Individualisation as Opportunity? Do mass-produced

INDIVIDUALISATION AS OPPORTUNITY?

Given that increasingly fewer customers are willing to buy the same thing, both retailers and brands are sitting on full warehouses. The magic formula to solve the problem is individualisation. How much individuality can fashion tolerate? What happens when it gives the customer a say? Text: Stefanie Buchacher. Illustrations: Claudia Meitert@Caroline Seidler

UNCONSCIOUSLY INVOLVE CUSTOMERS Sophia Bitter, CMO of Airfield

“For me, fashion is no longer about the exclusive ownership of beautiful clothing, but about the individual experience with the garment and the added value it conveys. The customer is increas ingly eager to move away from mass-produced goods and uniform looks towards special qualities, new silhouettes, and background stories. In our world, where the customer is confronted with speed, unpredictability, and loneliness, the need for individuality and at tentive customer service in fashion is gaining momentum – beyond the established sales behaviour. In the course of sophisticated incentive programmes, it makes sense to unconsciously involve the customer in the development process.”

FASHION BEYOND TRENDS Pien Stieglitz, CEO and Creative Director of Stieglitz

“How much individuality can fashion tolerate? Our principle at Stieglitz is: Be yourself, show yourself! Stand by yourself and express your per sonality through your choice of clothes. Stieglitz strives to be as unique and independent as the great women who wear the label. We believe in ourselves and tread our own path, far away from fast fashion trends. Our designs are resistant to hypes, can be combined beyond collections, and can be worn over several seasons. This, in turn, makes the collec tion sustainable. We are constantly striving to improve by responding to our customers, their wishes and needs. Which designs and prints do they like best? Which fabrics? With each collection, we strive to become better and more sustainable.”

FROM CUSTOMER TO CREATOR Marc Rosen, Executive Vice President and President of Direct-toConsumer of Levi Strauss & Co.

“It’s different from anything we’ve done before. We’ve done customised t-shirts. We’ve done embroidery on our trucker jackets, but customising jeans takes personalisation to a whole new level. It takes our relation ship with the consumer to the next level – helping them personalise, understanding what they’ve made, understanding what inspires them, and understanding what they might want to make next. It deepens our connection with the consumer, as well as it deepens their connection with the brand. It is now our denim and their design, but what it does for our business model, is that it totally transforms how we operate. This affords us a whole new level of opportunity. When we think about what this transformation means to us, it is really a shift from selling what we make, to making what we sell. And that transforms every single part of our business model. It is a shift from promoting products that we have, which we possibly bet on too early and were possibly wrong about, to inspiring consumers with what they can create.”

DEEP CUSTOMER DIALOGUE Michael Donaghu, Vice President of Innovation at Nike

“Fit is a personal thing. Our mission is to solve problems for athletes with intelligent products [such as the self-lacing, motor-driven Nike Adapt BB that can be controlled via an app]. What’s more, you don’t just connect with footwear through Nike Adapt. You connect with Nike. What do I mean? Imagine a cycle, where opting in creates data about your activity to inform personalised guidance from Nike. And as your performance improves, we can connect you to new products and services for your new goals. For most footwear out there, buying the shoe is the end of a transaction. But here, buying the shoe is just the beginning. These con versations have the power to unlock benefits we’ve never seen before. It also helps us make products better via a unique conversation between you, Nike, and your shoes — one in which you decide what data you share with us, and when. We started this journey in basketball, but we’ll be expanding the technology later this year across more performance and lifestyle categories.”

REAL RELATIONSHIPS Hussein Chalayan, designer & lecturer at HTW Berlin

“I believe individualisation is often a challenge when it comes to production of goods. One of the answers is to have many more niche designers who can cater for the needs of more individuals by building communities with their consumers. In my opinion, this model is currently a very powerful and effective way to work. Relationships can guide the designer to really have a purpose, whilst also not losing sight of their own vision. This means that the fashion industry needs to lend even greater support to small er brands. Right now, the sad reality is that the global fashion industry has much more time for conglomerates and the brands they own, celebrity fashion, or rich brand owners.”