swhartonfashrev-blog

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Artist Daria Kurtulmus creates beautiful art pieces out of unwanted clothing.

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#internationalwomensday

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Mind mapping to help create and refine concept for Fashion Revolution PR campaign.

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PESO Analysis mapping some of the PAID, OWNED, SHARED and EARNED channels of communication Fashion Revolution currently has- giving us a better idea of what they could add/ change.

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PESTLE Analysis Reflection

To determine and understand the external factors influencing the fashion industry and in turn, Fashion Revolution, I conducted a PESTLE analysis. By doing this, it will become easier to grasp what content the brand already has, needs and will possibly manifest in the coming months.

When looking at the political factors currently influencing the fashion industry I found that Brexit is a large element to the industry’s future. By leaving the European union, Britain may face a surge in the price of clothing due to importation fees being heightened and current agreements/ restrictions being lifted. For Fashion Revolution, this means only bad things as sustainable clothing is inevitably going to become more expensive, meaning the working-class majority are more likely to buy cheap and unsustainable clothing from brands like Primark and Boohoo.com. Not only this, but when looking into economic factors effecting the industry, I found that the idea of Globalization too poses issues for Fashion Revolution. Globalization within fashion means that not only for people buying from all over the world, but too that the competition between brands is at its peak, resulting in lower prices, unfair trade and underpaid labor.

Other economical elements relevant to the industry include things such as exchange rates, which may implicate luxury brands because they often earn revenue and generate costs in many currencies. For example, when Switzerland unpegged the Swiss franc from the euro in 2015, the Swiss luxury watchmaker Swatch experienced a 15 percent rise in costs, and its shares quickly dropped by roughly the same amount.

Another interesting element I looked into during my PESTLE analysis was the idea of social media influencers. This social factor is shown to govern the fashion industry in both positive and negative ways however for Fashion Revolution, I struggle to see how ‘insta-famous’ stars benefit the campaign. Often promoting fast fashion brands, these mini celebs tend to glorify cheap luxury brand knock-offs, without thinking about the bigger picture: sustainability. With millions of followers buying from the recommended brands influencers tell them too, the question of thought leadership comes into play. Picture perfect Instagram posts with catchy captions have never been so instrumental to the fast fashion brands with 2018 seeing 367 million people join the social media platform. Furthermore, ideas of tribal behaviour and buying clothing just to post for recognition and affirmation, is growing more and more each day. For Fashion Revolution this means that the idea of sustainable clothing becoming more universal, may be diminished as the demand for cheap, fast clothing is more apparent than ever, especially amongst those active on social media platforms like Instagram.

Next in my PESTLE analysis I looked at environmental contributing factors to the industry and found that overpopulation is too a posing issue for fashion revolution. More and more people are born each day meaning that the demand for clothing is increasing rapidly. Around 80% of the world population is living in poverty meaning that a lot of people will resort to fast fashion for practicality and the fact it is affordable. However, an important point to make is that with 80% of the world in poverty, a lot of the people possibly have already adopted a make-do-and-mend attitude. Fashion Revolution names reusing and repairing clothes as a way to support the movement, diminishing the need for fast fashion and helping reinforce a sustainable fashion industry.

Technology is a huge influencing factor on the fashion industry currently and could be used to Fashion Revolutions advantage in many ways. Firstly, with advances in areas such as social media, smartphones and apps, it is almost too easy for any brand including Fashion revolution to get their ideas and concepts out there at very little cost. Not only this, but methods such as psychographic data collection mean that brands today can find out a lot more about their consumers and what they want/ what they will be influenced by, meaning that brands can easily tailor advertisements to their consumer profiles to achieve the most effective outcomes. The downsides to technological advances include artificial intelligence and the idea of robots taking over human jobs, making fast fashion and clothing even less expensive and more appealing.

Lastly, as part of my PESTLE research into Fashion Revolution and the industry as a whole I looked at any legal factors that may implicate how fashion is distributed. Human rights laws mean that consumers and fashion workers are protected against poor quality products and unfair labour however in places where these laws don’t exist in the fashion industries i.e. China and Bangladesh, workers can be found underpaid and working in unsafe conditions. For Fashion Revolution this poses issues in that legal professionals need to be targeted and influenced by the movements campaigns amongst all the other issues they are dealing with currently.