The fashion industry in South Carolina is facing a number of challenges, from attracting talent to reducing emissions and increasing sustainability. To draw in the best talent, the garment industry must raise the minimum wage, abolish unpaid internships and hire people from a wider range of backgrounds. For instance, last year LVMH committed to empowering 25,000 young people from all walks of life through internships, internships and permanent positions. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world and contributes between 8 and 10% of global carbon emissions, according to the UN.
As customers demand improvements and the implementation of regulatory measures, such as the New York “Fashion Sustainability and Social Responsibility Act”, increases pressure, 15% of fashion executives cite sustainability as one of their three main concerns, according to McKinsey. Adopting on-demand manufacturing models will also be essential. The slow fashion market MIVE, with the support of the 3DLOOK mobile body measurement tool, has created an emissions-free process in which each garment is produced according to the customer's exact measurements. This eliminates overproduction, minimizes returns and drastically reduces emissions. Fashion must take steps to reverse this trend, as between 30 and 40% of online fashion purchases are usually returned, according to PwC.
However, innovative retailers are taking advantage of fit technology, such as 3DLOOK's YourFit tool, to help customers find the products they love and that fit well. Using the tool, which is based on a combination of computer vision, 3D matching technologies and machine learning, fashion retailers can offer customers personalized and reliable size and size recommendations, and a photorealistic virtual testing experience with just two photos. With YourFit, brands have reduced return rates by up to 40%.According to BoF, around 42% of fashion professionals say that the industry is “bad” when it comes to prioritizing diversity and inclusion. The lack of diversity in fashion in the products it sells in large sizes represents only 21% of the US fashion market, according to Coresight Research, despite serving 70% of women.
Similarly, 31% of non-binary people feel unable to wear work clothing that accurately represents their gender expression. Sizing is still a major problem for fashion consumers, with 62 percent struggling to find clothes that fit well. To overcome this issue, the women's clothing brand Denim 1822 has created more than 100 different styles of jeans and offers sizes ranging from 00 to 24 W. Using YourFit by 3DLOOK, 1822 Denim scans customers' bodies to intricately match them to their perfect size and fit. The quality of clothing decreases every year. As a result, our clothes immediately look discolored, shapeless or worn out.
Due to the growing number of industries, factories and fashion designers, competition between them is also intensifying which ultimately affects the growth cost and quality of products. It can take years and millions of dollars in wasted effort to become a savvy and thriving fashion retailer. In this hypercompetitive market fashion and clothing companies must be creative and innovative to offer the products and shopping experiences that consumers demand. The second and third levels of the fashion supply chain in particular contain a significant part of forced and trafficked labour. On the consumer side the fast fashion business model has conditioned people to think of clothing as a fast-moving consumer product which has caused textiles to be discarded after just a few uses. If fashion wants to reduce its volume of waste it will need closed-circuit systems that keep garments in constant circulation. It can be concluded that challenges in the fashion industry cannot be avoided but can be solved using the right tricks and tactics. Smart fashion and apparel companies will need to evaluate and adapt their preferred channels to reach consumers wherever they are whether they shop from their sofas in stores or both.
As big data in fashion retail reaches new levels so does the risk of cyberattacks that harm the brand.
