By the end of 2020, it is become inevitable but to sit back and think about all the buzz and businesses making new efforts, my musing was much inclined towards the fashion industry, the thought- is this the way forward? was haunting me. I personally feel there are many trends in the fashion industry that are kind of predictable and unnecessary. As a fashion lover, I feel there could be better ways to create a trend, than just spin on a marketing tactic- This is serious business we are talking about.

FAKE SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability has become a current buzz word to instantly capture the consumer’s attention in a short span. Most of the brands don’t even care about the environment but still publicize themselves as the most environment-friendly brand. For example, fast fashion giant H&M came to light on their fake marketing of new collection called "Green Washing". They failed to provide substantial inputs when questioned on "how the collection was claiming to be safe for the environment?". Besides H&M, there have been numerous instances when many fast-fashion brands and luxury designers have claimed to be sustainable and eco-friendly with their recycled materials, but later turned out to be false.  However, brands such as Ralph Lauren and Stella McCartney are designers who are working and investing in research to find out better alternatives as against using unfriendly environmental material in the making. As we enter this new phase [post covid-19], it is expected that brands and designers take sustainability seriously. It’s high time now; the more we wait, the greater is the damage. There are many brands that are actually focusing on ‘ZERO WASTE POLICY’ and also using fabrics that can be reused or recycled. Ralph Lauren came up with the fantastic idea of using plastic bottles for manufacturing t-shirts. The collection was called the “Earth Polo”. It was well received with positive reviews, mostly for its take on protecting the oceans and landfills. As for consumers, we need to buy more from sustainable brands than those fake eco-friendly ones. 2021 should have more sustainable, eco-friendly products than in 2020. This is the only way to have a better environment for the next generation.

EASY CASH GRAB COLLABORATIONS

Collaborations are becoming a key to promote your brand and get more money quickly. Most companies and celebrities are not aware of the products that they collaborate with. Shane Dawson, a famous YouTuber went on to launch his own palette of eyeshades without any knowledge of makeup or its intensity whatsoever. But, due to his hyped social fan base, it became a brand worth 35 million dollars as on date. Offlate, collaboration is becoming a huge trendsetter and latest marketing tactic. It is believed that whenever two brands collaborate, one can expect something unique, high-end and product of a superior quality. H&M for example, is known to collaborate with multi-luxury brands such as Balmain, Giambattista Bali, and Karl Lagerfeld. Collections are usually in limited edition and are sold-out within minutes. The best collaboration is an Italian brand- Off-White, it holds the record of 12 brand collaborations for their merchandise.

Collaborative marketing approach is considered as a good practice where you can expand your target audience, offer better products and affordable. The problem is when most of these collabs (mostly celebrity) are unnecessary and is merely a publicity stunt for celebrities to comeback in the market. Whenever a famous personality or a celebrity introduces a new product, the word spreads like wildfire attracting consumers from all walks of life. Everyone wants to try that product and sadly, most of the time it’s sold out. Now what matters next is after sales experience. when one understands if the quality of the product v/s the celebrity collection was taken seriously or not and most likely NOT. It’s perhaps time, to pull-down such collaborations currently trending. Celebrities should impose on staying relevant. No one asked for it, therefore promotion without it’s complete experience with quality and customer satisfaction is a big NO. Brands need to explore new tactics to enter the market, launch their product or increase sales; come up with more innovative ideas or maybe just stop fooling consumers in the pretext of celebrity.

CELEBRITY OWNED COSMETICS/CLOTHING LINES

After having a successful career in Movies, TVs, or even YouTube, popular personalities usually tend to start their own businesses that turns out beneficial whilst piggy riding on their celebrity status. Hence, celebrity cosmetics/ clothing lines were born. It’s not a bad thing to expand your ventures and try something where your passion resides. Most of such brands are quite good. Jessica Alba’s- Honest Company, Drew Barrymore’s - Flower Beauty, and currently Selena Gomez’s - Rare Beauty are great in terms of quality and affordability and that’s the reason they are loved by many. But now, it’s a new cosmetic range, clothing brand or a fashion accessory each day. Some of these are so bad that you can’t even wear even on a regular use. Numerous options are available in the market that can give you more satisfaction as supposed to these celebrity products. Of course, celebrities will continue to invest in such businesses as it fetches good returns on low investment. The point is, are these satisfactory to us and our needs?! We need to ask ourselves ‘Do we really need it?’.  

The world is not going to end. Even if you are coming up with a new line please ensure a thorough market research. No one needs another shirt with a celebrity tag on it. With ever increasing competition in market, it’s hard to stand out as a brand and it is understood. Yet, it is become everyone's thing to do without much to offer but too much of celebrity ado. Rihanna is the only celebrity that came up with an idea that surely made her a queen of everything. Her Savage Fenty fashion show just raised the bars higher in setting a fashion trend. Her show featured women of all sizes with different skin tones and ages. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Star Erika Jayne walked down the runway at the age of 49. Plus, transgender models and drag queens were also included in the show. That is how a product should be sold. You need to let consumers feel accepted rather than just forcing them to fit into a mold laid by the norms of society.

By the end of 2020, it is become inevitable but to sit back and think about all the buzz and businesses making new efforts, my musing was much inclined towards the fashion industry, the thought- is this the way forward? was haunting me. I personally feel there are many trends in the fashion industry that are kind of predictable and unnecessary. As a fashion lover, I feel there could be better ways to create a trend, than just spin on a marketing tactic- This is serious business we are talking about.

FAKE SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability has become a current buzz word to instantly capture the consumer’s attention in a short span. Most of the brands don’t even care about the environment but still publicize themselves as the most environment-friendly brand. For example, fast fashion giant H&M came to light on their fake marketing of new collection called "Green Washing". They failed to provide substantial inputs when questioned on "how the collection was claiming to be safe for the environment?". Besides H&M, there have been numerous instances when many fast-fashion brands and luxury designers have claimed to be sustainable and eco-friendly with their recycled materials, but later turned out to be false.  However, brands such as Ralph Lauren and Stella McCartney are designers who are working and investing in research to find out better alternatives as against using unfriendly environmental material in the making. As we enter this new phase [post covid-19], it is expected that brands and designers take sustainability seriously. It’s high time now; the more we wait, the greater is the damage. There are many brands that are actually focusing on ‘ZERO WASTE POLICY’ and also using fabrics that can be reused or recycled. Ralph Lauren came up with the fantastic idea of using plastic bottles for manufacturing t-shirts. The collection was called the “Earth Polo”. It was well received with positive reviews, mostly for its take on protecting the oceans and landfills. As for consumers, we need to buy more from sustainable brands than those fake eco-friendly ones. 2021 should have more sustainable, eco-friendly products than in 2020. This is the only way to have a better environment for the next generation.

EASY CASH GRAB COLLABORATIONS

Collaborations are becoming a key to promote your brand and get more money quickly. Most companies and celebrities are not aware of the products that they collaborate with. Shane Dawson, a famous YouTuber went on to launch his own palette of eyeshades without any knowledge of makeup or its intensity whatsoever. But, due to his hyped social fan base, it became a brand worth 35 million dollars as on date. Offlate, collaboration is becoming a huge trendsetter and latest marketing tactic. It is believed that whenever two brands collaborate, one can expect something unique, high-end and product of a superior quality. H&M for example, is known to collaborate with multi-luxury brands such as Balmain, Giambattista Bali, and Karl Lagerfeld. Collections are usually in limited edition and are sold-out within minutes. The best collaboration is an Italian brand- Off-White, it holds the record of 12 brand collaborations for their merchandise.

Collaborative marketing approach is considered as a good practice where you can expand your target audience, offer better products and affordable. The problem is when most of these collabs (mostly celebrity) are unnecessary and is merely a publicity stunt for celebrities to comeback in the market. Whenever a famous personality or a celebrity introduces a new product, the word spreads like wildfire attracting consumers from all walks of life. Everyone wants to try that product and sadly, most of the time it’s sold out. Now what matters next is after sales experience. when one understands if the quality of the product v/s the celebrity collection was taken seriously or not and most likely NOT. It’s perhaps time, to pull-down such collaborations currently trending. Celebrities should impose on staying relevant. No one asked for it, therefore promotion without it’s complete experience with quality and customer satisfaction is a big NO. Brands need to explore new tactics to enter the market, launch their product or increase sales; come up with more innovative ideas or maybe just stop fooling consumers in the pretext of celebrity.

CELEBRITY OWNED COSMETICS/CLOTHING LINES

After having a successful career in Movies, TVs, or even YouTube, popular personalities usually tend to start their own businesses that turns out beneficial whilst piggy riding on their celebrity status. Hence, celebrity cosmetics/ clothing lines were born. It’s not a bad thing to expand your ventures and try something where your passion resides. Most of such brands are quite good. Jessica Alba’s- Honest Company, Drew Barrymore’s - Flower Beauty, and currently Selena Gomez’s - Rare Beauty are great in terms of quality and affordability and that’s the reason they are loved by many. But now, it’s a new cosmetic range, clothing brand or a fashion accessory each day. Some of these are so bad that you can’t even wear even on a regular use. Numerous options are available in the market that can give you more satisfaction as supposed to these celebrity products. Of course, celebrities will continue to invest in such businesses as it fetches good returns on low investment. The point is, are these satisfactory to us and our needs?! We need to ask ourselves ‘Do we really need it?’.  

The world is not going to end. Even if you are coming up with a new line please ensure a thorough market research. No one needs another shirt with a celebrity tag on it. With ever increasing competition in market, it’s hard to stand out as a brand and it is understood. Yet, it is become everyone's thing to do without much to offer but too much of celebrity ado. Rihanna is the only celebrity that came up with an idea that surely made her a queen of everything. Her Savage Fenty fashion show just raised the bars higher in setting a fashion trend. Her show featured women of all sizes with different skin tones and ages. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Star Erika Jayne walked down the runway at the age of 49. Plus, transgender models and drag queens were also included in the show. That is how a product should be sold. You need to let consumers feel accepted rather than just forcing them to fit into a mold laid by the norms of society.