# data[].attributes.body
Deloitte UK retail trends

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
AI is likely to have a significant impact on the retail industry in several ways.

1. Personalisation: AI can be used to personalise the shopping experience for individual customers. For example, it can be used to recommend products to customers based on their browsing and purchase history, as well as their social media activity.

2. Predictive Analytics: AI can be used to analyse data from various sources (such as customer data, sales data, and social media data) to make predictions about customer behaviour and trends in the market. This can help retailers to make more informed decisions about what products to stock, how to price them, and how to market them.

3. Inventory Management: AI can be used to optimise the management of inventory. For example, it can be used to predict demand for products, track inventory levels in real-time, and automate reordering processes.

4. Automation of repetitive tasks: AI can help in automating repetitive, mundane tasks like price checking, stock checking and much more.

5. Chatbots: AI can be used to create chatbots that can answer customer questions, provide recommendations, and even complete transactions without the need for human assistance.

6. Image recognition: AI can be used for automated image recognition for products in online retail, which allows for easier product search and category browsing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Although we are facing economic headwinds, multiple tailwinds including Artificial Intelligence (AI), retail media, the transition to renewable energy and the return of demand for physical stores are laying new foundations from which retailers can grow their businesses in the year ahead.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The State of Fashion 2021 Report: Finding Promise in Perilous Times | The Business of Fashion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
2020 was different from any other year and although it was very challenging, it opened doors for many new opportunities, innovations, and trends. Some of them originated years ago but some are almost exclusively owed to the unique past year. Many brands used this opportunity to enhance and advance their business models and therefore, start [...]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The European fashion industry registered the equivalent of six years' growth in online shopping penetration, rising from 16 percent of total sales in January to 29 percent in August.

Sales volumes in China could return to pre-crisis levels as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.

Global fashion sales are unlikely to return to 2019 levels before the third quarter of 2022. Any delay to a widely available vaccine could push this back to the fourth quarter of 2023.

In retail stores, corporate offices and throughout global supply chains, the Covid-19 crisis has devastated the global fashion industry. For many companies, the inevitable shakeout of the sector will be tough, and not everyone will survive. These are some of the conclusions from exclusive new analysis from The State of Fashion 2021 report by The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company.

To develop an early perspective on how the industry will fare in the next phase of the fast-changing Covid-19 crisis, McKinsey & Company's Apparel Fashion & Luxury Group has spoken to over 100 experts and senior executives globally, crunched a comprehensive set of company reports and surveyed consumers around the world.

There remains, of course, enormous uncertainty over both the health and economic outcomes of the crisis, but by forecasting the short- to mid-term economic impact and drawing up potential scenarios for the recovery of sales to 2019 levels, this new analysis provides some early and essential guidance for the sector in advance of the our full report, which will be released at VOICES, BoF's annual gathering for big thinkers, which will be held virtually from December 1 to 3, 2020 for BoF Professional members.
Revenue Collapse
The collapse of fashion industry revenues around the world this year has been unprecedented. In Europe, more than 40 percent of consumers have spent less money on clothes due to general and personal financial concerns and because they feel less need to buy clothing now they are at home far more than ever before.

Now, when consumers do spend money on fashion, their choices have become disproportionately influenced by product quality, practicality, comfort and value for money, with trendiness and style falling lower in priority, resulting in a marked shift towards basic and casual-wear items. In fact, following a deep, unavoidable initial dip at the outset of the crisis, sales in these categories are almost back to pre-crisis levels. This is in sharp contrast to formalwear and special occasion clothing, which has recovered to only 25 percent of last year's sales, according to a recent McKinsey European consumer survey.

In total, global fashion revenues were 34 percent lower in the quarters reported in April, May and June 2020 than the same quarter in 2019, and the industry is predicted to lose between $340 and $440 billion this year. An analysis of the balance sheet structure of European listed companies in the fashion sector reveals that up to three quarters of players would likely not survive without government support schemes. Assuming that these subsidies will not continue indefinitely, analysis by McKinsey predicts that 20 to 30 percent of companies in the global fashion sector are expected to go bust or be acquired by the largest and strongest companies.

This shakeout is already happening. Since the crisis started, fashion companies in Europe and the US - including Neiman Marcus & J.Crew in the US and Debenhams in the UK - with a combined annual revenue of $50 billion have filed for bankruptcy or are restructuring using government-backed insolvency processes.

Now is the time for executives to make bold decisions to get through these stormy seas.

"With many regions across the world now facing a second wave of the pandemic, we expect industry disruption to continue in 2021, with global recovery not occurring until the latter half of 2022 at the earliest," said Dr Achim Berg, global leader of the Apparel, Fashion and Luxury Group at McKinsey. "Now is the time for executives to make bold decisions to get through these stormy seas, whether they are about channel strategy, geographic focus, assortment planning or securing supply chains."
Charting the Road to Recovery
The situation may be better now than many feared during the initial outbreak, but given the continued spread of the virus and the economic impact of government support measures, fashion companies need to continue to plan for a range of scenarios in order to make critical decisions to secure their future.

As Covid-19 shut down city centres, online fashion sales surged.

In April, McKinsey surveyed more than 2,000 executives to get their perspectives on the pace and extent of the global economic recovery. Their predictions were gloomy, expecting GDP in the third quarter of 2020 to be around 12 percent lower than the same quarter last year. The reality today is bad, but not that bad - GDP has fallen by around 5 percent, which was on the more optimistic end of the executives' predictions.

There were also other signs over the past few months that help to provide a view into how the crisis may play out from here. As Covid-19 shut down city centres, online fashion sales surged. In just eight months, the industry registered the equivalent of six years' growth in the penetration of online shopping. Online sales rose from 16 percent of total sales in January to 29 percent in August, with Germany, the UK and Nordic countries driving much of the growth and similar trends of accelerated digitisation observed in Asia and the US. Some companies have reported double- or even triple-digit growth in their online businesses.

In just eight months, the industry registered the equivalent of six years' growth in the penetration of online shopping.

Many retailers and manufacturers have proved how flexible and agile they can be in scaling up their online channels - qualities that will be essential over the next couple of years. Although the adoption growth curve of online shopping will eventually slow, the overall trend should broadly sustain. More than half of consumers surveyed in early September said they planned to shop less in physical stores post-lockdown, especially while Covid-19 measures make the experience less enjoyable.

But what will happen when social distancing measures are relaxed and stores are properly re-opened? In the months after lockdowns were lifted in regions around the world, sales bounced back more quickly than expected. Consumers who, having been deprived of the opportunity for so long, eagerly returned to their favourite shops in high numbers. The release of this pent-up demand has meant that there have even been weeks where, for some fashion retailers, sales have returned to 2019 levels.

This dynamic was first reported in China in early May and has later replicated in Europe and - to a lesser degree - in North America, but it is still far from clear that these early signs of recovery point to a rapid return to pre-crisis spending. The big question is what will happen now that the summer is over in the northern hemisphere.

McKinsey Fashion Scenarios analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute in conjunction with Oxford Economics suggest that global fashion sales are unlikely to return to 2019 levels before the third quarter of 2022. Any delay to a widely available vaccine could push this back to as late as the fourth quarter of 2023. But these estimates mask the fact that there will be regional and market-level winners and losers, with the crisis exacerbating pre-existing trends in the sector, as well as stark variations in performance between markets. What is more certain is that recovery everywhere will be driven largely by online sales. Offline sales are expected to recover fully only once a vaccine becomes widely available.

In Europe, growth is likely to be on par with the global average, returning to 2019 levels only by late 2022. There will be sales spikes from holiday-season shopping and Black Friday in 2020, during which sales could rival last year's levels, but the overall trend is one of slow recovery. If a second round of lockdowns take hold, then the forecast is inevitably worse, with sales still down by perhaps 30 to 35 percent this year.

For the luxury sector specifically, European retail has been an important driver of growth. As Chinese tourists in particular continue stay at home, sales in the European luxury sector are predicted to fall even further, by 40 to 50 percent by the end 2020, with directionally similar drops anticipated in the US. These trends are unlikely to reverse before international travel returns to its pre-crisis levels.

The narrative is very different in China, where luxury customers are spending at home, helping to drive a faster recovery. By the end of the year, luxury sales in China could be 8 to 13 percent higher than in 2019, according to McKinsey Fashion Scenarios. Major shopping occasions such as Singles Day on November 11, 2020 and Chinese New Year on February 12, 2021 will likely see unique spikes in online sales. In particular, online marketplaces - such as Tmall and Taobao - should perform particularly well as they benefit from growing demand and increased supply, as retailers try to move their excess inventory.

In the US, the impact of the crisis on the fashion industry was initially less severe than in other regions, as lockdowns were implemented later and the nationwide distribution of stimulus cheques propped up consumer spending. However, even with a second stimulus cheque expected in the fourth quarter, the long-term recovery is likely to lag behind that of China and Europe, with a base case scenario recovery timeframe not expected until the first quarter of 2023, or as late as the second quarter of 2025 with a more conservative outlook.

This lagging US recovery can be attributed to dampened consumer sentiment extending into 2021, with total fashion sales in 2020 down 17 to 22 percent versus 2019 in a base case scenario. The holiday season is not expected to provide the same uplift in the US as in Europe, as company parties, charity events and other large gatherings are cancelled or move online, negating - or at least minimising - the need to spend money on new clothes. Full recovery to pre-crisis levels is anticipated no earlier than the first quarter of 2023 - a delayed recovery compared to Europe or China.

While there are still grounds for optimism in some fashion sub-sectors, channels and markets, demand will remain subdued well into 2021 and there will be inevitable casualties along the way. Only those companies that are flexible and responsive in their decision-making and who mirror consumer sentiment in their product offerings will be poised to seize the growth opportunities that emerge.

If you are already a member, register for VOICES here.
For senior executives who want to go deeper, a VOICES 2020 Executive Pass will give you access to a special knowledge pack, including a physical copy of The State of Fashion 2021, bespoke networking opportunities and a more immersive VOICES experience.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The State of Fashion 2021 Preview: Can the Industry Rebound Next Year?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
BoF and McKinsey & Company are pleased to share a preview of exclusive data from The State of Fashion 2021, our highly anticipated annual report on the future of the fashion industry, which reveals that the global fashion industry could lose up to 20 percent of revenues this year - worth up to a staggering $440 billion - and lays out potential scenarios for the year ahead as well as the timing of the sector's recovery.

# data[].attributes.body
New Sustainability Report Drapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Connecting the Supply Chain through Digital Agility | Drapers Guides

# data[].attributes.body
Must read latest study from Drapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Success in fashion retail was once predicated on having an instinct for the next big thing. But in an omnichannel, social media-saturated consumer environment, human powers of divination alone - even those informed by trend forecasters - are not enough.

The best fashion businesses are increasingly combining human with artificial intelligence (AI) to improve customer service, identify consumer trends, offer greater personalisation and to ensure their supply chain is as responsive as it can be.

Last month, Marks & Spencer announced it was replacing switchboard staff with AI technology to increase the speed it deals with customer complaints and queries.

The system recognises human speech and routes calls to relevant departments, and will be used in all 640 M&S UK stores by the end of this month, as well as its 13 UK call centres. It has the capacity to handle more than 1 million customer calls a month. M&S said 100 switchboard staff will be reassigned to roles in store.

Helping hand

Although M&S is using AI to create efficiencies and redeploying skilled staff elsewhere, a report from the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford last year forecast 80% of retail jobs are under threat from robotics and AI.

"We're going to see millions of lower-level frontline data-heavy jobs move over to AI," says Doug Stephens, retail industry futurist and founder of consultancy Retail Prophet.

However, many view AI as more of a saviour than a threat to human employees, as the technology becomes a key resource. AI can help fashion retailers predict and react more quickly to trends. The technology has the ability to crunch vast swathes of data, from catwalk shows and social media channels such as Instagram, to colour and style trends, enabling designers to create collections faster and merchandisers to plan more efficiently.

Within a few hours, AI can do what it takes fashion analysts a week to do

Danny Bagge, digital front office lead at IBM UK and Ireland

IBM worked with Tommy Hilfiger earlier this year to demonstrate this technology in a project called Reimagine Retail, which used AI to identify upcoming trends to enhance the design process.

"In fast fashion, merchandising and design teams' time is buried in that boring [trend analysis] research, which is non-value-adding because every fast fashion retailer is doing the same research," says Danny Bagge, digital front office lead at IBM UK and Ireland. "Within a few hours, AI can do what it takes fashion analysts a week to do."

Joel Edmondson, C&H business development at M&S, sees AI as a way to tackle issues with productivity: "There is such potential in AI in making every human more productive, not putting them out of work." Edmondson heads M&S's AI-powered personal shopper service Try Tuesday, where shoppers share their preferences online and a team of stylists pick outfits for them.

"Every [Try Tuesday] outfit is built by a real stylist, and we use AI to make sure that outfit goes to the right people and is edited in the right way," he says. "We use AI to let the stylist focus on the most creative parts of the job."

Getting personal

Personalising the shopping experience relies on AI to process vast amounts of customer data. In this way, retailers can try to recreate a long-lost intimacy with their customers, redolent of a time when shopkeepers knew their customers by name.

"We can use AI to reclaim a lot of intelligence we had about our businesses when they were small - when they were the local merchants that understood their customers, trends and each of their markets," says Stephens.

Technology, which some have blamed for contributing to the death of the high street, could also, paradoxically, help breathe new life into stores by offering customers a tailored experience - for example, providing sales staff with access to customer profiles and vast amounts of personal information on the individual customer and offering features such as smart mirrors in changing rooms.

We can use AI to reclaim a lot of intelligence we had about our businesses when they were small

Doug Stephens, retail industry futurist and founder of consultancy Retail Prophet

Brands from H&M to Burberry use chatbots to answer customer questions or offer advice. But AI is helping personalise interactions further with tools such as visual search, where shoppers can take a photo of an item of clothing they like in the real world and be directed to similar items on a brand's site.

Amazon's virtual fashion assistant, Echo Look, which tells people how they look in an outfit, recommends clothes to buy and tracks what is in their wardrobe, takes visual commerce a step further.

Asos, which recently announced it is boosting investment in AI, offers visual search, product recommendation and a fit analytics tool, where customers can virtually compare the fit of items they want to purchase with that of clothes they already own, with the aim of reducing returns.

Ben Chamberlain, lead data scientist at Asos, sees AI as integral to the brand's operations: "Eventually, the more difficult question to answer will be 'where isn't AI used at Asos?'," he says. "We see a future where AI is the key operating system for all of our digital products and, beyond that, making important contributions to how we buy, design, store and transport our products."

Taking stock

Retailers are also using the technology behind the scenes of their operations to make stock more targeted and reduce markdowns and wastage. H&M, which has previously stocked its store portfolio with similar products, has started using algorithms to help decide which stock should be carried at which store with the aim of improving poor sales performance.

AI's potential to help sell more items at full price will significantly boost profits for retailers, IBM's Danny Bagge says: "Fashion retailers are saying to us, 'what do I design for my Chinese market versus my London market?', and going further, 'what do I design for my London store versus my Birmingham store?' - and that's when you start adding money to the bottom line [with AI]," he says.

When you've got AI suggesting what customers want and re-ordering, then you get less waste and fewer returns

Cate Trotter, head of trends at retail consultancy Insider Trends

Conversely, if a product is flying off the shelves, AI can optimise the price and prevent the store running out of stock.

Cate Trotter, head of trends at retail consultancy Insider Trends, says: "You can predict the demand on a product will go up, which is not just better for sales, it's better for long-term customer loyalty.

"When you've got AI suggesting what customers want and re-ordering, then you get less waste and fewer returns."

Informed risks

But for all the buzz around AI and machine learning, the tech is still in the early stages and has limitations.

Mark Leach, managing director of the agency User Conversion and former head of ecommerce at Missguided, notes that many in the industry wrongly assume that AI can solve every issue: "There's a misinterpretation of what it's capable of. Some of the use cases are still a bit more about showing off the technology. Where it has the ability to make an impact is in data and analytics."

AI is going to help brands feel that they can take informed risks, and that's important

Doug Stephens, IBM

Ultimately, to succeed in fashion retail, the fundamentals have not changed, believes Stephens. Brands need to genuinely fascinate and be of value to consumers, he says. But AI's ability to shift through data and help predict what is coming next could make impressing those consumers easier in future.

"Consumer expectations are that every time they come into your store, they're going to see something new and exciting," he says. "[AI] is going to help brands feel that they can take informed risks, and that's important."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Artificial intelligence: the opportunities and threats

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Success in fashion retail was once predicated on having an instinct for the next big thing. But in an omnichannel, social media-saturated consumer environment, human powers of divination alone - even those informed by trend forecasters - are not enough.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
My wife and I recently drove from Minneapolis to Chicago to visit our youngest daughter, who is in PR and social media marketing, she is also a life-long fashionista. So besides hitting a few of Chicago's many terrific eateries, we indulged in some retail therapy; primarily in the trendy Wicker Park neighborhood. For those not familiar with this area, it's a magnet for GenY professionals, and has a rich mix of upscale indie retailers, digital native brands, and an unexpectedly large offering of resale and consignment stores.

It became clear to me that much of what I'd been reading about the 'second hand economy' was alive and thriving here. Also, the notion that this segment was a one-note play on the rummage or thrift store of the past was quickly negated. A high level of merchandising and creative display made many of these stores highly engaging; and it's clear that in watching the customers immersed in the hunt, that there is something special, even primal, going on in these highly curated shops.
Thrill of the Hunt
While the early years of the resale market growth may have been driven by early adapters, it's fair to say the whole phenomenon has gone very mainstream. It's been reported that in 2018, the secondhand market accounted for $28 billion, compared to $35 billion for fast fashion. However, what's more startling is the fact that within ten years the secondhand market is expected to nearly triple, reaching $64 billion, while fast fashion is predicted to only rise to $44 billion. Not surprisingly, Gen Y's and Gen Z's are fueling the growth, yet Boomers are not sitting it out.

As I've written in the past, these kind of market fluctuations are always a result of multiple factors, or converging trends. In the case of the secondhand phenomenon, it's impacted by a shift from top-down style influence, which used to be directed by the fashion industry, to bottom-up forces, led by influencers, and social media's encouragement to cultivate one's personal style. The other factors at play are consumer's increasing sustainability consciousness, and how the newly refined buy/wear/sell model enables fashion conscious consumers to change out their wardrobe easily.
Major Players Emerging
Of equal importance is the fact that some major players have emerged, refining the methodology, perfecting the monetization model, and turbocharging the trend. One of the parties responsible for the 56 million women who bought secondhand products in 2018 is ThredUp. They experienced an 80% increase in demand for their "Clean Out Kits" after Netflix's first airing of Marie Kondo's show. According to ThredUp's, 2019 Resale Report, over half of retail-resale customers also expect to spend more over the next five years. In fact, it's altering the way consumers even think about their clothing purchases.

Research suggests that customers are now thinking of their clothing as a 'tradable asset', which is influencing buying decisions around the secondhand (or thirdhand) value of their purchases. Additionally, trending suggests that with this new mindset consumers are reducing the number of items in their closets at the same time they are swapping out their wardrobe more frequently. This is fed by the fact that ThredUp is listing 30,000 new items each day - take that, fast fashion.
Transcends Age and Income
This new circular economy has no socio-economic boundaries, in fact the RealReal has been selling luxury consignment online, since its 2011 inception. CEO Julie Wainwright set out to change the perceptions of what luxury resale could be and has managed to raise $288 million to build her stealth web phenomenon, which now also includes two stores and nine drop-off point. Her brands include Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Versace, Rolex, Cartier, and Patek Philippe. Additionally, the online store extended beyond fashion, to include home furnishings.

Beyond just offering the luxury goods a second life The RealReal has taken their role of authentication and restoration very seriously. Wainwright employs gemologists, watchmakers and brand authenticators to guarantee both product authenticity and correct restoration when warranted. Additionally, the company offers free expert evaluation of their customer's luxury goods. Welcome to fashion's new circular economy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Secondhand Could Supplant Fast Fashion in a Decade, ThredUp & The RealReal Are Leading the Way

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Secondhand has moved from the fringes to mainstream, powered by heighted sustainability consciousness, and a desire to frequently freshen up ones wardrobe. The trend has been turbocharged by two prominent players, ThredUp and The RealReal, with many more gaining ground.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Everyone talks about, and agonizes over, Amazon's effect on the retail industry. And for good reason. But there's a smaller, yet still mighty, transformation rippling through the industry that brands are bending to accommodate, and that's the Stitch Fix effect.

CEO Katrina Lake is spearheading the future of personalization in fashion, a point of obsession for brands and retailers that know they can no longer offer up a generic user experience and still win. And while every apparel brand desperately wants to get to know the person buying and wearing its clothes on a more intimate level, Stitch Fix was modeled on the premise. It established a new type of retailer that asked customers for insights and feedback alongside their size and color preference for items, even the ones customers didn't like or buy, in exchange for a clear value proposition. Stitch Fix, for its members, would eliminate the need to go out and shop for clothes.

The machinations of the Stitch Fix model rely on a combination of data science - machine learning, AI and natural language processing - and human stylists; on top of complex customer profiles built by data, stylists can layer the nuances of buying and wearing clothes. Striking that balance has led the company to its IPO. and to nearly $1 billion in revenue in 2017.

In response, other brands are scrambling to figure out how they can create a similar customer feedback loop using data science and promote a more personalized experience. We asked Lake to think about what it takes to be a data-powered retailer, what's holding the industry back and where priorities should land.

Prediction: Human roles won't vanish, even as AI dominates.
Stitch Fix's Hybrid Design line of in-house apparel is created using a series of algorithms that identify white spaces in Stitch Fix's inventory, then take successful trends, colors and patterns across clothing pieces and combine them into a series of new styles. For any designer working in retail, this could sound like a death knell.

But Lake said Stitch Fix's ability to use people's strengths alongside data science is the company's secret sauce.

"The relationship we have with data science is not so much about client data as it is about the clients themselves," said Lake. "So to be able to get to know people one-to-one and personalize Fixes to their needs, it requires that we really understand clients well and that we have a lot of information on them, which informs the inherent relationship around how Stitch Fix works. Because we have stylists and not just an algorithm, we get much higher quality data, and more involved and authentic data points."

For instance, someone might buy a pair of jeans from their Stitch Fix delivery, and then tell their stylist that they only bought the jeans because they're in the process of losing baby weight and want the jeans to fit. Right now, though, they don't actually fit - so the stylist can then inform the algorithm not to take those jeans' data and apply it to the customer's profile.

"Our data is real, and effective. And people share this information because they know we'll actually use it to deliver a good experience," said Lake.

Prediction: Customer expectations are going to skyrocket.
Right now, we're all used to seeing generic, "If you liked this, you might like this" photo dumps at the bottom of an e-commerce page, or getting an email in which a retailer boldly claims, "You're going to love our new arrivals!" Arrivals that, of course, you very much do not love.

According to Lake, patience for such superficial excuses for personalization is wearing thin.

"Today, you laugh off a bad recommendation, but the bar is going to get much higher when it comes to what is expected from companies that are serving you recommendations based on your data, and what they actually understand about you," said Lake. "Companies get away with inauthentic personalization and data that doesn't make a lot of sense. In the future, all retailers should be able to anticipate better than they can today, whether that's based on what you've liked on Instagram or your past purchases."

Prediction: Experiences will actually evolve based on customer data.
As customer expectations increase, experience will actually catch up. There's so much customer information that can be culled online that people willingly give up (whether it's knowingly or not), that current retargeting efforts and recommendation bots are just the tip of what's possible.

Eventually, that gap between customer information and experience will start to close.

"Historically, there's been a gap between what you give to companies and how much the experience is improved. Big data is tracking you all over the web, and the most benefit you get from that right now is: If you clicked on a pair of shoes, you'll see that pair of shoes again a week from now," said Lake. "We'll see that gap begin to close. Expectations are very different around personalization, but importantly, an authentic version of it. Not, 'You abandoned your cart and we're recognizing that.' It will be genuinely recognizing who you are as a unique human. The only way to do this scalably is through embracing data science and what you can do through innovation."

Prediction: 'Client-centricity' will become a pressing priority.
There are a lot of reasons why retail at large hasn't caught up to the developments around what data science can do to serve a customer. Stores are closing, foot traffic is falling and when times aren't good, experimenting with new technology takes a backseat.

It doesn't help that these companies have legacy systems in place that would require a massive overhaul to change. But, according to Lake, time is running out for retailers to invest time and energy elsewhere.

"It's a real challenge to invest in something new when you're facing other challenges. People also don't see how it will add value to their businesses. They can learn from what we're seeing value in to improve the ecosystem overall, but it's not super easy or straightforward," said Lake. "But think about this 'client-centricity' of the industry. There are so many places where people can buy things today, that you have to think about everything from the lens of: 'How is my customer at the center of everything?' To be able to know, 'This is the value we're delivering to the client, and introducing this feature will be better for him or her,' and to live and breathe that, is incredibly important.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake predicts AI's impact on fashion - Digiday

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Everyone talks about, and agonizes over, Amazon's effect on the retail industry. And for good reason. But there's a smaller, yet still mighty, transformation rippling through the industry that brands are bending to accommodate, and that's the Stitch Fix effect.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
British men and women are getting bigger and heavier. The NHS Health Survey for England 2015 found that the average woman had grown to 5ft 3.8in from 5ft 3.4in in 1993, and the average man had grown to to 5ft 9.1in from 5ft 8.6in 22 years before.

Their relative weight increases are even more startling: the mean weight of women rose from 10st 7lb to 11st 3lb and men from 12st 6lb to 13st 5lb during the period, which also explains why women's waistlines have grown from 32.2in to 34.8in and men's from 36.7in to 38.3in.

Research commissioned by lingerie brand Bluebella shows that the average dress size for women in the UK has increased from a size 12 in 1957 to a size 16 in 2017. However, even "standard" sizes can fail to take into account the endless array of variation in shapes and heights, which represents a challenge for the clothing industry.

Today's consumer is taller and larger - and expects more choice than ever before when it comes to the fit of their clothing, from different leg lengths to plus and petite sizes. And with so much choice in the UK fashion market, shoppers are quick to return items that don't fit well and seek alternatives elsewhere. If fashion retailers fail to prioritise fit, they risk losing the trust and loyalty of their customers, and being faced with excess inventory and forecasting problems, which will ultimately hit their bottom lines.

"Fit is incredibly important," explains Sheraz Ramzan, business development director at womenswear retailer Quiz Clothing. "A good fit will ensure a happy customer experience, increase brand loyalty and help convert that purchase into a repeat customer. It is important that the customer can trust the item will look and fit as it does in the images online or in store. We have detailed size guides on our website which details how to measure your size for all items of clothing and details the fabric and cut, so the customer has a clear idea of what the product will look like."

Yet despite the growing importance of fit, frustrations are increasingly evident - particularly as online shopping grows: 25% of fashion bought online is returned due to issues with fit, compared with 3% of that bought in stores, according to 3D body-scanning and fit-analysis provider Alvanon. This is both off-putting for consumers - who do not want the hassle of having to return their online order - and expensive for retailers.

"There is a lot written about the frustration of the fitting room, or buying online," says Janice Wang, chief executive of Alvanon. "Time is important and nobody likes returning things, but they find they have to. There's the added problem that you might buy a pair of trousers in a size 10 one year, and you go back for another pair the next year and you're a different size."

She points out that there is a dearth of fit information available, beyond the standard sizing and, in some cases - such as jeans - leg and waist measurements. This is a particular problem online: "You see something on a model and you can't imagine how it looks on you."

Body dimension data and how it is measured

However, there are ways to minimise returns made on the basis of fit. Body dimension data can be combined with previous purchase history and returns data, and general demographic information, to ensure retailers are getting fits right, first time.

Body dimension data is gathered using a variety of 3D body-scanning methods, including infrared and radio wave scanners. A growing number of fashion brands are using it, from G Star Raw to Patagonia, Nike, Reebok and Lululemon, to ensure they can offer accurate fits across different global markets.

"Our design focus at Lululemon is rooted in function, and guided by how our customers want to feel during their sweaty pursuits," says Eileen Wilson, director of global fit at Lululemon. "Alongside fabric and function, fit and size is extremely important." She adds that body data has allowed the yogawear brand to achieve size consistency: "We created 'body forms' that became our most important tool in validating fit for our products."

Getting the fit right can lead to change in other parts of a business. Janet Moss, director of operations at Nike, says working with body fit technology enables the company to design and develop product "faster, more accurately, and more efficiently". This in turn leads to less waste, both in an environmental and financial sense.

"Eventually technology will allow us to go from producing garments in the millions, to producing them in just ones," predicts Wang. "It's the most efficient and sustainable way of manufacturing."

Getting the right fit is key to reducing returns rates, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty, and saving retailers time and money. Retailers that fail to take fit seriously risk being left behind.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
British men and women are getting bigger and heavier. The NHS Health Survey for England 2015 found that the average woman had grown to 5ft 3.8in from 5ft 3.4in in 1993, and the average man had grown to to 5ft 9.1in from 5ft 8.6in 22 years before.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Inclusivity and diversity are rapidly becoming fashion's new watchwords. The industry is targeting a new generation of socially switched-on young shoppers by embracing size inclusivity and body positivity.

Take Collusion, the new "coming of age" brand launched by fast fashion giant Asos in October. The etailer chose to unveil the Generation Z-focused label with an inclusive campaign that captured 100 people - of different genders, ethnicities and, crucially, sizes - who have turned or will turn 18 this year.

The decision to include a variety of sizes in the campaign also makes sense commercially for the etailer, as sales of size-inclusive styles - plus, petite and tall - jumped 37% in the six months to 31 August.

The UK plus-size market was worth £6.6bn last year, professional services firm PwC reports. Plus-size womenswear is set to grow at an annual compound growth rate of between 4% and 5% from 2017 to 2022 and plus-size menswear at 6% to 8% over the same period, compared with 3.3% and 2.4% respectively in the overall clothing market.

The report says this growth is being driven by rising obesity rates, increasing body confidence among plus-size consumers and better media representation of different body shapes.

Competition in the UK plus-size clothing market continues to grow as more and more brands expand their size ranges

Samantha Dover

Samantha Dover, a senior retail analyst at Mintel, agrees, adding that social media is playing a vital role in the shift: "Competition in the UK plus-size clothing market continues to grow as more and more brands expand their size ranges.

"Pressure is mounting on retailers that don't cater to those in need of larger sizes. This is being driven by social media. Those that don't offer their products in a broad range of sizes are now often criticised for not being inclusive. This demand for inclusivity is also filtering into fashion advertising, and retailers are using models which better represent the UK population."

Body beautiful

Plus-size model Tess Holliday hit the headlines when she appeared wearing lingerie on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine's October issue. Ashley Graham, a fellow plus-size model, has walked for designers including Michael Kors this year, and launched a collaboration in sizes 6 to 28 with fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing in September.

Known for its fashion-forward product, PrettyLittleThing has also won praise from customers for showcasing styles from another collaboration, a range of glitzy partywear with Hailey Baldwin, on different body types. The brand launched its first plus collection, PLT+, in September 2017, and Baldwin's comes in sizes 4 to 26.

"We've grown our Plus collection over the past year and now offer a range that caters for sizes ranging from 4 to 26," says founder and chief executive Umar Kamani. "The ecommerce campaign showing different-sized models is another step forward in showing our customers that we cater for different body shapes."

Sister brand Nasty Gal (both are owned by the Boohoo Group) has also expanded its sizing range this year, making its autumn collection available in sizes 4-22. The brand previously offered customers sizes 4-16.

"Our customer is confident and fearless, which makes up the core DNA of who we are [as a brand], but size inclusivity has not always been part of the conversation," explains Nasty Gal's head of buying Claire Asher. "It was safe to say, we were overdue for a change, and we're finally joining the party by extending our sizes. As a brand, we wanted to extend our sizes in a move to become more inclusive and empower body confidence, offering an array of styles and key pieces to our customers."

Alongside stars like Holliday and Graham, a wave of curvier influencers, including Callie Thorpe (202,000 Instagram followers), Danielle Vanier (107,000) and Stephanie Yeboah (21,000), are demonstrating the new expectations of the plus-size consumer. Larger shoppers are demanding trend-driven, fashionable products that fit perfectly - just like their "straight-size" counterparts.

"The mistake the majority of retailers make is that they consider this market to be totally different to fashion in general," explains Ralph Tucker, chief product and supply officer at N Brown Group, which owns plus-size brand Simply Be and size-inclusive brands JD Williams and Jacamo.

"These consumers are looking for fantastic on-trend product, great value, convenience in terms of delivery and product that takes into consideration not only size, but shape and fit," he adds. "They also want to feel connected to a brand that understands and relates to them. As such, they want to be represented and championed in the marketing material from the retailer they choose to shop with. Those who ignore this last point are dinosaurs, and do so at their peril."

People who haven't been represented or spoken to by the high street before also want to look good

Plyska Genova

Plyska Genova, marketing executive at plus-size women's etailer Pink Clove, agrees that the rise of social media and influencers is encouraging fashion brands to cater to a more diverse customer base.

"Influencers have given this customer a voice," she says. "People who haven't been represented or spoken to by the high street before also want to look good. This market doesn't want to be treated as separate or different."

Big competition

Menswear brand and supplier Duke Clothing Company has seen demand for plus-size clothing ranges rocket over the past couple of seasons. Plus-size clothing - XL to 8XL - now accounts for half of its orders, compared with just 10% three years ago.

"It used to be only the specialist retailers doing plus size, but there's been a huge increase in mainstream retailers moving into the market," director Rohan Bassi tells Drapers. "Retailers now are looking to cater to as many people as possible. Now, we work with Asos, Boohoo, Zalando and Sports Direct. Retailers aren't differentiating for a plus-size customer, and are targeting their existing markets, so Asos is looking for extremely trend-driven styles regardless of size."

The plus-size customer wants to be able to buy the same range as everyone else.

Sarah Welsh, Oasis

Bassi adds that the success of a plus-size range all hangs on fit: "Fit is so important for this customer and it is very easy to get wrong. We have to constantly adapt our sizing as trends change and people change. You can't just assume the normal [size-scaling] rules apply for big sizes, because they don't."

High street womenswear chain Oasis launched its first Curve collection, catering to sizes 20 to 26, in September this year, following a successful collaboration with specialist Simply Be.

"We had a lot of feedback from customers who wanted to wear Oasis but couldn't, and we are conscious that we have a broad, feminine appeal," brand director Sarah Welsh tells Drapers. "We're a friendly, accessible brand and we want as many customers to people to shop with us as possible. Our approach was to take our bestsellers and making them available to more customers, rather than creating a bespoke plus range that imposed our judgement of what those customers would wear. The plus-size customer wants to be able to buy the same range as everyone else. The whole mindset has shifted. Instead of walking into a shop that only caters for size 20-26, this customer wants to be able to love a brand and be able to buy into it."

Collusion

The combination of specialist brands, big high-street names offering curve collections and fast fashion etailers expanding their sizing ranges means the plus-size market is increasingly competitive. However, plus-size sportswear and occasionwear remain underserved categories and premium brands have been slow off the mark, Mintel's Dover adds.

"Premium retailers have been much slower to embrace the demand for plus-sized clothing, and many are reluctant to offer products in sizes beyond a 16. Those that do tend to have a much more limited assortment at the bigger end of the scale. As a result, there would be an appetite for more brands in this space."

Whistles, Reiss and Jigsaw currently only cater to customers up to a size 16, while Hobbs and LK Bennett offer up to a size 18.

Fast fashion brands such as Asos and the Boohoo Group may cater to the plus-size market, but it is worth noting that the fashion industry still has a long way to go before all customers are represented.

Topshop and Zara are among the high street giants that don't offer a plus-size range, and customers over a size 26 still have limited choice. Generation Z's focus on inclusivity means retailers who ignore plus-size customers risk their sales as well as their brand reputation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ahead of the curve: why fashion is embracing size inclusivity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Inclusivity and diversity are rapidly becoming fashion's new watchwords. The industry is targeting a new generation of socially switched-on young shoppers by embracing size inclusivity and body positivity. Take Collusion, the new "coming of age" brand launched by fast fashion giant Asos in October.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Vogue Business – The omnichannel playbook

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With consumers now more aware of fashion's environmental impact, 2019 was pivotal for retailers to make positive changes to their assortments for a more sustainable future.

We analyze three products that underwent a sustainable update and how retailers can continue to innovate them in the future.

Want to monitor your competitors' assortments and pricing strategies in real-time? Reach out for a demo of the EDITED Retail Decision Platform.

The puffer jacket
What happened in 2019?
As the climate becomes more unpredictable, the demand for protective yet environmentally-friendly apparel is set to mature. From recycled fabrics to ethical down, numerous retailers gave the puffer jacket a more eco-friendly revamp in 2019. Pure player Everlane released a range of outerwear in October called Re:Down. The jackets are padded with upcycled down, while the outer fabric is made from recycled plastic bottles. Mass market retailers such as Zara and H&M also utilized recycled fabrics for their respective eco-friendly collections.
Successful 2019 arrivals What to consider for 2020
Successful styles for womenswear in 2019 included check and animal prints, two key patterns for the year. Look to the upcoming Fall 2020 shows for noteworthy trends to freshen the puffer jacket.

For menswear, outdoor apparel and functionality will continue to grow as key product stories. However, a softer approach will be taken this year. Trends will be driven less by streetwear, but more by ideas of exploration and discovery.

Hardwearing and technical fabrics should be reimagined to fulfill the demand of the conscious consumer, utilizing sustainable production methods and processes. As plastic-based fabrics fall further out of favor, recycled variations should be explored.

Retailers should also take note of the shift towards natural biodegradable fabrics. Draw inspiration from Pangaia's FLWRDWN range, where padding is made from wildflowers.

The sneaker
What happened in 2019?
Sustainability and streetwear, two of the most talked about movements in fashion, collide with the growth of eco sneakers. A host of sportswear retailers made announcements in this regard. For example, adidas launched beta testing of the FUTURECRAFT.Loop Gen 2, while Reebok debuted the Floatride GROW. Meanwhile, Converse launched the Renew collection back in June, which was crafted from factory off-cuts and recycled materials. Eco label Everlane released its debut sneaker this year, and Veja introduced its first vegan shoe.

Sneakers propelled the rise of the resale market and circular economy, especially as consumers seek to purchase limited-edition styles.
Successful 2019 arrivals What to consider for 2020
Pure players such as Allbirds and Veja have quickly become cult favorites among consumers. Take notes by offering already successful models in eco-friendly variations. With the rise of Veganism, retailers wanting to engage with the conscious consumer should look to invest in cruelty-free and eco-friendly alternatives to leather and suede.

The industry will continue to innovate with materials as virgin plastics are phased out. Look to adidas, which pledged to use only recycled plastics in its products by 2024. Due to drop for $75, Kanye West unveiled a Yeezy prototype made from eco-friendly algae. This material will be utilized to reinvent the less sustainable aspects of athletic footwear.

Swimwear
What happened in 2019?
A new wave of concerns over ocean conservation and microplastic pollution hit consumers. Retailers were reactive as many introduced sustainable swimwear collections, which utilized ocean waste and recycled fabrics such as nylon and polyester. Madewell launched its first sustainable swimwear line in February with Monki following suit in April. As a result, fabrics such as REPREVE and Econyl quickly gained traction in the mass market.
Successful 2019 arrivals What to consider for 2020
While recycled synthetic fabrics have reduced the negative impacts incurred in production (e.g. energy, raw materials and labor), they are still responsible for microplastic waste. Once again, natural and biodegradable fabrics are the next step, look to Natasha Tonic's hemp collection for inspiration.

As retailers move into a new decade, the climate needs to be framed as a top priority. It's essential retailers continue to innovate to improve their fabrications and processes, as well as strive to provide consumers with full transparency. For a full 360 view of sustainable fashion in 2019 backed with EDITED data, check out The Sustainability EDIT.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What are the 3 sustainable products to update in 2020? | EDITED | The Retail Data Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We analyze three products that underwent a sustainable update and how retailers can continue to innovate them in the future. Want to monitor your competitors' assortments and pricing strategies in real-time? Reach out for a demo of the EDITED Retail Decision Platform. The puffer jacket What happened in 2019?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Infographic Maker Trusted By 11 Million Users - Piktochart

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With Piktochart AI, you can create stunning infographics, reports, presentations, and more in seconds. No design experience needed. Start for free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Every business should invest time and resources in creating consumer profiles of your ideal customers.

These profiles describe consumers based on different categories so they can be grouped for marketing and advertising purposes. By targeting advertising to a specific market segment, companies and marketers can find more success in selling a particular product and increase profits. Consumer profiles allow you to define and describe these market segments.

Consumer Profile Definition

Before marketing a product to potential customers, you will need to define your target customer based on their:

A consumer profile is a description of a customer, or a set of customers, based on the characteristics that they have in common.

Using Market Segmentation to Create Consumer Profiles

No matter how targeted your product, there will be some variations in your ideal customers. For example:

Your customers might all be the same age but live in different geographic regions.

You offer products at different price points to allow you to reach customers at different income levels.

You offer one product that can appeal to customers with different interests.

Some of your customers watch network TV, while others are more likely to see advertising on social media.

Creating multiple consumer profiles allows you to segment your customers based on these differences. You can then use this market segmentation to create advertising that is more successful with different groups of customers.

There are many different traits that can be used to segment customer groups, such as:

Demographic: Age, city or region of residence, gender, race, ethnicity, or household composition.

Socioeconomic: Income, educational attainment, occupation, neighborhood, or association memberships.

Brand affinity/product usage: Product engagement, purchasing history, or level of brand loyalty.

Psychographics: Lifestyles, life stage, personality, attitudes, opinion, or voting behavior.

Generation: Specific generation cohort group.

Geography: Geographical area in which consumers reside and work.

Geodemographics: Combines geography and demographics, which may cluster into identifiable groups.

Benefits: What consumers are looking for when they shop for products and services.

Consumer profiles are often used by market researchers, many of whom develop proprietary consumer profiles or use panels of consumers who have been classified according to their common attributes.

However, any business can and should create consumer profiles to allow for more targeted marketing and advertising. You don't have to work with a market research firm to develop useful consumer profiles.

Segmentation Systems for Creating Consumer Profiles

If you do want to use preexisting consumer profiles, there are many options available.

Market research firms often make their consumer profiles available for discrete market research projects that are conducted for their market research clients at large companies. There are several different examples of classification categories that market research firms use.

ABC1 is a common grouping strategy based on the professional job role of an individual, a person designated as the head-of-household, or the main contributor of income to a family. The termABC1 is shorthand for the first three socioeconomic groups in the taxonomy, which is:

A = Senior or higher managerial, administrative, or professional

B = Intermediate managerial, administrative, or professional

C1 = Supervisory or clerical, and junior managerial, administrative, or professional

C2 = Skilled manual workers

D = Semiskilled and unskilled manual workers

E = Everyone entirely dependent on public support (chronically ill, unemployed, elderly, disabled, and other reasons)

Lifestage and other special groups are mostly categorized according to proprietary consumer research or census-based research. Different countries associated specific percentages with each of the life stages groups. The standard taxonomy for life stage groups is:

Pre-Family or No Family: Younger than 45 who are not parents.

Family: Any age with at least one child younger than 16 still at home.

Third Age: Ages 45-64 with no children younger than 16 still at home.

Retired: Older than 65 with no children younger than 16 still at home.

ACORN (A Classification of Residential Neighborhoods) is a geodemographic segmentation used in the United Kingdom. The system uses census data on residential areas to categorize consumers based on income, education, ethnicity, and other traits. Postal codes then can be associated with specific ACORN categories because people who live in neighborhoods tend to share a number of attributes.

MOSAIC is a system of consumer classifications that covers consumers in 29 countries, including the United States, Australia, Eastern Asia, and Western Europe. It identifies 10 types of residential neighborhoods that can be found in cities around the globe and classifies more than 400 million households worldwide.

ESRI Community Tapestry is a system for classifying households in the United States. It divides U.S. neighborhoods 14 LifeModes, including:

Affluent Estates, Upscale Avenues, Uptown Individuals

Family Landscapes, GenXurban, Cozy Country Living

Ethnic Enclaves, Middle Ground, Senior Styles

Rustic Outposts, Midtown Singles, Hometown

Next Wave, Scholars and Patriots, Unclassified

These LifeModes are subdivided into more than 60 market segments such as Top Tier, Enterprising Professionals, Rustbelt Traditions, and Urban Villages.

CAMEO is a classification system that divides consumers into segments both within specific countries and around the world. CAMEO UK classifies households within the United Kingdom, while CAMEO International is a global system that segments customers across borders. CAMEO Global is the largest system of segmenting consumers in the world, covering buyers across 40 countries in Eastern and Western Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region.

PSYTE HD is a Canadian geodemographic system that uses postal codes to classify consumers into more than 50 groups based on lifestyle and neighborhood. It uses the Canadian census as well as third party data to create a comprehensive map of consumer behavior based on neighborhood.

How to Use a Consumer Profile

Once you have collected relevant information about your current and potential customers, creating consumer profiles that describe specific segments allow you to envision a person interested in your product. This gives you an in-depth understanding of:

What will motivate them to find your business.

The benefits they are looking for.

Where they are most likely to interact with your advertising.

The messaging that will best appeal to their needs and wants.

Once you have a clear picture of the type of customers your business should be targeting, you can create an appropriate marketing strategy. Your ideal customer profile will help you pinpoint the who, where, and how to reach potential consumers interested in what your business has to offer.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Create the Ideal Consumer Profile

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Every business should invest time and resources in creating consumer profiles of your ideal customers. These profiles describe consumers based on different categories so they can be grouped for marketing and advertising purposes. By targeting advertising to a specific market segment, companies and marketers can find more success in selling a particular product and increase profits.

# data[].attributes.body
DRAPERS CONNECTED CONSMER

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to Drapers' Connected Consumer report for 2019. This year, we have explored how online and mobile habits are changing, and chart which channels are becoming the most popular among younger consumers.

Plus, we discuss social shopping behaviour in-depth: which networks are most likely to lead to a sale, which are most inspiring, and the numbers of people who report following - and buying from - retailers and brands via social media.

The report also explores store shopping behaviour and the ways people are using their smartphones in store, as well as other forms of in-store technology.

Drapers' Connected Consumer project draws out what is most important to people when shopping for fashion, as well as pinpointing trends and changes in direction of consumer behaviour. In 2019, the areas of delivery, social and mobile have all undergone significant change.

The continued splits in age-related behaviour are still noteable, and we explore these throughout the report. But they come with a caveat, which is to be careful not to write off changes in behaviour for older shoppers. While younger shoppers do often adopt new habits earlier, patterns and expectations in browsing and buying fashion are changing across the board.

This year for the first time we asked people to report whether they have used voice and visual search technologies, to get a sense of usage levels of these newer ideas. While the big technology companies are keen to push these new services as being the future of search, usage levels will need to climb higher before more fashion retailers decide to invest.

The data suggests, however, that those who have not yet experimented with voice and visual search should be keeping a close eye on how they develop, and have a clear idea of when investment will become worthwhile.

As ever, this report offers a fascinating glance into consumers' mindsets and attitudes surrounding multichannel shopping. We hope you find it useful.
Rebecca Thomson, head of commercial content, Drapers

How do you prefer to shop for fashion?

To set the scene, we ask people to choose the channel they generally use to make a purchase. This year, consumers reported a very slight fall in store shopping. While older shoppers are more likely to prefer stores - 58% of those over 55 says they prefer this channel - younger shoppers are not abandoning it, either. For those aged 34 or under, 42% say stores are their preferred channel.

The biggest shift, however, was between the two online channels: mobile grew significantly, largely at the expense of desktop/laptop shopping. For Generation Z shoppers - which in this survey means those aged 18 to 24 - mobile is not far behind stores: 36% report it as their preferred channel for buying fashion. While many of the current changes in behaviour can be observed across age groups, this is one where there is a significant difference.

Older shoppers are less likely to use mobile: just 4.5% of those over 55 say it is their preferred shopping channel. Nevertheless, this represents a significant rise from 2018 when just 0.4% of the over-55s reported it as their preferred channel.

A surge in mobile use among older people is expected in the coming years, and not just in the UK. Many older people have higher incomes, so they are a demographic worth tracking. Chinese etail giant JD.com reports that older shoppers spend more once they are comfortable with smartphone shopping: 2.3 times more than the average user.

What do you look for when buying fashion?

Broadly, quality, fit and price are the driving factors in people's purchasing decisions, and this continues to be the case. However, we changed some of the categories of this question for 2019, making year-on-year comparisons more complex. This was the first year we added "good value" as an option, in a bid to get a sense of the split of people who just look at price versus those who might be willing to spend more if they perceive a produce as being good value, whether through its quality or its versatility.

For 54% of shoppers value is among their most important purchase drivers (we allowed people to pick up to three of these), compared with 38% of shoppers who prioritise low price (in 2018, 60% of shoppers chose price). This focus on value over price could reflect recent trends to buy fewer, higher-quality items, especially given that quality also rose in importance. This year 59.4% of shoppers say quality drove their purchases, up from 52% last year.

How often do you shop for fashion online?

Across the board, the reported frequency of online shopping is creeping up. Younger shoppers have increased their frequency, but only slightly: the proportion of people aged 18 to 24 who report shopping once a week or more has edged up from 41% to 42%.

Across all age groups, the percentage of people who say they never shop online has fallen from 10% to 6.6%. However, in what is possibly an indication of belt-tightening by consumers still facing Brexit uncertainty, the number of people reporting monthly shopping has fallen, and those reporting more sporadic clothing purchases has risen.

Which devices do you use to browse fashion online?

When it comes to browsing for fashion online, nearly half of consumers are using mobile - 48%, up from 39% in 2018. This comes at the expense of every other form of device. The direction of travel is still towards mobile and further growth in this channel looks likely.

Which devices do you use to buy fashion online?

The same trends are clearly visible year on year for the actual purchase, as well. Use of all devices fell except for smartphones, which continued to grow. People are becoming more comfortable buying on smaller screens and are responding well to the on-the-go convenience that mobile provides.

What type of website do you most often shop on?

Online retailers such as Asos, Boohoo and Net-a-Porter are very close to catching up with high street retailers' websites, especially as more high street brands choose to be stocked on sites such as Asos. Other types of sites are also growing in popularity - the number of people who report shopping on marketplaces grew from 12% to 20% year on year, independent retailers grew from 6% to 10%. In 2019 10% of people said they shop on peer-to-peer sites selling pre-owned items, such as Depop, although we don't have a year on year comparison for this category as it was a new addition this year.

What is most likely to make you buy?

Online shoppers still want plenty of choice, but this is actually less important than it was in 2018: 45% of people say it is likely to make them buy, compared with 60% in 2018.

Clear sizing information is still as important as it ever was, and people are using this to determine whether something will fit them.

Finally, free delivery emerged as a significant driver of conversion: nearly a third of shoppers rate it as among their most important factors.

What makes you abandon an online purchase?

The delivery theme continues here: more than 40% of consumers report that unexpected delivery changes have made them abandon a purchase. Across the board, fewer people report abandoning purchases for every other reason in 2019 compared with 2018. Hearteningly, the percentage of people who report never having abandoned a purchase has risen from 12.5% to 17.5%. Delivery charges were the exception.

How do you prefer to pay online?

PayPal and debit cards are the most popular methods of payment but Amazon Pay, Google Pay and Apple Pay are prefered by a total of 15% of shoppers. Newer services such as the ability to buy now and pay later, or split a payment into three monthly amounts are also starting to grow in popularity.

Which of these devices do you own?

Android smartphones contine their lead over iPhone ownership among the consumers polled for this survey. However, in general, young people show a preference for iPhones and older people prefer Androids. For those aged 18 to 24, 35% report owning an iPhone compared with 31.3% of those who have Android phones. For people aged 55 and over the split is 35% Android and 9% iPhone.

Another trend we have become used to seeing is the fall in tablet ownership. In 2018, 56% of consumers reported owning both a smartphone and a tablet. In 2019, this fell to 35.4%. Tablet ownership also increases with age: 42% of shoppers over 55 own both a smartphone and a tablet, compared with 30% of those aged 25 to 34.

Have you ever used your smartphone to do any of the following?

Across the board, consumers are using their phones more. Nearly every category in this question showed a rise in the number of people who report doing it. We added the option "to pay" this year: nearly 40% say they have used their phones to pay, rising to 54% for those aged 18 to 24. Only 4% of this age group say they do not use their phone to do any of these things, and across all age groups the number of people saying they do not use their phones to shop at all fell from 36% to 32%.

When are you most likely to use your phone to browse or buy fashion?

The most popular time for online shopping is during the evenings while watching TV. Some fashion retailers are already using this behavioural trend to boost sales via partnerships with popular TV shows. Young fashion etailer I Saw It First, for instance, maximised the impact of its partnership with reality show Love Island by featuring images of contestants wearing its clothes in that night's episode on the Love Island app. Clicking on a picture of a contestant in a particular dress would take the viewer through to the page to buy. The brand reported a month-on-month sales increase of 67% as a result of the tie-up.

Around 42% of shoppers below the age of 45 said they shop on mobile while watching TV. However, for the youngest shoppers, scrolling in bed was just as popular: 44% of them said they do this. For those aged 55 and over, just over half said they do not buy fashion on their mobile, but this was down from 65.5% in 2018.

How many retailer apps have you downloaded on your phone?

Nearly 60% of our consumers say they have downloaded at least one retailer app on their phone, rising to 82% for those aged 18 to 24. The number of people who have downloaded no apps at all fell from 46% in 2018 to 33% in 2019.

How often do you open your most-used retail app?

This is a new question for this year so we cannot yet tell if reported frequency of app use is growing, but nearly a quarter of those aged 25 to 34 open their most-used app every two to three days, while a further fifth open it once a week. App use generally follows the expected trend: older people report using apps less, but it only really starts to drop off for those aged 45 and over. Only a third of consumers have no apps at all.

What makes you download a fashion brand's app?

We evolved this question slightly in 2019, making year on year comparisons slightly difficult. Broadly, it is brand love, discounts and convenience that are the biggest drivers of app downloads. Brand love is particularly important for younger shoppers: just under half say it drives them to download a brand's app. This reflects younger people's desire to buy and wear clothes they feel reflect their values.

What stops you buying on mobile?

Hearteningly, the number of people answering "nothing" to this question fell this year. People are becoming more relaxed about security and the size of the screen on mobile. The only area that appears to still need work is payment: more people report a difficult payment experience year on year.

What makes you want to use in-store technology

The store technology that is most likely to be effective is anything that cuts queues, and anything that helps customers find a specific product. This is especially true for the growing number of people who browse on their mobiles before heading into store to try on and buy. Any service that could help with that is likely to be a winner for store sales.

What puts you off using store tech?

In-store tech needs to have clear benefits for customers and be carefully designed to make it easy to use. Increasingly for many fashion retailers, this means focusing on attempting to alleviate the bits of the shopping process no one enjoys: queues and crowds. Zara, for example, is trialling self-service units in London where shoppers can scan, pay and remove security tags without staff involvement. They are placed near the changing rooms, so shoppers can immediately purchase items they have tried on. But it remains to be seen whether the fashion chain will roll the technology out further in 2020.

What is important for you when using click and collect

Consumers are used to using click and collect now, and for them it is about speed and how easy the experience is. The most important factor is that the collection point is easy to find, while other more experienced-focused factors fell in importance.

What prompts a store visit for you?

Store shopping remains important to fashion consumers, despite the difficulties being experienced by many chains. The tactile nature of fashion, alongside the continued difficulty for a consumer in understanding fit online, means that trying on clothes is the biggest draw of visiting stores. Plus, of course, Sales and discounts draw footfall as well.

How do you use your phone in store?

More than 40% of people say they do not use their phones in store at all, but this varies a lot by age. The number of customers who say they do not use their phone in store at all falls to just 19% among 18-to-24-year-olds and 20% for those aged 25 to 34. This leaps to 40% for those aged 35 to 44, 67% for the 45-to-54-year-olds and 74% for those over 55. In terms of what people use their phones to do, checking prices and comparing with other retailers is the most popular option for all age ranges.

Have you ever abandoned an in-store purchase? If so, why?

Which social networks do you use?

It is generally accepted that younger consumers are moving away from Facebook to other platforms, but our data suggests that those aged 18 to 24 do have a presence on the network. The situation may be different for those under 18, but 77% of this cohort in our survey said they use it.

Overall, social media use continues to grow. The number of people who say they never use social networks fell from 13% in 2018 to 9% this year, but as expected there are big age disparities. Only 1% of those under 24 report never using social media, compared with 20% of those aged 55 to 60.

Which social networks have inspired you with outfit ideas?

The most noteable change here is the year-on-year growth in Instagram, which is now rated as more inspirational than Facebook when it comes to outfit ideas. The age disparity is clear again: 20% of those under 24 say they never use social media for shopping, compared with 83% of those aged 55 to 60.

Pinterest also grew in popularity for younger shoppers: 20% say they got outfit ideas from the site, compared with 12% last year. While the data gives an interesting indication of trends, this question is likely to have been affected by the difference in what people say they do versus what they do in reality, which are often two very different things.

Have you ever clicked on a social post and bought something? (brand vs influencer)

Users rate themselves as more likely to buy from brands than influencers: nearly a third say they have clicked through from a brand's image to buy compared with 23% for influencers. For the youngest shoppers, more than half (52%) say they have bought something from a brand or retailer via social.

Have you ever clicked on a brand's post and bought anything? (2018 vs 2019)

Buying via social has become more common in the last 12 months: 32% of conusmers report having done so this year, compared with 24% in 2018.

Which networks have you purchased from?

Instagram has taken a leap in popularity after the network made it easier to shop via its images this year. Facebook remains the most popular network across all age groups, although it is falling. For the youngest shoppers, Instagram is already the most popular: 44% shop on Instagram against 40% on Facebook.

When you see content from fashion brands on social media that you like, what does it tend to make you do?

We added the option "screengrab or save" this year, which proved fairly popular, and this makes a year-on-year comparison difficult. However, the number of people who say they are never prompted into action by social content fell from 36% to 31%.

How many brands or retailers have you followed?

There was a big fall in the number of people who report not following any brands, and a simultaneous rise in the number who follow between one and 10 brands or retailers, showing how much more normal it is becoming to follow brands. It is probably also a reflection of the continued improvements we see in the quality of content brands share online.

For what purpose are you comfortable sharing your data with a retailer?

The positive thing about this question is the fact that the number of people saying they are not comfortable with any data sharing continues to fall year on year.

We added a new option this year: "Finding products that suit or fit me better". This is in reference to the growing success of styling services such as US-based Stitch Fix and the UK's Thread. Stitch Fix was founded in 2011 by former J Crew buyer Erin Morrison Flynn and Katrina Lake, who is now the CEO. It combines personal stylists with machine learning to send customers boxes of clothing picked just for them, and is valued at nearly $2bn on the US stock market.

Both brands reflect the growing openness among consumers to sharing data if the benefits are clear to them: whether that means easier clothes shopping, more convenient services or items that look better on them than something they would have chosen. It is an area in which we expect further development in coming years.

Overall, the number of people who say they are comfortable with the idea of targeted offers continues to edge up. Predictably, those under 35 are most comfortable with the idea of sharing their data with brands: only 20% say they are not comfortable at all. For them, the most popular reason to do so is fast, one-click payments. Around 40% of consumers under 35 rate this as their top reason for sharing their data.

What data would you be happy to share with a retailer, if the benefits to you were clear?

The year-on-year comparisons are very similar for most categories here, with the exception of a bigger rise in the number of people who are happy to share their size, weight and height details. This strengthens the theory above that shoppers are increasingly happy to share this information as the benefits become more generally known.

How often do you like to receive emails from brands and retailers?

Putting customers in control is wise when it comes to brand communications. Most people deemed weekly or fortnightly emails to be ideal, but nearly a third said they wanted the option to choose.

When thinking about delivery, what is most important to you?

Free and quick delivery have become even more important to consumers this year: free delivery is the most important factor for consumers considering whether to purchase or not. Free delivery is particuarly important to those over 45: 80% rate it as their most important aspect.

Quick delivery is most important to younger shoppers: 56% of the the 18-to-24 age group rates it as important, compared with 40% of those over 55.

What are you willing to spend on standard delivery?

Customer expectations on paying for delivery are rising: the number of people expecting to pay nothing has grown from 19% to 42%. This is mostly driven by older shoppers: nearly 60% of those over 55 saythey want to pay nothing.

Conversely, 60% of those aged 18 to 24 will pay between £1 and £5 for standard delivery, while 55% of those aged between 25 and 34 agree this is a reasonable amount to pay.

What are you willing to spend on next day delivery?

More people understand the need to pay for next-day delivery: nearly 60% of respondents say they would pay £1 to £5. This time, the results are fairly consistent across age groups. Just under 30% of the youngest shoppers (18 to 24) say they would pay £6 to £10.

Have you ever searched for a fashion item using voice tech? (eg Amazon Alexa, Siri etc)

This year, we wanted to see how many people report using newer services such as voice search and visual search. Technology companies are keen to pitch these services as the new frontier of online search, and our data suggests a relatively high level of use already.

Across all age groups, 20% of people report having used voice search of some kind (whether Amazon Alexa or Siri on the iPhone) to look for a fashion item. The age group most likely to have done this is those aged 25 to 34: 32% report having used voice search for fashion.

This is slightly higher than the youngest cohort of 18-to-24-year-olds, and may be because those over 25 tend to have higher incomes and may own more voice-enabled devices.

Have you ever purchased a fashion item using voice technology?

Just under 16% also said they went on to purchase that item, instructing the device to do so via voice technology. The highest incidence of this was the 25-to-34 age group: 27% of this group report having purchased fashion using voice technology. This compares with 7% of those over 55.

Have you ever searched for an item using visual search technology?

Visual search - whereby people point their phone camera at a particular pattern or item, and are then taken to a search page showing similar items - is marginally more popular than voice. Just over a fifth (22%) of respondents reported having searched for something using visual search, while 17% said they also purchased it.

Have you ever purchased an item using visual search?

The 25-to-34-year-old age range was the most likely to have used visual technology: 37% say they have searched for a fashion item and 29% say they went on to buy it.

As consumers balance their time between smartphones, laptops, social, smart speakers and other digital technology, they are quickly learning to use these devices together to achieve their shopping goals.

They might see a video ad and then visit the mobile site. Or they may comparison shop on Google and Zalando first before using a retailer's app to make the purchase. Increasingly, consumers are circling through longer and more complex journeys that span a multitude of channels.

Research from Forrester has found that today's empowered consumers expect rich, relevant, continually updated content to help them through each step of the customer journey - regardless of purchase touchpoint. That is why it is so important to have an optimised presence wherever your customers are interacting.

From this year's survey results, we can see consumers crave flexibility to browse across devices, the opportunity to interact with brands and seek inspiration on a social level, and have a frictionless checkout and delivery experience.

The only certainty in ecommerce is change, and we are excited to see how the industry evolves over the next year.
Jon Maury, managing director, EMEA, Channel Advisor

Customers - especially younger ones - overwhelmingly prefer brands that personalise experiences, and they recognise that sharing information with their favourite brands comes with benefits, from personalised coupons to relevant product recommendations.

But it is important to remember that they want those exchange to be transparent and optional. If they trust you with their data, they want to know what you are doing with it and, importantly, what they'll get out of it. For example, spell out that you only want their birthday so you can send them a gift when it rolls around.

Retailers can delight shoppers and build loyalty by providing tailored customer experiences at each stage of the purchasing journey - but you can build brand confidence and trust by being upfront and giving your customers control. Differentiate yourself from competitors with an open, customer-focused approach that lets them control what they share and how often they receive messaging.

Saima Alibhai, head of professional services EMEA, Oracle NetSuite

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to Drapers' Connected Consumer report for 2019. This year, we have explored how online and mobile habits are changing, and chart which channels are becoming the most popular among younger consumers.

# data[].attributes.body
ONLY IN FRA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Stella McCartney and BOLT Threads | Creating vegan silk

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Fashion's favourite fabric is moving toward sustainability.

Conventional cotton has been significantly affected by the pandemic with the supply chain becoming backed-up and overstocked. However, consumer data shows demand for more sustainable products and materials has been accelerated by Covid-19, according to Tom Berry, director of sustainable business at Farfetch.

A recent survey by the US Cotton Trust Protocol and Sourcing Journal also found that 54 per cent of apparel and textile companies have seen customer demand for environmentally sustainable practices and products increase since the start of the pandemic.

Transparency and ethics are critical in this new normal, and sustainable cotton is key to greater visibility and relevance. Farfetch has teamed up with Good On You to put together its Positively Conscious Edit, which includes Better Cotton Initiative members Gucci and Stella McCartney. This feature allows a luxury brand's membership of a cotton standard to gain a greater brand presence on the Farfetch site.

"This is our opportunity to push the reset button," says La Rhea Pepper, managing director of not-for-profit organisation Textile Exchange.

Future-proofing cotton

Cotton is the most widely used raw material within the apparel industry, making up 33 per cent of total materials according to Fashion Revolution. Making the material more sustainable may win favour with younger generations, who are more sustainably minded: the younger the cohort, the more supportive they are of sustainable fashion, according to The State of Consumer Spending Survey from First Insight Inc, which shows Gen Z the most likely to want to buy from sustainable brands and most willing to pay more for sustainable products (62 and 73 per cent respectively).

Gen Z and younger millennials are less willing to wait for four- or five-year updates on brands' sustainability efforts. To meet these more urgent demands, a new US standard for more sustainable cotton, US Cotton Trust Protocol, is offering brands and retailers annual data from its farms that can be used to show measurable progress towards corporate sustainability pledges and commitments.

Textile Exchange has approved the US Cotton Trust Protocol standard as a preferred cotton supplier, meaning brands and companies including Burberry, M&S, Kering, Levi's, H&M and Adidas - who are also all taking part in the 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge - can use the standard to help meet their goals of 100 per cent sustainable cotton. It will also be relevant for brands working towards Climate+, a 2030 goal announced last year by Textile Exchange that aims to have brands help lower greenhouse gasses by 35 to 45 per cent.

Have verification vouch for you

Now is about "determining what comes after we reach our goal and creating influence for good", says Liza Schillo, senior manager, global sustainability integration at Levi's. Schillo is a board member at the US Cotton Trust Protocol alongside Dr Melissa Ho, senior vice president of freshwater and food at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Levi's is working towards a brand target of using 100 per cent more sustainable cotton throughout its operations.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Can fashion's favourite fabric become more sustainable?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Transparency, verification and an alignment with the accelerated values of consumers are critical for environmentally sustainable cotton.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"adidas' strategy is simple: create product that not only performs for the athlete, but for the world at large. Designing footwear and apparel with upcycled plastic waste was our first step. The next challenge is to end the concept of waste entirely, in this case creating products that are made to be remade.

We don't have all the answers and we know we can't do it alone, so by collaborating with partners who share our same vision, as we've done with Evrnu, we can combine adidas by Stella McCartney's sports industry expertise with specialist knowledge to bring about a waste-free world."

James Carnes, Vice President of Strategy Creation at adidas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"adidas' strategy is simple: create product that not only performs for the athlete, but for the world at large. Designing footwear and apparel with upcycled plastic waste was our first step. The next challenge is to end the concept of waste entirely, in this case creating products that are made to be remade.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As we see the exponential growth in dialogue around sustainability, environmentalism, the climate crisis and social justice, the term 'greenwashing' is becoming ever more important in separating the do-gooders from the wannabes. Orsola de Castro, founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution, explains that whether it's "whitewashing or greenwashing, these [issues] are problematic in every industry, not just fashion, as they prevent the truth being told. Our clothes should be covering up our bodies, not the reality in which they were made." I couldn't agree more.

What exactly is greenwashing? The term was coined in the 1980s by environmentalist Jay Westerveld to describe outlandish corporate environmental claims that were deemed false. Now, greenwashing is used when a brand's marketing around sustainability runs counter to its actual business practices. Essentially, brands recognise a sales opportunity by running sustainability-focused marketing campaigns with no intention of living up to their claims. Brands calling for sustainability can be great for raising public awareness of these matters but there is no doubt that many are engaging with the trend simply to shift more products. The ultimate issue is that consumers feel confused, overwhelmed and unsure whether their purchase is helping the planet or putting another penny into a greenwashing machine.⁣

Fast fashion houses are among the first to have been labelled greenwashers. Earlier this year H&M shared new green claims with , including a pledge to use solely recycled or sustainable materials by 2030. H&M also came first in Fashion Revolution's Fashion Transparency Index 2020. Don't these two facts make it sound like a truly sustainable brand? Yet many see these examples as strategic box-ticking exercises rather than a truly holistic way of doing business - and thus greenwashing. H&M has since been accused of not addressing the detrimental impact of mass production on the planet. From toxic dyes entering our water systems to failing to pay garment workers a full living wage, in my view, fast fashion can never be truly sustainable.

The truth is, a holistically sustainable brand does not only consider the environment. It also takes into account social justice factors, including equal pay, garment worker rights, safe factory conditions and more. A truly sustainable brand will address every one of these factors and have the accountability, traceability and facts to prove it. "True sustainability is a nuanced conversation that extends not only [to] the materials used or the labour conditions but [to] the scale of production and consumption as well," says sustainable fashion and social justice advocate Aditi Mayer. Ultimately we all want to build a more transparent, fair and intersectional fashion industry. It won't happen overnight but, as Aditi says, the goal is for brands to "not [use] sustainability or diversity as a pure selling point but a grounding philosophy of how the brand operates and understands the metrics of success."

In order to gain more transparency we must first get a few things straight. Here is a list of tips for becoming an anti-greenwashing expert and using your voice and knowledge to create real change.⁣⁣

Always look for figures to support new green claims and never take glossy and often impressive statements at face value. Companies which are truly committed to sustainable practices are proud to support their ambitions with measurable figures to hold themselves accountable, too.⁣⁣

Remember that buying something from a brand is an investment in that company and its values. "I also think it's important to look at who the brand is owned by and how much that person is worth," says slow fashion campaigner and activist Venetia La Manna. "General rule: don't trust fashion brands run by billionaires!" The end goal should be to invest in companies that integrate sustainability into everything they do and at all levels, not just a one-off collection or a handful of pieces.⁣

We must remember that however planet-friendly a material is, every item we buy passes through many pairs of hands before reaching the shops. A sustainable approach includes the fair treatment of the people up and down the supply chain, from garment and factory workers to local communities, transport employees and more. "We have to remember that many of the people making those clothes are poor women in the Global South who aren't paid a fair living wage," Venetia says. The unfortunate reality is that many fast fashion chains take advantage of factories in this part of the world because there are fewer health and safety restrictions and low living wages.⁣

Vegan doesn't equal sustainable

Many vegan alternatives are made from polluting and plastic-derived materials. These are hugely toxic for the environment and are often branded as vegan to make them more desirable and in line with current trends and consumer demands. ⁣We must question whether these brands are implementing sustainable practices in other areas of their business, not just material innovation. ⁣

Before you buy, read up on the brand or drop them a message on social media and ask questions like: Who made my clothes? How do you ensure your factories are safe? How do you minimise the environmental effects of making clothes? These questions will show the brand that you are a conscious consumer. You have the right to know the whole supply chain and if they don't answer, they don't deserve your purchase! Venetia says: "I think it's important for consumers to hold brands accountable and insist they do better if we're to achieve that all-important solidarity economy that puts the wellbeing of people and planet before corporate profits." ⁣

Orsola shares this important notion: "The more we know, the more we understand, the better we can hold that argument and be more forceful in demanding change." We need to take control of our spending and reclaim the power of which brands get our money and which don't. Every time you spend, you vote for the kind of industry you want to see. This is a key step towards living in line with your values.

Finally, Aditi states that "we can't undermine the power of collective consumer demand for the industry to pull up." Recent campaigns which have been calling for change in the fashion industry by demanding equality, fair pay and transparency include #WhoMadeMyClothes and ReMake's #PayUp petition. Each voice adds to a louder cry and can make all the difference, so when you next see a green statement from a brand you love, stop, think, ask questions and decide whether this is a company striving for change or simply greenwashing you into another purchase.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Exactly Is Greenwashing In Fashion & How Can I Spot It?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As we see the exponential growth in dialogue around sustainability, environmentalism, the climate crisis and social justice, the term 'greenwashing' is becoming ever more important in separating the do-gooders from the wannabes. Orsola de Castro, founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution, explains that whether it's "whitewashing or greenwashing, these [issues] are problematic in every industry, not just fashion, as they prevent the truth being told.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Is Cambodia’s clothing industry unravelling? | Features | Drapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Comment: Coronavirus could see global supply chains grind to a halt | Comment | Drapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For millennials, it is hard to imagine the UK as a mass producer of clothing and textiles - a prosperous industry with factories across the regions employing about a million workers and pumping vast amounts into the economy, as it was in the 1970s. Today, we only have to look at the labels on our garments to see our clothes are produced further afield - labels reading "made in Bangladesh" and "made in China" are now the norm.

Back then, UK manufacturing was thriving, and powerful companies such as Viyella, Daks Simpson and Bairdwear were producing everything from jeans to shirts. It was a period of time when British fashion retailers were using British companies to create garments, and manufacturers were spread out across the country, tapping into local skills.

Professor Christopher Moore, director of the British School of Fashion and assistant vice-principal at Glasgow Caledonian University, explains: "The world was smaller then in terms of the origins of the competition and, as a result, manufacturing was locally based, too. The independent fashion sector also still existed, and that presented an opportunity for smaller British fashion manufacturers to reach consumers in a clear and direct way."

Offshore exodus

By the early 1980s, UK manufacturing had slowly started to disappear, as offshoring became the buzzword, and retailers and brands spread their bases further afield to emerging markets in a bid to cut costs and increase their margins.

Globalisation wasn't going away and we couldn't stand on the shore like King Canute

Marks & Spencer spokeswoman in 2002

The bulk of manufacturing drifted off to China, which effectively became a factory in itself, churning out goods for markets across the globe. By the mid-1990s, UK production was well and truly grinding to a halt. In the early 2000s, the clothing and textiles sector reached its lowest number of employees, totalling only about 90,000 workers.

"By the time we hit 1995, we had offshored 70% of our production to the Far East," says fashion consultant Daliah Simble-Hearn, looking back at her time when she was production manager at Monsoon.

She believes offshoring shaped today's retail model: "If we hadn't done that, the high street we know today wouldn't have existed. Through being able to find those cheap items, retailers were able to invest in bricks-and-mortar, and expand.

"That's the positive side of the globalisation of the supply chain. So many business models were built on volume, and retailers saw an opportunity to produce more product. Even at the height of UK manufacturing, there was still a cap on how many pieces they could make.'

As offshoring continued, there were significant changes in business models. Companies were bought by bigger, private companies, whose shareholders demanded more bang for their buck - and, if that meant sourcing overseas, then so be it.

So many business models were built on volume, and retailers saw an opportunity to produce more product

Daliah Simble-Hearn, fashion consultant

Marks & Spencer was reportedly one of the last British companies to jump ship.

"Globalisation wasn't going away and we couldn't stand on the shore like King Canute," an M&S spokeswoman told the BBC in 2002. "Our competitors were offering customers better prices than we could hope or imagine, so we bit the bullet."

As expected, with a big fall in demand, factories across the UK closed down, although some firms specialising in tailoring, outerwear and premium knitwear clung on to British soil. But then, in about 2007, a strange thing started to happen.

Coming home

Zara swooped on to the market, creating a fast fashion model that others envied. Some retailers and brands started to bring manufacturing - albeit a small amount - back to the UK. At the same time, retailers were aware that margins were better from sourcing overseas, but were won over by consumer demand for newness.

The resurgence was also fuelled by a newly found interest in Made in UK products. The emerging BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) created a new wave of consumers with new spending power, and they desired British-made goods. Brands such as Mulberry and Aquascutum prospered as a result.

However, the resurgence was not solely driven by high-end fashion. In the mid-market, it was helped by brands such as Jaeger bringing some of its production back to the UK, and John Lewis and Debenhams offering Made in UK collections.
Source: Jack Hudson
More recently, we have witnessed increased investment in British clothing from brands at the other end of the spectrum - fast fashion players such as Boohoo and Missguided are ordering from factories in the UK so they can react more quickly to trends.

Figures confirm that manufacturing in Britain has been enjoying something of a revival. A report from the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT), which collated data from sources including the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and Revenue and Customs on imports and exports, found that there were 7.6% more companies producing textiles and clothing in the UK in 2015 than in the previous year, bringing the number to 7,880.

The biggest increase came from a rise in the number of garment manufacturers, up by 10.7% to 3,830 companies, while the number of textile producers had increased by 4.9% year on year to 4,030.

British manufacturing is still very much concentrated at the luxury end of the market

James Eden, Private White VC

The growth was attributed to the rising cost of overseas production, increasing need for supply control and flexibility, and growing demand for UK-produced clothing. The same report found that the number of people employed in textile and clothing manufacturing (including the self-employed) was at its highest level since 2006, at about 132,000. The healthier state of the UK manufacturing scene was also demonstrated by ONS figures that show 945 textile and clothing manufacturing companies were created in 2014, up from 710 in 2009.

The UK's decision to leave the European Union has also encouraged retailers to look closer to home. The weakness of sterling since the Brexit vote - and the attendant effect on exchange rates - resulted in higher import costs, and makes buying in pounds from within the UK a more attractive prospect than it has been for some time.

This summer, footwear giant Clarks started up the machines at a new factory in Somerset. Domestic manufacturing has also given brands more control over the quality of what comes off their production lines. With factories on their doorstep (comparatively), rather than thousands of miles away, it is easier for sourcing managers to visit sites and check garments.

Limited to luxury

However, while some talk of a resurgence, others take a different view.

"For brands like ours, there has been an uptake, but British manufacturing is still very much concentrated at the luxury end of the market, with a plethora of brands shouting 'Made in the UK' but producing only a fraction of their range here," says James Eden, who has run premium menswear label Private White VC since 2011. "Until labelling is properly controlled by the UK government, those who do produce their garments here will always be under threat." Eden launched the label after taking over his great-grandfather Private Jack White's former raincoat factory in Manchester.

As a manufacturer committed to remaining in the UK, our costs have only gone up during this time frame

Ian Maclean, John Smedley

One brand to have retained production here while others looked abroad is John Smedley, which was founded in 1784 and claims to be the oldest manufacturing factory in the world. The knitwear brand's clothes are all manufactured in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. The company also manufactures for a range of brands - including Margaret Howell, Holly Fulton and Comme des Garçons.

Yet, although business is going well, it's been a tough slog, says chief executive Ian Maclean: "As a manufacturer committed to remaining in the UK, our costs have only gone up during this time frame. That has meant our prices have gone up as well, and our volumes have gone down.

"In volume terms, our business peaked in 1997 at around 600,000 garments manufactured each year. Last year, we made 350,000 garments. The main loss of business has been original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) business, mainly for the big department store chains, which took most of that business to the Far East about 20 years ago.

"What remains for us is the John Smedley brand, which has been the backbone of our business since the 1930s, and sells well today through department stores, indies and our own retail channels."

Mind the skills gap

One of the key challenges for UK manufacturing is still the skills gap. In a survey of textiles employers for a report published by the Alliance Project in 2015, on the potential for rejuvenated UK textile manufacturing, 37% of the firms interviewed said that skills shortages were a barrier to growth. Almost half (49%) reported hard-to-fill vacancies, and half said that their recruitment problems in the past two years had related to small numbers of applicants with the experience and qualifications required.

In April 2017's ONS Labour Force survey found that the UK's textiles workforce stood at 127,500 across all skill levels, from packing and Warehouse staff to board directors.

Clothing manufacturing could and should play a critical role in our future economic and industrial prospects

Professor Christopher Moore, director of the British School of Fashion and assistant vice-principal at Glasgow Caledonian University

The age profile of the workforce is another limitation.

"A lot of the manufacturing workforce are on the wrong side of 40," says Adam Mansell, chief executive of the UKFT. "So it's about how we can make manufacturing more appealing to young people. We have 5,000 students on fashion degree courses in the UK, but not all are going to become fashion designers or buyers, so we have to go to schools and talk about why manufacturing is a good place to have a career."

Eden also voices his concern: "Attracting new talent is currently our biggest hurdle. Waves of textiles graduates clamour to become designers in their own right, without understanding that a swathe of roles - apprentices, pattern-cutters, sample machinists, garment technologists and so on - are all very much in demand, and essential to support the industry.

"We risk losing the skills of yesteryear at the moment, because there aren't enough young people looking to enter manufacturing."

Brexit threat

Another factor is how Brexit will affect UK manufacturing. For some, it is already causing growing pains. One of the concerns raised is the number of employees in the UK fashion industry who are European Union nationals. The UKFT says it is working with the British Fashion Council to lobby government to make a firm commitment about their work status.

The prospect of Brexit makes any predictions about how UK manufacturing will pan out even harder. But most industry insiders remain quietly optimistic.

"The days of there being a mill on every corner in the north of England are over, but there are brand specialists producing within the UK and doing very well," says Eden. He adds that his company is expanding its production facilities by 50% this year, and opening a new factory floor to keep up with demand.

Certainly, the industry needs to rally together to help to keep up the momentum.

As Moore says: "We should support and be optimistic about the sector, not just because it is part of our industrial heritage but, rather because it could and should play a critical role in our future economic and industrial prospects."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Manufacturing a new UK clothing industry

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For millennials, it is hard to imagine the UK as a mass producer of clothing and textiles - a prosperous industry with factories across the regions employing about a million workers and pumping vast amounts into the economy, as it was in the 1970s.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Makes Turkey a Great Apparel Sourcing Destination for Europe?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Over the recent years, Turkey has emerged to be one of the most prominent locations for sourcing in Europe. The fashion industry contributes a lot to the flourishing of the Turkish economy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Turkey’s import impasse | Features | Drapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Morocco's race to be a fast fashion sourcing destination | Features | Drapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Can the Modern Slavery Act solve fashion’s ethical crisis? | Features | Drapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When cult Danish fashion favourite Ganni teamed up with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals accelerator last year, the aim was to create a carbon neutral capsule collection. That meant founder Nicolaj Reffstrup conceiving a line of garments that either negated the use of carbon emissions or, even better, helping to simultaneously remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere during the production process.

That work continues today with Ganni Labs, a working group driving down impact across the whole business that's led to experimenting with the rental market and shifting half of the brand's materials to recycled, organic or certified, with a target of 100 per cent within a couple of seasons. Achieving carbon neutrality remains a top priority.

"There's no discussion. We need to get there, period. For me, behaving responsibly is a moral obligation. But it's also an insurance policy. If you can't create a carbon neutral collection or better than that in 10 years, then there's no business for you," Reffstrup says.

The fashion industry currently contributes up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions, and the Global Fashion Agenda forecasts those emissions will increase by 50 per cent by 2030. It's why carbon is a common thread of the UN's Fashion Charter and the G7 Fashion Pact; the two major fashion coalitions aiming to drive change in the industry. Both are aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. But challenges remain over how best to implement this and whether the fashion industry should be offsetting carbon via programmes like tree-planting or doing the tougher work of looking inward and reducing their own carbon emissions.

"Decarbonisation is the only option for survival," says Laila Petrie, joint chair of the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and CEO of environmental organisation 2050. A zero carbon economy is both a planetary and business imperative in the context of reducing global warming and averting the climate catastrophe, she says. "It's going to be vital to de-risk and to prepare your value chains and your customer for this altered reality where resources are limited and there's increasing effects felt from climate change."

In theory, carbon neutrality means fashion brands must both reduce their emissions where possible and offset the remainder of their footprint by funding projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere elsewhere. In practice, more of the latter has been the focus so far. At best, this means a marketing exercise coupled with investment to counterbalance the footprint of a fashion show, for instance. At worst, it's akin to paying for the problem to go away while otherwise preserving the status quo.

A mitigation hierarchy

Luxury has made some early moves. Gucci announced its intentions to be carbon neutral last September, backdating all emissions starting from 2018. Parent group Kering swiftly followed suit. Burberry held a carbon neutral show in February 2020, in line with its goal to be carbon neutral in its own operational energy use by 2022. All three have set Science Based Targets - a reduction initiative that aligns goals with climate science.

Gucci says it follows a "mitigation hierarchy", which is to avoid and reduce where possible, then offset anything residual. It does the latter through projects like REDD+, which focus on protecting biodiversity and forests.

Part of the reason for offsetting, though criticised for not being sufficient, lies in the enormous complexity, not to mention lack of data in the supply chain. There is also a lack of technology and innovation, brands say. It's for this reason Marco Bizzarri, CEO of Gucci, issued the CEO Carbon Neutral Challenge last November, calling for the industry to continue towards reduction targets as a priority, all the while committing to offsetting remaining emissions in the supply chain, through nature-based solutions. So far, only The RealReal is among a handful who have signed up.

Footwear brand Allbirds is a step ahead of most, but CEO Tim Brown concedes the mission is incredibly difficult. In May, Allbirds announced a collaboration with Adidas that comes with an ambition to reduce the amount of carbon in an athletic shoe below 2kg, for instance. The industry norm is 13kg, he says. Allbirds has so far otherwise achieved 9kg.

"Even with leveraging all of Adidas' resources, supply chain and global influence, we think getting under 2kgs will be the equivalent of running a two-minute mile. It's that hard," Brown notes.

Regenerative practices

Where Brown sees hope is in regenerative practices - farming that is focused, among other things, on isolating carbon into the soil. "Our belief is that nature holds the answer to solving the problems here," he explains.

This is also where Burberry is focused; implementing regenerative agriculture practices with some of its wool producers in Australia. This is the first of its "carbon insetting" projects - a term counter to offsetting that is about investing directly within its own supply chain to help drive reduction.

"It's about carbon capture, but it's also broader than that; it's also about biodiversity, restoring ecosystems and supporting livelihoods of local producers," explains Pam Batty, VP of corporate responsibility at Burberry. Nearly half of the company's total carbon impact occurs within raw material production and processing, meaning focusing at this level, though it takes significant time, is crucial, she says.

Sheep Inc., an emerging knitwear brand that refers to itself as carbon negative, is only sourcing in this way. It is working with three New Zealand-based farms on regenerative methods to feed into its promise to take at least 10x more carbon out of the atmosphere for every sweater it produces.

"Carbon neutrality is not enough, we have to have a regenerative impact on the environment," says CEO and co-founder Edzard van der Wyck. "We wanted to signal to the industry that this is the next step it needs to take; to prove there is a model that can exist right now where you can actually be carbon negative."

"There is a scenario for the next 10 years, where fashion brands really incorporate regenerative agriculture into their sourcing practices, and in doing so deliver significant reduction in their scope three emissions. That's what is needed," says Dr Sally Uren, CEO of Forum for the Future.

For true progress she believes carbon negative - or climate positive - impact from some businesses is crucial in order to balance out the fact many others will not adopt SBTs at all. "What we need is a radical rather than incremental approach to decarbonisation. The latter won't cut it anymore."

To receive the Vogue Business Sustainability Edit, sign up here.

Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.

More on this topic:
Fashion's post-growth future Gabriela Hearst is giving its spring collection a digital identity How Allbirds built a sustainable supply chain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Decarbonising fashion is imperative. Here's why

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When cult Danish fashion favourite Ganni teamed up with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals accelerator last year, the aim was to create a carbon neutral capsule collection. That meant founder Nicolaj Reffstrup conceiving a line of garments that either negated the use of carbon emissions or, even better, helping to simultaneously remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere during the production process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Start-Ups That Want to Solve Fashion’s Packaging Problem | BoF Professional, News & Analysis | B

# data[].attributes.body
Collabaration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How does it work?

Alexander McQueen has invited longstanding customers to take back pre-loved pieces they no longer wear and receive store credit in return. These pieces will be sold by us and listed under our new 'Brand Approved' label, ensuring the house's unique craftsmanship lives on. We're also using NFC technology to ensure full traceability: each piece is accompanied by a special hangtag, which when scanned will confirm the details and authentication of the item.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Alexander McQueen and Vestiaire Collective

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Alexander McQueen has invited longstanding customers to take back pre-loved pieces they no longer wear and receive store credit in return. These pieces will be sold by us and listed under our new 'Brand Approved' label, ensuring the house's unique craftsmanship lives on.