Multiple brands have decided to collaborate with brands that target slightly different group of customers, which would refresh the impression of the brands as well as sharing a wider group of potential customers. A great example would the collaboration between MM6 Maison Margiela and Salomon. The profits produced from this collaboration is well proved by its popularity and sales volume. It has been recorded by Lyst Index, rating the 10th on the “Q1 2023 Hottest Products” (2023).

Figure 1: Q1 Hottest Products. The Lyst Index, Fashion’s Hottest Brands and Products Q1 2023

Creative director of brands are also the key people to effect the profit of the brand. Karl Lagerfeld, is one of the greatest examples when showing what impact a creative director can bring to a brand. Karl have used different strategies on leading different parts of the brand. For example, as the creative director for Chanel, his involvement was extensive (runways and behind the scenes), whilst for Fendi, he was more involved on designing the collections. (Mitterfellner, 2023) By creating memorable elements, it can well balance between the commerce and creativity of the brand.

Figure 2: Chanel Spring 2019 collection, ELLE.

Bibliography

  1. Amed, I. , Balchandani, A., Berg, A., Hedrick, H., Jensen, J., Rölkens, F. The State of Fashion 2020: Corona Virus Update. 2020. [online] Mckinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/the%20state%20of%20fashion%202020%20navigating%20uncertainty/the-state-of-fashion-2020-final.pdf
  2. Mitterfellner, O. Luxury Fashion Brand Management : Unifying Fashion with Sustainability. 31 July 2023. [online] Taylor & Francis Groups. Avaliable at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=7260416
  3. The Lyst Index: The Fashion’s Hottest brands and Products Q1 2023. [online] Lyst Insights. Available at: https://www.lyst.com/data/the-lyst-index/q123/ . Accessed 18 October 2023.
  4. S. Major, J., Steele, V. Fashion Industry. [online] 6 Oct. 2023. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/fashion-industry. Accessed 18 October 2023.

Image Reference

  1. Chernikoff.L.R, Chanel Brings the Beach to the Runway. [online] Published on 2 October 2018, ELLE. Available at : https://www.elle.com/fashion/a23560987/chanel-spring-2019-collection/
  2. Q1 Hottest Products. The Lyst Index, Fashion’s Hottest Brands and Products Q1 2023 [online] Available at: https://www.lyst.com/data/the-lyst-index/q123/ . Accessed 18 October 2023.
Liked Liked
No Comments

People

⋅

People is another pillar of the four pillars of the Fashion Business School. People is essential in fashion as they are the direct producers and consumers in the fashion industry. With the development of the current society, the youngest generation, Gen Z, has became more dominant in the fashion industry.

Gen Z has been known as digital natives, hence the reason that they would be able to adapt the major change between physical and digital components in the industry (McKinsey, 2020). By getting to know the internet and digital devices, the formation of Gen Z’s identity has been influenced massively by the internet. Rather than fitting into the crowd, the majority of the Gen Z consumers in the fashion industry would like to be standing out, which suggest the trend of Y2K, vintage being a major trend again. Gen Z consumers as a group also appreciate the level of involvement that brands provide with areas of equality and sustainability . The level of input on social media can also directly impact the level of interest in Gen Z. Recently, fashion luxury brands, such as Vivienne Westwood has been using 3D modelling and rendering videos of their products in a larger scale with the surrounding of the reality. By posting them onto social media, this has quickly attracted people attention, especially the Gen Z consumers.

Figure 1: Vivienne Westwood Official Instagram Reels(2023)

Brands in the industry have also made changes to the mode of business in order to adapt Gen Z’s consumption habits. Changing the major advertisement method from physical stores to online advertisement has been a big change to the industry with the purpose of fitting in with the Gen Z consumers. The major fashion magazines have their own online websites which is adapting the the habit of consumption of younger consumers, especially Gen Z. Elle, a trend leading magazine, has also successfully included diversity in their editions. In the May, 2018, South Africa publication, Elle has chosen to use Winnie Harlow, who is a model representing diversity from the dominant market.

Figure 2: ELLE South Africa (May, 2018)

In order to be successful in the current fashion industry, it is important to be sensitive on the daily topic as well as the current trend. Gen Z consumers do not only look for items they would like to purchase, but also seek and absorb knowledge and additional information, especially around their interested fields.

Reference

  1. ELLE South Africa, May 2018. Available at www.elle.co.za
  2. Vivienne Westwood. (2023)https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyQaiCqsbXM/?igshid=YjVjNjZkNmFjNg==https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyQaiCqsbXM/?igshid=YjVjNjZkNmFjNg==
    What is Gen Z? , McKinsey & Company. [online] Published on 20 March 2023. Available at https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z

Liked Liked
No Comments

Planet

⋅

Planet is one of the four pillars of London College of Fashion as they are deeply linked into the fashion industry and our lifes. Planet has been an extremely important elements in all fields of industry, especially the fashion industry as it is directly linked into human which are the consumers, further down into the environment that people live in, which is the planet.

Circular economy is an ecosystem that works in a close loop order to minimise the waste that is produced from all stages, from manufacture to retail (Stahel,2016). It is essential to be taking action immediately as it can reduce greenhouse gas-emissions by an enormous amount.

Sustainability is an important element in fashion in the present, as the state of pollution and other environmental harm produced by the fashion industry is harming the planet enormously. Fast fashion has been the biggest issue within the industry as the number of the garments produced from fast fashion brands are greater than the actual amount that is needed in reality, the brand are choosing rapid incomes by increasing the number of season collection every year. From the countless number of garments that are produced every year, 30% of the garments are already wasted before even making to the retail stage, which is extremely harmful to the environment, but also stating the current fashion industry is not well designed for sustainability and the circular economy is not well involved thoroughly into the industry yet.

SDG – reduced inequalities

The United Nations have published 17 Sustainable Development Goals (known as SDGs)in order to help moving the environment of the planet into a better stage. Equality is a very important part of the world as human are the dominance of the planet. By taking action on reducing inequalities in the fashion industry, it would be helpful for the world to be in a more sustainable stage. The Brand Lululemon has been taking actions from all different fields to show how they have been using their brand’s impact on reducing inequalities. Lululemon has included a separate. page on the menu with the title of ”Sustainability”, including contents of their choices on brand ambassadors; the projects that they are hosting and so on. Including an article on equal pay to their workers again shows how they are being inclusive and sustainable. By having impacting brand in the industry noticing the issues and be helping with the SDGs from different fields, the fashion industry is reduce its harm to the lowest to let the planet be in a better place. Condé Nast has also started the production of The Sustainable Fashion Glossary which is also an significant commitment on making changes to the planet.

Bibliography

  1. Condé Nast Glossary
  2. Lululemon official website.
  3. Stahel, W.R., 2016. The circular economy. Nature, 531(7595), pp.435-438.
Liked Liked
No Comments
Navigation page

My Favourite Brand: Charles Jeffrey Loverboy

⋅

Charles Jeffrey Loverboy is a fashion brand that emphasises strong personal style through the use of colours and patterns. The strong brand identity of punk and edgy style has been well known for. The brand delivers its punk element majorly through the styling and photoshoot for their products. The brand also uses moving image on its home page which is a different but outstanding decision in comparison to other fashion brands targeting the similar group of consumers.

Charles Jeffrey Loverboy is a brand that doesn’t intensionally differentiate its clothing into menswear and womenswear. This can be noticed through its navigation page. The brand has listed the different types of clothing as well as the accessories, but no clear gender guides are presented on the page. Accessories are the highlights of the brand besides their clothing, or might have been even more popular. The most well known accessory of the brand is the ear-shaped beanie, which has been used in styling projects with high frequency, especially in Korea. The style of the brand is also delivered through the colour and the patterns from its products. Base on the genre of the beanies, the brand has chosen to use very strong and high-concentrated colours or with strap patterns in contrasting colours, which is iconic as a brand.


Being influenced from the Scottish background of the designer Charles Jeffrey, the brand uses a massive amount of plaid in their pattern designs. But unlike the traditional Scottish plaids, the brand often uses high contrasting colours in their pattern. The design of the clothings are also often more edgy with the tailoring or very sporty which shows contrast to what plaids would normally be used on. The brand also only establish one plaid pattern every season so the design of each season would be highly synced.

The brand established every season’s look book onto its navigation page. Within every look book, a video with narrated and edited runway show is presented at the top, following by the images of each look. The video of the look book is also narrated with the theme of the season’s collection, which is very interesting to get to know the true message that the brand wants to deliver through that collection. There is also a video available on the “About us” page, which is delivers its brand identity thoroughly. The style of punk, the use of graffiti are all highlighting the edginess and the fashion style of the brand.

Liked Liked
No Comments