Rebranding Trend in the Fashion Industry
Rua Dinm
Editor-in-Chief
Have you noticed how the new purses from Tory Burch are raised? Or how Swarovski has new boxes from the collection I & II? Or how Sally’s suddenly carried different higher ended, unique brands? Or when YSL & Burberry changed their logos? As the industry has experienced various changes in the last decade with the pandemic, the demand for more virtual/digital experiences, influencer culture, and social media platforms creating various opportunities, these rebranding changes are inevitable. The real question is, what does that mean for consumers, employees, and the greater good of society?
As a consumer, rebranding can help prioritize what people want from brands. The consumer is left with an infinite number of choices to buy something as simple as a pair of leather pants. Nowadays, consumers’ buying choices in fashion represent more than just how they look in them. Where were these pants produced? Was it made without cruelty? Is it vegan leather? Is the brand sustainable? Does the brand have some sort of controversial past that they haven’t apologized for? These things did not matter as much before, but it does now. When people ask where someone got a pair of pants, they’re asking to know that person. They want to know if the person wearing the clothes cares about the earth, slave labor, and controversial influencers. Thus, when a brand changes its ways, consumers can demand the brands to do better and invest in brands that represent who they are. In many cases, this can be the next step of sustainability—the greater good of society.
The other aspect of rebranding is the opportunity to be employed! Rebranding creates an atmosphere of making significant changes to existing departments and new departments and jobs that never existed before in these brands. The last portion is something to look out for recent graduates as the industry changes give us loads of opportunities. These jobs give us the opportunity and freedom to create high expectations from the work-life balance, opportunity to be creative, opportunity to change things for the better for the environment, for specific consumer segments, and so much more. It is also creating an opportunity not to repeat the same mistakes that people made before us.
Rebranding of fashion brands is not just a trend but a continuous journey that we might experience a few times in this lifetime. It can be for the better or for the worse. Still, it is up to both the consumers and industry individual to navigate the routes for the betterment of the company and society if they want to exist indefinitely. After all, as we have seen from Fenty Fashion’s collapse, the chances of a brand failing are slim but not none.
Contact Rua at rua.dinm@student.shu.edu