Re-worked Ready for Runway: An Innovation Designed for Burberry
By Chloe Lansdall
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Introduction.....p4 The Luxury Market....p5 The Consumer....p7 The Innovation....p10 The Circular Economy....p18 Conclusion....p20 Bibliography......p21 Contents Page 2
The scale of throwaway consumption is resulting in a huge amount of waste being continuously produced. (Ballie & Woods, 2018). Companies within the fashion industry are slowly beginning to adapt their current business models by implementing sustainable design strategies such as zero-waste cutting and upcycling, to optimise material lifespans and reduce fabric waste. (Earley & Goldsworthy, 2017), (Mcquillian & Rissanen, 2018).
Although this trend is emerging, (DeCastro, 2014) stated that “more work is required to educate and inspire the next generation of designers to take onboard this challenge, and to help the industry to understand its viability, scalability and role for the future of fashion.”
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Introduction
Introduction
The textile and fashion industry has a long and complex supply chain, starting from agriculture to manufacturing, logistics and retail. In 2018 (Berg, et al., 2020) reported that the fashion industry was responsible for at least 4% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, more than the carbon output of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined. Carbon neutrality is emerging more than ever, with the increased awareness surrounding climate change driving this.
This report will focus on luxury fashion brand Burberry and suggest a new innovation for it to implement based on the trend “carbon crusher”, which will allow the company to reduce its carbon emissions and rethink its supply chain. By utilising less miles for transportation and recycling/reworking products that already exist, it will significantly cut costs and therefore allow Burberry to have a faster product turn around as well as reducing its carbon footprint.
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The Market
Burberry is a British luxury fashion house, founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry. It has a distinctive British sensibility and strong international recognition, which resonates across a multi-generational and dual-gender audience (Anon., 2021). In 2020, the luxury fashion market size was valued at $110.64 billion and is expected to reach $153.97 billion by 2026. (Anon., 2021). Burberry alone was valued at approximately $4.8 billion (Statista, 2021).
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The Market
Millennials and Gen Z are the key drivers of the luxury fashion industry, due to their willingness to pay extra for premium products and openness to try new things (Anon., 2021).The luxury fashion market is highly saturated; therefore, Burberry face intense competition in the likes of Christion Dior and Michael Kors. In order to remain competitive, Burberry must be innovative in all elements of its business practices, to differentiate the brand and its products from others.
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The Consumer
Burberry’s target consumer segment is middle-aged upper-class males and females, who appreciate the quintessential British timeless and classic style. Consumers and businesses are becoming more aware about the detrimental environmental impact fashion is causing and the need for reduced carbon emissions within day-to-day activities and production processes, which is why the trend “carbon crusher” has been developed. (SE, 2020) reported that 57% of consumers aged 1824 have switched to lesser-known brands because of their more suitable business practices, signifying that consumers have a basic need for sustainability.
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The Consumer
Consumers want guilt free consumption, which is why if Burberry were to use this innovation it would allow them to meet this consumer need by producing more sustainable clothing pieces and reducing its carbon footprint whilst doing so. (Rosmarin, 2020) reported that online searches for sustainable fashion tripled between 2016 and 2019.
Sustainability is increasingly becoming a more important role in consumers purchasing decision making (Euromonitor, 2018) and as a result they are making more conscious decisions in regard to what they are buying and are willing to pay a premium to meet the need for guilt free consumption.
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The Consumer
The target consumer for this innovation is of any age and gender, who is passionate about sustainability and recycling. People who are willing to invest money into high quality clothing which will last, against throw away fast fashion. This could be catered to Burberry’s existing consumer, but by collaborating with students and graduates, the brand could consider expanding its consumer base to that of a younger generation, as they are the real drivers of change in terms of sustainable fashion.
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The Innovation
Following the trend “carbon crusher” the innovation created for Burberry is named “re-worked and ready for runway”, in which the company collaborate with fashion students and graduates, by using old Burberry clothing pieces and last season’s collection in order to rework and up-cycle the fabric into new one-of-a-kind pieces. By doing so, it will reduce the amount of carbon being emitted within the supply chain process and therefore allow Burberry to adapt a circular economy.
It will also help to create a buzz and enhance customer engagement, as the clothing items will be rare and exciting, therefore promoting a more sustainable future for fashion and reducing carbon emissions.
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The Innovation
Burberry will produce a marketing campaign encouraging fashion students and graduates to create new pieces using old Burberry fabric from previous collections. Not only will this help to reuse fabric to avoid excess waste ending up in landfill, but it will also reduce the amount of energy, carbon and water which is needed to create and distribute new collections. 80% of a products environmental impact is determined in the design phase (Andrews, 2015), therefore designers play an essential role in developing innovative ways to continue producing clothing whilst also reducing the amount of carbon being used and emitted into the atmosphere.
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The Innovation
In 2018, it was reported that Burberry destroyed £28.6 million worth of products to prevent them being stolen or sold at a discounted price (BBC News, 2018). The company faced severe backlash and outrage from the public, tarnishing its reputation and brand image. Therefore, the use of this innovation will prevent the need to burn unsold products, as these can then be upcycled and redesigned into a brand-new collection, which can then be showcased and sold like any other. This slower approach to fashion will also save Burberry money, as it will cut production costs dramatically.
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The Innovation
This innovation will help Burberry to become more transparent with its consumers in terms of its supply chain and the production process.
Transparency can help to establish a stronger relationship between the brand and the consumer, as they value the company’s efforts and integrity, which will therefore result in greater customer loyalty and a positive brand image. Although this could be a risk to completely adapt its business practices which has been in place for centuries, the reward will be greater, resulting in improved brand reputation and reducing the impact on the planet. (Euromonitor, 2018).
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The Innovation
Burberry are already committed to actively address the challenges facing the fashion and luxury industry surrounding sustainability and are dedicated to contributing to the sustainable development goals (Burberry, n.d.). In 2019, Pam Batty, the company's vice president of corporate responsibility stated that Burberry plan to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 30% by 2030 and are setting targets to become carbon neutral by 2022 (Cuff, 2019).
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The Innovation
The democratisation of luxury has been driven by fashion companies launching affordable brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, marketed through department stores or sold online. These brands often take advantage of lower production costs to enhance affordability. (Franco, et al., 2019). If Burberry want to attract a new market segment and make its reworked products more accessible to consumers, it could utilise this strategy and consider lowering the price point of this collection in order to gain more exposure for the innovation.
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The Innovation
Instead of focusing on design as a means of making more products, this innovation will allow Burberry to consider its consumer needs regarding sustainability and create garments that have a second and third life, to prevent the excess carbon emissions involved in the production process and reduce the amount of fabric waste going to landfills. The traditional supply chain structure which Burberry use is outdated, so this innovation will enable them to adapt a more circular, sustainable, closed-loop system, in which the product is recycled continually back into use. (Moorhouse & Moorehouse, 2018).
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The Circular Economy
One of the biggest economic challenges facing the luxury fashion industry is the pressure to adapt and engage in the circular economy, in which production is based on planned reconstruction and regeneration using recycled and reworked materials. (Franco, et al., 2019). “The circular economy offers a new avenue for design, but designers will need to learn how to adopt a more proactive, systems-based approach that truly closes the loop.” (Goldsworthy, 2014). As demonstrated in the plastics industry, where recycled plastic is reused as the raw material to produce the same product or as inputs for alternative uses, businesses within the fashion industry like Burberry must find the means to manufacture new products without polluting the planet. (Matthews, 2019).
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The Circular Economy
“Circular fashion is about moving away from a linear model of take, make, dispose and moving toward a new, regenerative model that can help us meet the UN Sustainable Development goals and revolutionise our consumption and production patterns to achieve a more sustainable world.” (Lablaco, 2020). The development of resale platforms such as Depop has had a huge impact on the fashion industry, making second-hand clothing trendy, with (Euromonitor, 2018) reporting that consumers spent $18 billion on pre-owned items in 2016, and this is set to increase to $33 billion by 2021. This new and innovative market is putting more pressure on traditional fashion brands like Burberry to embrace the change and use it to its advantage (Euromonitor, 2018).
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Conclusion
As concerns for the planet grow, so does consumers expectations, with shoppers holding more and more brands accountable for their business practices and effects on the environment. Therefore, Burberry must adapt to this by being innovative in every aspect of its operations, starting with its supply chain. By utilising “reworked ready for runway”, and conforming to a more circular economy, it will therefore allow the company to significantly reduce its carbon emissions and improve its corporate social responsibility.
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