The fashion market and marketing basics

“Marketing bridges the gap between the intangibilities of fashion and the concrete realities of business”

The fashion market is broad, it caters for fashionistas to those who purchase simply for necessity. The industry has a 1.7 trillion global market value. I have been reading about the basis of the industry, and why marketing is such a key part of it.

There are clear different market sectors that have been created in the industry, to analyse data and work from it easier. The main sectors are; clothing, accessories, perfume and cosmetics and lifestyle and home wear. Within these sectors is further sub-sectors such as children’s wear, menswear and woman’s wear, to help further analyse.

The fashion industry can also be broken down into a basic Hierarchy; the first is Haute couture, then high end, then middle market, mass market and value market. Haute is so extravagant that it was expected to end, however it is actually surviving and thriving, with help from emerging new markets. Mass market is Highstreet such as H&M and Zara, and value market is discount retailers.

With ready-to-wear being products that can be available in all markets, and brands branching out and adapting different prices to branch out, differentiation between different levels is harder.

There are also some other newer fashion markets/levels such as vintage and sustainable fashion. Vintage fashion is becoming more and more of a prevalent level, with areas for vintage fashion in major stores such as Libertys. Sustainable fashion is also making a big statement, with major evidence of a new kind of luxury consumer, seeking eco-friendly luxury fashion.

Fashion weeks are a very essential part of the fashion industry. Although there are clear cities and times in the year for the shows, there are also many other international fashion week events.

London fashion week

Milan fashion week

New York fashion week

The globalisation of the fashion industry means that brands have to now cater to both the northern and southern hemispheres. This development lead to more annual releases and shows; pre-season, resort and pre-fall.

The industry is constantly expanding, and about to grow even more thanks to new up and coming regions with new wealth. Brazil, Russia, India and China are the key regions for growth (BRIC). Russia is a key target for luxury brands that are also affordable to the middle class. China has experienced a recent increase in interest in western apparel/Highstreet fashion, and India has a new surge of wealthy middle class people looking for luxury. The UAE has been and will continue to also be a key area for growth in the industry, looking for the most prestigious luxury brands. Future regions for growth to keep an eye on are Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa.

The outline of marketing, and its key purposes are…

-          An understanding of customer requirements

-          The ability to create, communicate and deliver value

-          A social process

-          An exchange process

-          A managerial and business process

In modern marketing, content in terms of constant up-to-date material on websites and social media, is key.

Extensive primary and secondary research into what the consumer actually wants eg; focus groups.

As is predicting trends, mainly due to lead times and the time it takes to prototype.

Marketing is considered a social process within fashion due to its ability to create style tribes. Style tribes are groups of people that dress the same way, something that marketing teams play on, and help bring together. Style tribes are a way of celebrating peoples self-expression, and feel belonging.