Fashion Journal

FA S H I O N JOURNAL

A journal detailing the ongoing events & developments in the fashion industry.

Fashion is a unique creature as it is constantly evolving with new technologies, ideas, and events.

Fashion merchants have many trends to focus on in order to remain relevant as the industry.

This fashion journal had been developed to highlight the happenings that may impact the fashion industry. I have also included pieces of advice that will help with creating and maintaing a good brand and image.

FROM THE EDITOR

As a soon to be graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design with a focus in Fashion Marketing and Management, I find it important to focus on these events for personal use as well as business purposes.

-Jennahepp

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Knowledge is power.

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CONTENTS

03 05 07 09 11 13 15 17 19 21 23

From the Editor Table of Contents Chanel Remains Relevant Not the Word “Mall�

Building a Brand Image is Everything Nomadic Concept Store Stacy London: Style Evolution Understanding Millennials A New Fashion Trading Model Resources 05

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We believe there is a story of Chanel about mothers and daughters. That’s part of the DNA of the brand, to be able to talk to all of these generations.

CHANEL REMAINS RELEVANT

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September 24th, 2017 Chanel has done a remarkable job in keeping up with the influence of the new generationthe Millennials. Rather than directing their attention toward well-known influencers to reach their target market, Chanel has invited young Lily-Rose Depp becuase she is a daughter and a friend of Chanel.

The brand has a reputation for remaining true to their long-term celebrity strategy.

“The term ambassador, ambassadress, is very important to us. They need to be able to talk about the brand, to be able to explain the brand, to feel the brand. Every time we have done something that has no link with the brand it fails,” Pavlovsky says. “To be able to develop such a relationship with Lily-Rose, Kristin, Vanessa Paradis, it’s more about having something to share. They need to be connected with Mr Lagerfeld, with [image director] Eric Pfrunder, with [studio director] Virginie Viard. It’s not that you simply have a contract and you come in and fulfill obligations. You can do that, but I’m not sure about the impact of doing it like that.”

Chanel recognizes that the younger consumers will soon be the main customer of their brand, as well as all other brands. It is expected that 45% of the global market for personal luxury goods will be taken up by Millennials and Generation Z in only eight years. The brand has also taken into account the rise of experience driven shopping habits in their changing customer. The Millennial and Z generations are becoming more motivated to visit a store or location if something interesting is going to happen, or if they can participate in an event. They desire something new and tangible constantly.

This, paired with the advancements in technology and social media, has led Chanel to believe that the brand needs to be bringing something additional to the conversation in order to engage their customers.

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October 1st, 2017 In the past few years, the word mall has become less and less glamorous. “Going to the mall” no longer has the excitement associated with the activity, when ten years ago it would become an event of its own and a day trip for families and friends to enjoy.

Millenial and Generation Z shopping habits have been pushing away from shopping in the department store anchors. Rather, people desire an experience that can range from shopping, to food, to entertainment in a few minutes.

NOT THE WORD “MALL”

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One company in particular has noted this change of interest and made drastic changes to cater to their customers. Westfield is a multinational mall operator that is attempting to change the notion that malls are dead. “The answer to making the word mall relevant again, Westfield and many of its competitors say, is to transform these properties into community centres that aren’t totally focused on apparel retail. The strategy rests on the hypothesis that the internet may be killing the mall, but humans still desire interaction.”

Westfield has been adapting to the changing environment by shrinking their operations from 69 to 35 mall centers in the US. They are aiming to become the highest quality retail real estate company in the world. The company choses to focus on the entertainment drivers when building their new shopping areas, including food, entertainment, fitness, and health in the offerings.

What differentiates Westfield from other mall developers targeting this experience form of shopping is that they are turning the centers into community hubs that are location specific in respect to the provided services.

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October 8th, 2017 The concept of brand building has shifted over the years to encompass much more than simply selling products and putting a name on it. We expect much more, as the Millennial generation, to go along with a brand-- their image, media, retail, and publicitiy. The chief officer of Business of fashion suggested that this shift indicates something to all brands. “Before you can build a brand, you need to have the right product and a vision of where it fits within a wider culture.” The vision of how this fits into a wider culture is playing a large role in the success of brands in the modern times, as is a good qualitiy product for the right customer.

BUILDING A BRAND

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In the fashion industry, creativity is key to remaining on top with your brand. Holli Rogers, chief executive of Browns Fashion, advices “It goes back to: how do you shake up something that has existed for almost fifty years and make people take note again? Who’s your customer and who are you trying to appeal to? But also what do you want it to be? It’s taking all of those elements and mashing it together.” This can involve rebranding an entire company to evolve your brand with your customers, including changing the logo, merchandising, packaging, and digital platforms.

The lifecycle of what is relevant is constantly speeding up in fashion, making cultural relevance important in branding. Katie White, managing director of i-D and Amuse is focused on this idea of cutlural relevance.

She states, “The first challenge is the technological aspect of their platforms and the second is that brands may have lost their relevance in culture, perhaps because they’re telling too much of the heritage story, or they’ve got things slightly wrong in terms of which subculture they’re trying to market to.”

Additionally to cultural relevance, creativity, and the right products, collaboration plays a hand in creating a brand. In fashion, we understand the importance of collaborative efforts and the same goes for building a brand. Everyone must work together, on the same page. Excellent photography can create awareness for a brand, as can amazing social media. By combining all of these pieces of brand building, one will be able to develop a lasting brand that leaves and impact on their customers.

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All that is left to share is the spectacle, the game that nobody plays and everybody can watch.

-John Berger

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING

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October 15th, 2017 Image is literally everything now. Our image now consists of whatever we post on our many social media platforms, from Instagram to Twitter. It is all curated and photoshopped, selfcritiqued until we feel it displays exactly what we want it to. A social pressure has developed from this, creating an expectation that each person share their edited lives with others. And rather than this image coming from others such as magazines or photographers, we are now in charge of this ourselves. We are the “writerdirectors and stars and cinematographers” of our image-selves.

No longer is image a focus directed toward a brand. Image now indicates a self-image, for an individual. The brand itself is a person, rather than a company. Image allows us to express our ideas and opinions directly. Each picture that we share is also sharing our beliefs. This is where image becomes “image” — when a picture becomes something larger, like reputation, or eventually it becomes branding.

The Millennial generation as well as Gen Z are the most educated in image. We instinctually know the effort that goes into a curated image, we know the worth of a pair of sneakers. We know when a picture is photoshopped and we know when something is fake. This image culture is influenced by authenticity as much as any other part of our Millennial world.

With this in mind, Generation Next has a potential to create real impact, has a real opportunity to change things. We own what we project. It allows us to share our thoughts and create different opinions on both the every day and the contraversial topics. This gives us a power that previous generations have lacked.

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October 20th, 2017 The concept of retail stores has quickly become revolutionized through Farfetch’s Store of the Future retail solution. Farfetch is an online retail platform that recently aqcuired Browns- a cult London boutique. The retailer chose to create a new shopping experience utilizing Brown’s uniqueness. They stated that they were going to be “pioneering a mix of technology and in-store experience” with this store concept.

This store of the future is located in London’s Shoreditch. The building that houses Browns East is a 2-story abandoned print

NOMADIC CONCEPT STORE

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factory. Browns has been well loved for their heritage of successfully blending fashion with incredible in-store experiences. By changing and evolving with their customers, Browns has remained relevant. This DNA of theirs has allowed Farfetch to create their new store of the future concept with Browns being the center.

The store embodies a nomadic concept. This can be seen in the fluidity of the entire space, including a series of installations made up of freestanding, moveable features. They developed an open-floor concept to capture the essence of nomadity, utilizing a mix of bright and subdued tones, man-made and natural materials. This concept sells apparel, art, furniture, fragrance and anything else that catches the buyers’ eyes. The technology exists to help shape a connected retail experience, subtly augmenting the customer’s shopping experience. This approach is extremely flexible, allowing for Farfetch and Browns to work together with their customers to create the store of the future.

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October 28th, 2017

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Stacy London: Fired from Mademoiselle, style correspondent to the Today Show, author of several lifestyle books, actress on Broadway, and style guru on the hit show What Not To Wear. She has worn many hats of complete different nature throughout her career and yet she has never allowed lack of knowledge or failure stop her from putting her all in. This had lent to her success but also helped her to find her true self.

I’ve learned from my own experiences that we all evolve, and we all need to have clothing that makes us feel beautiful, and safe, and comfortable.

-Stacy London

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STACY LONDON: STYLE EVOLUTION

She has a personal stake when it comes to style and fashion, and yet she finds that her opinion on these subjects has shifted recently. Fashion is slow to evolve and Stacy believes that people feel pressured to purchase clothing in order to fit in and feel relevant. Through her many life experiences that have caused her to think about style and fashion, and feeling relevant, Stacy has come to a few conclusions.

What Not To Wear may not be where she is now in her life, but she is still proud of the

show. It was one of the first platforms that told women they did not have to be rich, thin, or young to be stylish. She distinguishes fashion as an industry and style as an individual because they are so different in comparison.

Although she thinks that her show was successful in one sense, Stacy has decided that she does not want to tell people what to wear any longer. She would rather talk to people and help them to translate who they want to be to the world. People must evolve their style in order to reflect who they are in the moment.

Through drastic personal changes, including multiple surgeries, Stacy has realized that compassion is vital in any industry. People all deserve to be respected, as well as one’s self.

Work stress, lack of support, and ignoring the need for compassion ultimately are the factors that led Stacy to step away from styling.

Now, she has chosen to listen to her body and to be less demanding when it comes to her job. I believe that there is much to learn from this style queen as a prospective graduate, and soon to be career hunter.

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UNDERSTANDING MILLENNIALS

November 1st, 2017 The Millennial generation has been the focus of many conversations in the fashion industry.

This generation is quickly coming into adulthood, with a greater power in making decisions and an overall effect on the world.

They relate on a deeper level than most when it comes to authenticity, individuality, freedom of speech, and global connectedness. These beliefs are having a trickle-down effect as the smart brands realize that they must align themselves with the Millennial generation.

This creates a stronger tie between the customer and the brand and is important in remaining relevant as a brand in the modern retailing industry.

Three macro trends have quickly been rising among Millennials recently. As long as brands acknowledge these trends, incorporating them into their system, they will be successful in communicating and maintaining customers.

These trends include Poly Identification, Indefinite Optimism, and Elevated Baselines.

Poly Identification is hihglighting the way in

which Millennials chose not to be restrained by one specific stereotype. Rather, they can move from “box” to “box” metophorically.

This has given way to a belief that climbing the traditional career ladder should no longer be expected. Millennials do not view themselves as having one image, rather they can be an entrepreneur who wears many hats and accomplishes many different tasks. They believe that by being their true self no matter the situation or expectation, they will find happiness.

Indefinite Optimism is defined as the belief that a great future awaits us without the kind of plans or willingness to accept risk required to get there. Rather than proactively making leaps and bounds, Millennials believe in small nudges toward what they already know rather than a new reality.

Elevated Baselines indicates that doing something good is to be expected and is no longer applauded. If a company or brand is not following the elevated baseline, they can expect strong criticism by Millennials. This can reflect poorly on a brand if handled poorly.

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November 7th, 2017 Many platforms have been created in the past few years catered toward Millennial ideals. One of these characteristics of Generation X is that they don’t need to own everything. Rather, renting is becoming a popular concept among this generation.

Uber and Lift have accomplished this concpet within the transportation industry. No longer does a person need to own a vehicle for transportation, nor do they have to suffer through public transportation such as busses or taxis. Similarly, the idea of renting apparel and accessories has taken hold in the retail industry.

becomes very successful using this model is Rent the Runway. This is an online retailer that rents out dresses and other clothing items for any occassion the customer sees as necessary. The items are leased at a discounted price compared to the original and are available for purchase if the customer loves it.

This concept of renting has many benefits in the eyes of the Millennial generation. They are able to wear items that they otherwise would never even touch, such as designer pieces that would be out of their price point.

Many personal styling services allow their customers to rent and Many companies have also developed a community return their clothing items. One example of a company that has around this idea of renting clothing. In addition to community, renters are being environmentally conscious. This can encourage new customers to try a brand without feeling pressured to spend too much money on something they do not yet trust.

A NEW FASHION TRADING MODEL

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People, including generations other than just the Millennials, are increasingly liking this idea of renting in all aspects of their lives. No one wants to be photographed in the same outfit twice and no one wants to worry about parking in a crowded city. This is why business concepts like Uber and Rent the Runway are revolutionary in accessing a new consumer trend.

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RESOURCES

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/professional/decoding-chanels-gen-z-strategy https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/how-to-save-the-mall https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/education/inside-the-industry-how-to-build-a-brand-in-fashion https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/op-ed-when-image-is-everything https://www.wgsn.com/fashion/ https://www.wallpaper.com/fashion/browns-opens-a-nomadic-concept-store-in-londons-shoreditch http://www.refinery29.com/2017/10/178279/stacy-london-unstyled https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/op-ed-what-you-dont-know-about-american-millennials https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/millennials-follow-uber-with-new-fashion-trading-model 23