Fashion is important wrote Francis Corner, Head of the London College of Fashion, starting the first page of his book, Why Fashion Matters (2014). “For the economy, society and each of us individually. More quickly than anything else, what we wear tells the story of who we are — or who we want to be. “Fashion is the most direct and intimate form of self-expression,” he explained.
Interesting revelation! Not because it resembles the badaktoto words of a publicist for a fashion brand, but because it succeeded in making me reconsider the fashion industry. Is it possible that fashion is important for the economy, society, and even the expression of our personality?
Fantastic Numbers
If you refer to statistical figures, it cannot be denied that the fashion industry is one of the largest economic sectors in the world, surpassing the technology and information sector (Fashion Revolution). According to Fashion United’s records, the global clothing market (including men’s, women’s and sportswear) has reached a value of 3 trillion dollars, contributing 2 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and is able to absorb around 75 million workers worldwide.
What do the numbers actually mean? For a businessman, it can mean business opportunities. For state administrators, it could be a signal to formulate foreign investment policies more openly, or a stepping stone to encourage the development of local brands to enter global market competition. But for me it’s simple. These figures are a marker of capital turnover, where clothing is the commodity.
The question then is, how much clothing is actually produced in the world so that it becomes economically significant? This is where we will find fantastic numbers. Zara, for example, produces around 450 million pieces of clothing per year (Cline, 2014). This Spanish brand is able to offer around 10,000 new designs every year from the 40,000 designs created by its designers (Ferdows, Lewis, and Machuca, 2004), displays new clothing styles/models in each of its stores twice a week, and is able to design, produce and send new clothes to all corners of the world in just fifteen days (Ferdows, Lewis, and Machuca, 2004).