The Future of the Retail and Fashion Industry

Within the last 10 years, the retail and fashion industry has changed drastically. Whilst still being rooted in a capitalist economy, there is a larger focus on sustainability, with the sharing economy playing a larger role.

The sharing economy sees the concept of ownership shift towards the a sustainable model where sharing amongst a small number of people on a local, national and international level has become more acceptable and easier to implement with advancements in digital technologies and platforms that facilitate connection and sharing.

The backbone of the sharing economy will be through elements of both the attention economy and the platform economy, where celebrities, microcelebrities and influencers are the driving force in advertising and marketing through online social media platforms to their followers. This works hand in hand with the platform economy where the value is put onto the platform and the data it generates. In this sense, the platforms facilitate human engagement and interaction giving the user, or in our case, the customer, a greater experience buying, wearing and sharing our brand in online spaces.

Following on from the attention economy, the concept of a sharing economy in a digital context sees a greater value put on interactions, information and data as opposed to the monetary value of the company, since the information value is considered the driving force for future development. However, as our company is still rooted in a capitalist society, there is still a motivation for profit and due to this, we see free labour still existing in the form of advertisements and marketing campaigns amongst groups to spark interest and promote word of mouth.

The future of the retail and fashion industry under a sharing economy sees a push towards sustainability and eco-consciousness. With the demand for our products staying more or less the same, the hiring system we plan to implement within our company will see products made and sourced ethically, and by hiring and reselling items to other individuals and groups of people, the cost per person, per use will be lower and more affordable for the consumer yet enable the brand to cover production costs with sustainable and ethical practices.

The retail and fashion industry will see drastic changes, with many of these changes being the result of a push towards a sharing economy. This shift will also see internal changes as the role of the CEO changes as co-op-like systems become more mainstream which gives workers more of a say in the operations of the company, making them co-owners in a similar way that shareholders once were.