PESTLE Analysis of the Fashion Industry | Marketing Tutor (2024)

Introduction

Fashion is an aesthetic expressioncombined with many things like makeup, clothing, footwear, accessories,hairstyle, and lifestyle. The life of fashion is comprised of a short time orless than a season. According to Pierre Bourdieu, a sociologist, he describesfashion is something different or the latest difference. It keeps on changing.Style, on the other hand, has a longer life and it can last many seasons.

The fashion industry came intoexistence roundabout in the mid of the 19th century. But it has become a fullygrown-up international industry where designers design clothes in one country,manufactured in the other country, and brands sell them in different marketsworldwide. In short, the fashion industry operates in four parts;

1. Raw material like fabrics, fur, leather, fibers, and cotton
2. Manufacturers, designer, or the contractor
3. Retail sales
4. Promotion, advertising, and marketing

Every part of the abovementionedlevel is completely different from the other, but they’re interdependent.Whether it’s the purchase of quality raw material, qualified designers andmanufacturers, sales of the final products or the advertisem*nt; the purpose isto provide quality products to the end customers and satisfy their needs.

Now it’s time to discuss howpolitical, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental factorsimpact the fashion industry; how new trends are emerging, and how the fashionindustry is evolving with time. Here’s a look at the pestle analysis of theFashion Industry;

PoliticalFactors: Fashion Icon and the Head of the State

If imported products become costlybecause of the taxation or the border tariff. In such circ*mstances, thegovernment usually encourages people to buy clothes of homemade brands and localdesigners. Instead of sending orders and payments of clothes and other productsto offshore companies; there are some groups like PETA that refuse to deal withthose companies that use animal fur. Whether it’s a local company orinternational, the purpose is to discourage animal abuse.

Politicians and political figureshave a specific influence on the fashion industry and brands. For instance, thefirst lady of the US (Melania Trump, or Michelle Obama) or any other country,British Prime Minister Theresa May; the point is that millions of people lookup to such figures. Therefore, their apparel isn’t just clothes, they alsoconvey a symbolic message. The involvement of the fashion industry withpolitical icons started with Jackie Kennedy, and the rest is history.

It’s not just the celebrities,artists and social media activists who lay the foundation of new trends. Femalepolitical figures also admire and appreciate fashion icons.

Also Read: Zara PESTLE Analysis

EconomicFactors: Expensive & Fashion

Economically speaking, we see theworld at two extreme ends; high-income countries where people manage to find away to buy fashionable products and accessories. Low-income countries with a high unemployment rate where fashion is a luxurywhich they can’t afford, staying alive with food and water is more important.

People in the middle class or thelower middle class with limited resources, they prefer rental clothes orjewelry whether formal or otherwise. As we know the fashion industry isseasonal and it keeps on changing. If you buy such fashion items permanently,then you have to endure another cost of space for keeping it. Therefore, suchrental clothing services are much cheap and affordable, they satisfy your needsand you don’t have to pay extra cost for it.

SocialFactors: Singers & Artists promotes Fashion

Musicians, singers, and artists needunique dressing and outfits to show off. The purpose of such attire is todifferentiate you from the crowd, the fans and media personals would recognizeyou immediately. Once you have the attention, then you’re in the spotlight.

Later, such attire and outfit becomethe symbol or brand icon associated with a particular figure.

For instance, LED lighted glove ofMichael Jackson, sagging jeans or ripped jeans of celebrities, or the goldchain. The artists and musicians who wear such artifacts, they did not becomesymbolic. But they also have a huge impact on the fans, because they recognizethem with those items.

Fashion doesn’t always mean that youhave to look unique; it can be sober and light depending on the situation. Forinstance, a person goes for the interview, and he wears good formal dressing.An ordinary office goer wear semi-formal and casual dressing with comfortableshoes, it also falls in the category of casual light fashion. But peopleusually ignore it, or reluctant to accept it as a fashion.

TechnologicalFactors: Becoming a Fashion Designer is Easy

Some people prefer online shoppingwhere they can easily check out products of different stores. If they like anyof them, they’d put them on the cart and place their order. Rather thanphysically visiting a shopping mall or a store, they find traveling and walkinga laborious activity.

The Internet has made it easy to setup your store online. Sophia Amoruso began collecting vintage clothes of oldfashion a few years ago, then she set up her online store and selling hercollection on eBay at a reasonable profit. In 2018, the net worth of assets wasmore than 300 million US dollars.

We come across runway TV shows whereanalysts and designers talk about the future of the fashion industry, and theyalso show off their latest designs and products. There are business shows,where they discuss the new investors and young talented startups in the fashionindustry, and how their future would look like.

Technologyis useful in terms of helping designers and customers to get what they want.Designers are finding clever ways to earn a profit.

Legal Factors: Manufacturing in Asian Countries for Cheap Labor

When it comes to obeying the law;the fashion industry is no exception. It has to follow the same excise taxationlaws, inflation cost, labor laws, and import and export restrictions. The wholeimage of a brand and country’s laws start changing when a company or a fashionbrand outsources its work to other Asian countries in search of cheap labor.The home economy and people lose job opportunities and capital through foreignoutsourcing. Therefore, some people boycott the products of those brands thatoutsource manufacturing to other countries.

EnvironmentFactors: Impact on the Environment

The products of the fashion industryare having a disastrous impact on the environment in many ways. First of all,start with manufacturing where chemically treating the cotton to prepare jeans,factories emit chemical fumes into the atmosphere. At the shipment stage,trucks and vehicles release gasses and smocks in the environment to cause airpollution. If the shipment is through the sea, then it’s causing oil spillinginto the sea.

After being used by the customers, it turns up in the form of waste. According to a recent study, an average American disposes of approximately 80 pounds of clothes every year. Wastage has increased by 60% for the past 15 years. When you calculate the total figure at a global level, then there’s so much cloth wastage. The fashion industry is playing a huge role in the clothing wastage because every new season brings up new clothes and new fashion.

Although some industries havestarted recycling the worn-out clothes; but this effort is operating at a verylow level. Every industry and every country should take this step into cleaningup the environment.

Conclusion:Pestle Analysis of the Fashion Industry

We can’t deny the fact that thefashion industry plays an important in building up culture, trends, societies,and economies of countries. But it shouldn’t be at the cost of destroying thenature and polluting the environment. Companies and customers should buy andsell recycled products.

Photo by shattha pilabut