Celebrated Astro-Strategist Cum Fashion Adviser, Hirav Shah Opines- “Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events. You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes. You can see and feel everything in clothes.”

Meanwhile, Don’t you want to know ‘Why & How is Fashion Industry’s Diversification In Full Swing’ ?

Fashion Strategist Hirav Shah Says- The reason for fashion industry’s diversification is the same as a portfolio’s diversification and that is less exposure to risk. You never know when an audience will shift its interest from one product type to another. It is best to have your finger in many pots so that you will be ready when the changes and metamorphosis happen.

Hence, Brands are diversifying their offers to give the client not only garments but a 360 degrees’ experience.

“Fashion Beyond Fashion” is the catchword-Quotes Hirav Shah.

Fashion has always been about garments, but talking about numbers, companies are always looking for new ways of conquering the consumer. But, what to do in a world where every time is harder to be surprised? How to fight sales deceleration in the sector?

Brands are teaming up with other sectors amidst sales deceleration. Brands are diversifying their offer to provide not only fashion, but an entire experience through :

1. Fruitful Collaborations

It’s not new that the fashion industry wants to provide different experiences to the customers, but it has been mainly through collaborations in luxury brands.

Armani, for example with its megastore in Via Manzoni 31, in Milan, where it has a cafeteria, a decoration division and even a bookstore.Another of the big luxury brands in opening its offer to other sectors has been Hermès, mixing its classic aesthetic with one of the brands that represents innovation the most, Apple. Together they have launched several versions of Apple Watch, priced between 1,100 and 1,500 euros.

Big luxury brands have collaborated with other sectors to launch limited editions
Gucci couldn’t stay behind, the Italian luxury brand did recently a collaboration with Fiat to launch a limited edition of the classic car of the company, the Fiat 500, an icon of Italian culture. Dolce&Gabbana also created an alliance with Martini to launch its special bottle Martini Gold.

But now new business models have started to diversify the offer, it’s not only luxury making collaborations, but also giants of fast fashion like Inditex or H&M are raising their offer to brands from other sectors.

From the alliance of Bershka with the live streaming music platform Tidal, to the new store concept of Primark in which clients can get a haircut or drink a coffee. Brands are looking to be different for its clients, to generate a 360 degrees’ experience, where they don’t only find garments in its stores but also an entire concept.

Fast fashion and low cost are diversifying their offer to products from other sectors H&M, for example, offers in its flagship in Barcelona the option of going shopping and at the same time, in the same place, to have salad in the restaurant Flax and Kale. Inditex is another of the giants to diversify its offer. First with Bershka and then with Zara Home, where it has widened its offer with small furniture and electro domestics.

2.Product Segments’ Diversification

Diversifying product segments is specific to India and to women wear as a category. Women and kids wear categories grew faster with a 13 percent and 17 percent CAGR respectively between FY 2010-2015 than menswear at 11 percent.

The per capita apparel spending is also highest for kids, followed by women and men. Further, within womenswear, western and Indian ethnic segments did grow faster, with 21 percent and 17 percent CAGR between FY 2015-2020 compared to saree at 6 percent CAGR. As saree moves to an occasional wear category, it is believed brands with single product focus will be severely impacted.

Indeed, companies like Garden Vareli have already diversified their product portfolio to include non-saree ethnic and western wear. Globally too, apparel brands have sought to diversify products across customer groups to mitigate single-product risks. Ralph Lauren, for example, today has multiple product lines for women, men, kids and even home furnishing.

3.Feasible eco-friendly products

This trend is visible in how progressive apparel companies are addressing the latent consumer demand for environment-friendly clothes. US-based Patagonia is an early adopter of recycled materials and organic cotton usage in its apparel. While the Denali jacket from The North Face is made with recycled yarn, recovered from fabric scraps and recycled bottles, which uses less water for dying. From a composite value chain perspective, downstream companies like Bolt Threads have developed bio-synthetic fibers that harness natural proteins; as an alternative to petroleum-based fabrics like polyester or nylon. Patagonia is, in fact, a key user of these alternatives, eco-friendly fabrics.

4.Inclination to product personalisation

Product personalisation is going mainstream rapidly, creating whole new revenue streams and possibilities for agile brands. Thursday Finest offers custom-tailored merino wool socks that are made on demand using 3D knitting machines to a customer’s specifications: size, shape, and colors. US-based MTailor has embraced smartphone-based personalisation for suits, shirts, and jeans – customers provide measurements and place the order on phone, and get the products shipped via mail. Bombay Shirt Company in India has embraced a similar model. Further, several mainstream jeans brands have started offering personalised fits.

Fulfilment of personalised fashion requires brands to re-engineer their entire value chain, use cutting-edge technology for collaboration and communications and forge new types of vendor relationships to ensure express deliveries; for the customer does not like to wait.

5.Embracing digital technology

Finally, three is a clear emergence of e-commerce as a popular channel for fashion and apparel buying – a recent study found that 84 percent of respondents claimed to have bought apparel online in the past three months; compared to 79 percent who bought electronics and 52 percent who bought groceries.

The onus on apparel brands is clear. They are collaborating with not just downstream players, but even upstream players to innovate and develop products. For example, Levi’s collaborated with Google to launch a Commuter jacket targeted at millennial urban cyclists that use conductive yarn and offers touch-based interactivity with a smartphone – allowing users to accept or decline calls, access music or navigation by gestures right on the jacket. Nike on the other hand innovated with fabric with fibres that open up to increase breathability when sweating and close when the wearer is cooling down. A brand like Uniqlo has, in fact, carved a unique differentiated positioning by using technology innovations: their Heattech inner clothing for winters is 100x warmer than regular cotton.

Conclusion:

India’s fashion and textile industry has recognised that the modern Indian consumer is no different from her counterparts in the west. India’s fashion retail market is itself set to grow to US$115 billion by 2026. Local brands and manufacturers, who can become distinctly home-grown leaders, will be crucial for enhancing India’s garment industry competitiveness on the global stage. To do so, they must continue focussing on Diversification besides everything else like product innovation and development, investing in brand building and customer engagement, creating flexibility in manufacturing and supply chain and finally, demonstrating savviness in embracing digital technologies.

Meanwhile, Leading Business Astrologer™ and Astro-Strategist Hirav Shah here opines-
Like 2020 Did, Don’t let 2021 take you by surprise.
Manifest success for your business.
This pertains to the fashion industry and all other sectors as well.

Now, you must have been aware as to where to “Ask”, to get Astro-Advice, for taking on challenges with confidence and certainty.