Fashion Trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Fashion Trends - Essay Example The essay "Fashion Trends" talks about the role of marketing in the popular fashion trends. Therefore in a way, one of the significant concepts of fashion is to develop a sense of personal importance or self to the consumer. This concept of self is further reinforced through marketing campaigns which tend to confirm consumers’ views and opinions on a fashionable product. Fashion can also be attributed with developing the notion of identity in certain communities. The creation of identities and concept of self is a necessity in the fashion industry, as the consumer has choice, and fashion outlets cannot really distinguish themselves on price. The only differentiation will therefore come from the personalities and identities they are aiming to attract. For example, a certain fashion chain may design clothing for consumers who like to emulate catwalk and celebrity fashion, and this message and product they are offering will need to be communicated to the consumer using the approp riate channels, so that they can attract the most in terms of consumer numbers. Marketing in fashion is therefore responsible for creating a relationship between the manufacturer, retailer and customer. The purpose of marketing in this instance is to influence the consumer and direct their purchasing pattern to the intended product. The need to influence purchasing decisions, and to align products to identities and personalities, has resulted in the new concept of fashion marketing, which is â€Å"the application of a range.... and to align products to identities and personalities, has resulted in the new concept of fashion marketing, which is "the application of a range of techniques and a business philosophy that centres upon the customer and potential customer of clothing and clothing-related products and services, in order to meet the long-term goals of the organization" (Okonkwo 2007, Zavrnik and Mumel 2007:p11). This relationship between fashion and marketing has created interdependence between the two, which has raised the bar in the way fashion design is promoted. This interdependence has changed the view of fashion design and marketing, which previously relied on consumers to define their preferences and choices. The current view of fashion design and marketing has meant that the onus is no longer on the consumer to define the style they want. The diagram below illustrates the relationship between fashion and marketing: Table 1. The fashion marketing concept. Source: M. Easey. Fashion Marketing. Blackwall Science. London 2002, p.7. Table 1.0 demonstrates that if the concern for fashion design, customers and profit is low, then it is likely that an organization will fail to fulfil its objectives, as this situation leaves the organization open to disregarding customers' preferences which will affect profits (Easey 2002). However, by having a high concern for fashion design, customers and profit, objectives will be driven by marketing which is designed to influence and persuade consumers to change certain behaviours, which puts the control back with the organizations, and not with consumer. By controlling demand, organizations will be able to control the trends and the nature of the market. This subject area is important for a number of reasons: marketing has been able to