What Should We Expect From 2024: Fashion Edition
Decoding the Future of Fashion: Key Insights from the Business of Fashion Report + analyzation of past marketing strategies
I love doing these articles because it gives me the most sense of pride whenever I publish one. I started exactly these days one year ago - there might be people who start going to the gym as a New Year’s resolution (I honestly stopped even trying) but mine last year was to create something completely mine, a project where I could express my opinions not only to my close friends but also to people who care about fashion probably as much as I do. This is it. I know I haven’t been constant but I must be honest, not having a stable job makes it even more hard to find the time to sit down and focus, and I wanted to write my articles only with the right inspiration. Going forward, you can expect more focused articles from me, specifically deciphering the latest advertisements or fashion runways or creative directors debuts that caught my attention and exploring various aspects of sustainability in the fashion industry.
Thank you to all of you who subscribed throughout the year, I sincerely appreciate it. Click ❤️ if you like the article, as it makes me better understand if I’m doing my job well.
Provocative Images Sell: Oliviero Toscani
Today I want to talk about why marketing as an institution is important not only to drive sales but to form and satisfy individual’s desires and produce a variety of consumer reactions. In the past, important acts of marketing proposed by brands that have shocked have in the end achieved the goal of paving the way for a greater future in our modern society.
We are well aware that a well-known marketing strategy has always been to shock and push buttons that you know are going to offend or get comments on. This is still a win for the brand because even if consumers might protest and have a strong reaction to the advertisement/ editorial/ dress or whatever it is, they won’t shut up about the brand, so goal achieved.
If we are talking about shocking advertisements that made people talk we are definitely mentioning Oliviero Toscani for Benetton in the ‘90s.
Oliviero Toscani is famous for his Benetton advertisements, where he wanted to depict images of reality because he understood the powerful voice that advertisements have and didn’t want to just say ‘Our sweaters are pretty’. As the art director of the brand, he published a series of provocative advertisements that were a nod to a series of sensible matters in everyday life as the AIDS crisis of the time, racism, and even blasphemy pictures against the catholic religion.
However, in today's media-saturated world, audiences are harder to shock due to their constant exposure to diverse and extreme content. What once might have caused widespread outrage or interest might now only generate a mild reaction or be quickly forgotten like for example when Diesel showcased a whole fashion show around the concept of sex and gave free condoms to all guests. Not that shocking anymore.
Thanks to the pervasive influence of media and significant societal progress, brands are now more aware of their public image and the importance of aligning with their consumers' values. They recognize that to stay relevant and maintain a loyal customer base, they need to do more than just sell products; they need to resonate with their audience on a deeper level. This involves openly sharing their values and taking stances on social and environmental issues to respond to the new consumer demands for responsible and ethical business practices.
Redefining Beauty: The Fashion Industry's Journey Towards Inclusivity and Authenticity
In the last 5 years, fashion has gone a long road to win battles for integration, listening to consumers’ demands regarding the evolving concept of beauty. Now plus-size models and even women and men of age are walking down the runway, most of brands are now making sure to represent everyone. There's been a significant shift in the dynamics of marketing power.
Other examples of the won battles -
Example 1: 2 years ago at Milan Fashion Week 2022 there was a fashion show created to have disabled women and professional models walk the runway to demonstrate how clothes should not be constrained only in thin bodies but also beautifully displayed by disabled bodies.
Example 2: in 2019, Gucci Makeup, under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, created an unconventional and experiential campaign to present a new collection of lipstick categories in 58 shades - in collaboration with Coty. The most significant part of the campaign is how the photographer portrayed the models - instead of having the perfect smile and the perfect skin all edited, he photographed imperfections, not editing gaps in between teeth and without making them look unnaturally bleached or straight. It is not surprising how much attention this campaign received on the internet, with comments discussing the novel beauty representation and many who gasped ‘Finally!’.
This is the perfect example of how a fashion marketing campaign can play a huge role in shaping and evolving the concept of beauty image in consumer’s minds.
Example 3: In 2020, Stella McCartney introduced the Shared Inclusive Capsule Collection, addressing the emerging gender fluidity trends from the rising Gen Z consumer base. Stella McCartney, consistently abstaining from using leather, fur, feathers, or skins in any of its designs, showcased the evolving concept of gender, mirroring the fluidity of gender identities.
This initiative is an expression not only of an organic cultural and social change in gender identities but also a powerful tool to enable people to recognise their latent needs and desires to feel fully included. (Stefano Prestini, 2023)
What should we expect from 2024?
Marketing: The most interesting prospectus is the new way brands will engage with consumers, the emotional bond that customers feel towards brands is expected to become increasingly important as fashion marketers shift their strategies to focus more on developing and strengthening their brands over the long term + a shift towards influencers that feel more relatable and spontaneous (BoF report 2024).
Sustainability: Brands and manufacturers have to gather up and work faster to reach the goals that the rules and the recent jurisdiction set to decrease the level of waste and pollution across the globe. Recently major fast fashion brands like Zara and Shein have stated that they will not provide for a free return anymore, any return will now have a fee. This is a starting point to have consumers buy more responsibly in the future.
Met Gala’s 2024 theme this year will hugely impact how brands will speak to their audiences from now on. The theme is Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, this means that we can expect amazing storytelling and a lot of influence from the fashion archives. Met Gala has a huge resonance each year but this specific theme seems to be a lot more important as Bernard (on TikTok) states. He says that ‘the fact that celebrities will wear archive pieces will show people around the globe that fashion is not only about new things but that ‘the old is the new NEW’, making it also a sustainable choice to wear something old instead of having a new dress created. I am not sure if I believe this since all about fashion seems a reconstruction of the old just disguised in modern style, nothing seems new anymore. It all depends on how the brands will engage with this theme, hopefully trying to share an important message about the old archive pieces.
Fashion Runways Prospectus: 2024 seems also to be the year of action. While in 2023 there have been lots of predicaments and announcements, in 2024 we are ready to see what the new arrivals have in store for the future of fashion - the new scene includes Peter Hawkins as the new creative director of Tom Ford, Tom Ford retiring from the scene, Chamena Kamali at Chloé, Sean Mcgirr at Alexandre McQueen. Givenchy and Moschino both need to find a new creative director as they are both left without one. Earlier last year after being appointed creative director of Moschino, David Renne sadly passed away.
Sports x Fashion: this year we will see a huge connection between the two more than ever before since LVMH is an official partner of the Olympic Games happening in 2024 this summer. We will see sports celebrating the fashion system - excited to see how brands will interact with the athletes and who they will choose to collaborate with!
Wishing everybody a great week! :)
See ya soon!