Fashion Industry Analysis Paper

λ TFC has to develop a unique strategy and differentiate its products to prevent copies.

Streamline operations, reduce costs, improve efficiency, maximize profit, minimize waste, devote talent to core business

Nowadays, the Sephora brand is available in 31 countries in 2,000 points of sale and features

What is more, this completion extends to designers as well since they strive to differentiate their products introduce innovative styles which can result in an inefficient use of resources and illegal business practices. This need for cost minimization is one of the reasons as to why the fashion industry exploits cheap foreign labor. The glamor, the runways and the exhibitions are just the front of a dark background. This industry works on the basis of subcontracting, where designers place orders with manufacturers who then hire sub-contractor to complete their orders. Since this industry is highly competitive subcontractor are given only take or leave option with often less payment compared to amount of work which forces them to resort to employing cheap labor in their own workshops which often end up resembling sweat shops. Even if this is not the case, designer brands have their own units to produce their goods. Recently many of the fashion retailers have been accused of underpaying their workers and violating international labor laws by running sweatshop. These involve extremely low wages, long working hours and poor working conditions. Earlier this month, factories in Cambodia were investigated for possible violation labor laws. These factories produced clothing for the fast fashion retailer H&M which was found to be paying their workers a measly wage of $61 a month by a Swedish TV program called ‘Kalla Fakta’(Keilla 1).

The 21st century saw a rising alarm about the intricate relationships between people, places and commodities and it is crucial to discuss the framework of commodity chains in order to study the gaps in the connection between consumers and producers. The globalization of the fashion industry is mainly driven by international retailers (Gereffi, Humphrey & Sturgeon, 2005: 79) and extends to every part of the world, leaving the Global South to suffer for the needs of the people of the North. These companies ignite globalization and majorly contribute to the increase in manufacturing jobs from the West. As pioneers of fast fashion, many major companies have a variety of ways in which they source across the globe.

Buyer Bargaining Power: This threat is very weak because lululemon sells directly to consumers, who rarely have haggling prices or other terms with sellers. Lululemon rarely sells wholesale, and when they do it is to support their grassroots marketing strategy to increase brand awareness. Although buyers could switch to a competitive brand, they would not receive the same psychological satisfaction of social status shown through clothing as they gain from buying products from lululemon. This and the fact that the brand’s reputation is important to buyers show that lululemon’s product ‘delivers quality or performance that is not matched by other brands.’ This superior quality and reputation drive the demand, creating the “lululemon cult phenomenon.” Lululemon also does a great job of combating any consumer bargaining gained through information on products by providing information on their trademarked fabric and technology, health, yoga, and upcoming lululemon activities on their website.

The size of the global industry is over 1,002,522 companies, while the US clothing stores industry includes about 100,000 stores with combined annual revenue of about $150 billion. Globally, the top companies are Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, PPR, TJX, and Industria de Diseño Textil.[6] In the US, large companies include TJX Companies (TJ Maxx, Marshalls); Gap; Limited Brands; Ross; and Abercrombie & Fitch.

The textile and apparel industry is one of the oldest and largest industries. The textile and apparel industry plays an important role in the United States manufacturing system. “Displaced textile and apparel workers, like employed textile and apparel workers, were more likely to be female than all displaced U.S. workers, and also were less likely to have a high school diploma and less likely to be a U.S. citizen” (USDA, 2014). There is one dependent variable to exemplify in this project, which is the U.S. textile employment rate and three independent variables related to the U.S. textile employment rate, including workforce gender, labor cost (wages), and ethnicity.

When given a choice between a pair of Prada shoes or a pair of Puma shoes, consumers are aware that both products will provide sufficient comfort and protection to their feet. Yet, when asked in a recent visual survey, which shoe they would choose to buy, 76% of people chose the Prada brand shoe (Appendix p. 1). Given that both shoes can achieve the same purpose, one asks why have so many people chosen that particular brand of shoe over the other? When contemplating the alternative brands of each shoe, it could be suggested that effective branding has enticed consumers to prefer the Prada shoe? The following essay will discuss how branding influences consumers luxury fashion choices.

Haug & Busch (2016) presented the model that explains the focus should be on “ethical consumer” in the context of fashion and the consumer is the victim. Ethical fashion should be ecologically friendly and ought to relate to working conditions throughout the entire supply chain, and the environmental footprint of the fashion production process. Literature provides the simplistic view on fashion actors ethics and responsibility. To provide a clari-on picture of the ethical fashion status one should identify the relevant actors and their cumulative influences. The application of informing system of EFSW transdisciplinarity, as shown in the figure 5, the stakeholder actors are the backbone of the fashion industry, they have the power and should take the responsibility for transforming the fashion industry to ethical and fashionable. There is an increased focus on making ethical products fashionable to solve the social and ecological aspects of the fashion industry as demonstrated by the cases (Cicret, OMsignal, Ringly & Beddit) presented in this study.

Bargaining power of customers: high, constant need for high quality footwear to survive, consumers changed preferences over the years.

Although most customers are unaware of the flaws of the clothing industry, some consumers are and do not care enough to act in a sustainable manner. The consumers lack care due to a combination of things. First off, consuming more clothing does not affect their day to day lives in a negative manner. These people have the mentality that if it does not affect me, it does not matter. One article articulates this lack of concern by millennial consumers perfectly, “They may care deeply about eating organic foods, but fast fashion consumption is exempt from such moral decisions. This approach can in part be explained by the fact that youthful consumers may fail to fully grasp issues of sustainability, in particular the disastrous future of environmental risks associated with unsustainable production” (World Financial Review). As we can see from this editorial, consumers are willing to buy organic products because they believe it will have a positive effect on their health. Clothing on the other hand is a

Improving Operation – This process is to “Achieve a quantum improvement in the firm’s efficiency, often by reducing costs, improving quality and service and reducing development time”. In this type of organization improvement are achieved by “reengineering business process, reducing development roles and responsibilities and redefining performance standards and measures”. The employees are made to work in teams, work across functions or other organizational boundaries and play a large role in identifying and resolving problems, while managers learn new skills, such as coaching and facilitating and rely less on monitoring and controlling”.

A couple of generations ago, a typical purchase decision for the average Indian would be choosing between, say, clothes and electronic goods whenever they had a little cash to spare. Today, the customers’ dilemma involves making up their mind between Prada and Gucci, Merc and Lamborghini. Marie Antoinette would say, “If they can’t have bread, give them brands instead!”

Some objectives can be measured in terms of achievement at some future period, while others will always persist. Objectives differ in term of content and the extent to which they are specific, but all have two common things: they express desired ends to be achieved, and they are expressed as formal company 's aims. There are different levels and types of