The fashion industry has been evolving since the dawn of time.
However, mass media like TV and Cinema became the primary propellers for various fashion trends.
From luxury to fast fashion and more.
Audrey Hepburn’s 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany well epitomizes the acceleration of mass fashion trends.
By the 1980s the most prominent fashion brands had been born like Fendi (1925), Gucci (1921), Prada (1913), Chanel (1909), Burberry (1856), Louis Vuitton (1854), Hermรจs (1837).
And by the 1990s those fashion brands would start being merged into giant, multi-brand luxury corporations (LVMH and Kering will give us the picture):
Only a few brands, (like Prada) would escape consolidation and stay independent.
Yet, while by the 1990s this trend consolidated, and by the 2000s, most of the Luxury Fashion industry is in the hands of a few giants (LVMH also managed to take over Tiffany).
In the same span of time, a separate phenomenon emerged: Fast Fashion.
While Luxury brands targeted the higher end of the market, by emphasizing quality, uniqueness (or at least scarcity), and status. Fast fashion brands focused on the opposite side of the market. Focusing on speed, variety, and low prices.
Zara epitomized that evolution, as part of the Inditex empire:
By the 2010s the web had finally managed to scale to billions of people and a further penetration happened as smartphones equipped with shopping apps took over.
This enabled a transition from fast fashion (with a focus on speed, shortened manufacturing cycles, and effective logistics, and focused on operating flagship stores where items could be easily distributed) to ultra-fast fashion (where the focus on speed was achieved also thanks to an only-online presence, thus cutting operational costs, and focusing on shorter manufacturing cycles and global logistics).
ASOS and Boohoo well represented this change:
On a parallel track, companies like Patagonia had been emphasizing much more on sustainability, thus building their brands on the premise of slow fashion.
While slow fashion took over, also another evolution of fast fashion made it to the masses: real-time retail.
Well exemplified by SHEIN, real-time retail brings the concept of fast fashion to another level. Where fashion trends are made and fast followed through digital channels, and also operations are primarily online and logistics global:
Key Highlights:
- Evolution of Fashion Industry: The fashion industry has been evolving over time, with various trends and movements shaping its development.
- Luxury Fashion Brands: Iconic luxury fashion brands like Fendi, Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Hermรจs emerged and later merged into giant multi-brand luxury corporations like LVMH and Kering.
- Fast Fashion Emergence: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M gained popularity by offering cheap and fashionable clothes with short design-manufacturing-distribution cycles.
- Differences between Luxury and Fast Fashion: Luxury brands targeted higher-end markets, emphasizing quality, uniqueness, and status, while fast fashion brands focused on speed, variety, and low prices.
- Transition to Ultra-Fast Fashion: With the web scaling to billions of people and the rise of smartphones with shopping apps, fast fashion transitioned into ultra-fast fashion. This involved focusing on an online-only presence, cutting operational costs, and shorter manufacturing cycles and global logistics.
- ASOS and Boohoo as Examples: ASOS and Boohoo exemplify the shift to ultra-fast fashion with their strong online presence and short sales cycles.
- Slow Fashion and Real-Time Retail: While slow fashion emphasizes sustainability and quality in the supply chain, real-time retail is a further evolution of fast fashion that involves instant data collection, analysis, and distribution to offer consumers a personalized shopping experience.
- SHEIN: SHEIN represents real-time retail, where fashion trends are quickly followed through digital channels, and operations are primarily online with global logistics.
Read Next: LVMH, Kering, Prada, Fast Fashion, Zara, Inditex, Ultra-Fast Fashion, ASOS, Boohoo, Slow Fashion, Real-Time Retail, SHEIN.
Fashion-Related Visual Stats
Read Next: Zara Business Model, Inditex, Fast Fashion Business Model, Ultra Fast Fashion Business Model, SHEIN Business Model.
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