Since the lockdown began over a month ago, the demand for loungewear has soared by 322%. As more and more of us grapple with working from home, comfort has become key. But, with many of the Autumn/Winter shows being cancelled, what does this mean for fashion going forward?
Read MoreThe French philosopher Denis Diderot defined the ‘fourth wall’ as an imaginary barrier that divides an audience from the world in a theatrical play. This barrier forms a setting to transport the audience into an imaginary world, away from the real world. Diderot’s concept of a ‘fourth wall’ can be used as a metaphor for the role of advertising in present-day economic system of production, distribution and consumption. There is an enormous disconnect between what Barthes calls real garment (produced) and used garment (consumed) as the represented garment (advertised/distributed) fails to mediate the truth between the producer and the consumer.
Read MoreThe role of the CEO in a brand is very important in making conscious transformations in the company. The barriers between CEO and shop floor create dominant social structures in house, which in turn hamper conscious structures of societies. Communication barriers and no personal involvement of the top team with shop floor pushes them to engage in practices that does not support transformative power of the organization in a positive way. All shop floors can hear is the economic growth driven voice of the CEO and they work towards luring customers to spend and consume unconsciously. Although one can argue that brands priorities are in keeping up with trends and current lifestyles of consumers, isn’t there a way they can use it towards transforming lifestyles? While sales driven autonomous corporations and economic growth driven governments think that fostering conspicuous consumers to buy more and more seems like a victory to them, it is not.
Read MoreOne in five people in the UK has a form of disability or impairment, and collectively these individuals are recognised as having a spending power of £249 billion. Now known as the ‘purple pound’, this staggering sum of money isn’t entering into the UK economy because of the many physical barriers which prevent those with disabilities from fulfilling their potential as consumers. Research carried out by the disability charity Purple revealed that nearly 50% of disabled shoppers have given up on making a purchase because of poor customer service. The aim of Purple Tuesday, which takes place on 13 November during the pre-Christmas shopping period, is to make retailers more conscious of this untapped consumer group.
Read MoreThe Halloween outfit I might wear this year, but which I fully expect to be lost in translation on the mean streets of Muswell Hill, is that of “An Influencer” from Urban Outfitters. Photos of it have been DMed to me a few times by people who loved Fashion Roundtable’s The Power of Influence event in July. Oh the irony. My son might be in his 3rd year as Dracula. And it’s not just me recycling Halloween costumes. Mintel’s research cites that 75% of us will reuse the outfit: will November be the month we all decide that a skeleton suit is in fact the new millennial pink body con?
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