ReVIVe: A Rental Service for Vivienne Westwood

reVIV e

A Vivienne Westwood rental service to revive your wardrobe

INTRODUCTION

This report will look at the opportunities for innovation as applied to the luxury brand Vivienne Westwood, which is notorious for rebelling against conventions by using clothing to vocalise current affairs (Polan and Tredre, 2020). The purpose is to develop a future strategy that creates a rental service called ReVIVe that reflects the current consumer lifestyle and expectations based on the global trend Waste to Wear. This is because the planet has reached a breaking point and the fashion industry has had a large part to play in this (Mckinsey & Company, 2021). This report is divided into 5 sections, an introduction to Vivienne Westwood considered first, then it will go on to an analysis of the market and a detailed description of Vivienne Westwood’s consumer, and finally, the application of the innovation and trend. Mason et al’s (2015) consumer trend canvas will act as a guide for developing the innovation.

BRAND STATEMENT

Sustainability is a value that Vivienne Westwood strongly holds demonstrated by its mission of encouraging consumers to consider their purchases more in order to buy less overall, as well as respecting the aftercare of the clothing (Vivienne Westwood, n.d.). Not only that, but the punk origins of Vivienne Westwood stress the value of originality and standing out from the crowd whilst representing a common cause (Hancock, 2016). The recent passing of Vivienne Westwood means that consumers would want to celebrate her by looking back at the impact she had, which could mean there will be interest in her back catalogue Therefore, the trend Waste to Wear matches the brand’s ideology which means it can aid the development of an innovation for Vivienne Westwood such as a rental service which would allow consumers to celebrate Vivienne Westwood’s life.

Market drivers

Many drivers affect consumer behaviour within the market. For example, a significant factor triggering change is the economic crisis that has developed because of the increasing rate of inflation; in 2022 alone, consumer price inflated by 9.3% (Office for National Statistics, 2022). The inflation has been caused by political circumstances such as Brexit which complicated trade relations and import rates (Breinlich et al, 2021) Not only that, but the Corona Virus pandemic has damaged the economy, with rates of recovery differing (Angus et al, 2021) which affects consumer confidence as there is a level of uncertainty. According to Sheperd (2022), consumers are most likely to cut down on fashion purchases during the cost-of-living crisis as they want to prioritise experiences. Although, there is an opportunity in the occasion wear sector as Gen-Z and Millennials appreciate experiences over physical things but still need something to wear to events (Elster, 2022). Therefore, a rental service for occasion wear would be cheaper than buying whilst providing a new outlook on throw-away fashion.

Another driver is the shift in consumer shopping behaviour in the form of mindful and responsible consumption. Instead of impulse purchases, consumers will become more thoughtful when it comes to purchases (Palmer et al, 2022). This is because there is an increase in awareness of the wasteful affects that consumerism has (Mintel, 2022). Therefore, consumers are motivated to change their behaviour as new values develop (Noel, 2009). In the fashion industry, there is a strive to become circular and move towards slow fashion (Burns, 2019) as 73% of clothes are sent to landfill or incinerated (Souchet, 2019) This suggests that businesses must respond to the issues arising by adapting its strategies A rental service for clothing would address this by reducing waste and eliminating the post-purchase dissonance that can come with post-purchase evaluation (Clarke and Mortimer, 2013).

"

The fight is no longer between the classes or between rich and poor but between the idiots and the eco-conscious - Vivienne Westwood "

Competitors

It is helpful to investigate how competitors are responding to the emerging expectations to help look to the future (Kim et al, 2021). For example, Stella McCartney is a competitor of Vivienne Westwood because there is the shared theme of environmental activism within a luxury brand Stella McCartney has the initiative of becoming circular and has joined forces with the Ellen McArthur Foundation to develop the vision of circularity. The idea of moving away from being linear is becoming a common practice which means consumers are being exposed to the new ideas (Noel, 2009) and subsequently becoming more accepting of unconventionality. Another competitor is Alexander McQueen as it is also a luxury brand that offers edgy clothing that comments on important topics (Polan and Tedre, 2020). Alexander McQueen has a fabric donation scheme that reduces waste by giving leftover fabric to university students that are studying fashion related degrees (Alexander McQueen, n.d.). This is a socially and environmentally conscious project and still has an underlying theme of circularity, suggesting that brands are acting on climate change issues (Westbrook and Angus, 2022). Therefore, the future strategy for Vivienne Westwood should involve some form of circularity which is why a rental service would be suitable as less waste is generated which means that the clothing can have a longer lifecycle.

There are brands that are already experimenting with rental services. For example, John Lewis offers a designer rental service to show designer clothing does not have to be expensive (Ferguson, n d ) Selfridges also offers a similar designer rental service with the focus on being better for the environment. In addition to that, Marks and Spencer also provides a rental service for different styles of clothing compiled into a capsule (Marks and Spencer, n.d). Therefore, it is evident that rental services have become established within department stores and considering the majority rent designer clothes, this suggests that designer brands may follow. This is because department stores have had a profound influence on fashion (Fontana and Miranda, 2016). For that reason, Vivienne Westwood could be a pioneer of rental services in the designer clothes industry

THE CONSUMER TREND

The global consumer trend Waste to Wear will act as a guideline for the type of strategy that should be implemented for Vivienne Westwood. The trend focuses on wasting less as resources are starting to become scarcer as we continue to consume more (Robles, 2021). Many industries are taking steps towards reducing waste, including the fashion industry, by changing the way products are made. For example, a challenge that the United Nations aims to overcome is the amount of food waste produced (Basha, 2022) Brands such as Fruit Leather Rotterdam have created leather alternatives made from fruit waste that can be made into clothes and bags (Fruit Leather Rotterdam, n d ) H&M have also used fruit leather in a collection (Sachkova, 2021), which suggests that reducing waste is desirable as H&M is a major high-street brand. Not only that but Vivienne Westwood has also been innovative with materials by holding a waste to wear perspective in her campaign with Brintons carpets as she made couture dresses from carpets. Therefore, Vivienne Westwood could adapt its strategy to introduce something new and out of the box that will reduce waste. A rental service for occasion wear would fulfil this as most people buy occasion wear to only wear once and then it gets thrown away whereas if it is rented, it gets returned after use and worn again and again

BRAND, CONSUMER AND LIFESTYLE AND TREND IN CONTEXT

Vivienne Westwood was a pioneer of mixing politics and high fashion (Burney and Hess, 2022). The brand has a unique status because of this and has been a leader of change through its punk influence The punk sub-culture was driven by the economic downfall in the 1970s and Westwood believed that punk was a way of changing the world (Alexander, 2012). This brought about attitudinal change in the form of social influence as the youth identified with the values that Westwood had (Sammut and Bauer, 2020). Vivienne Westwood’s recent death only amplifies the influence on consumers (see appendix A for consumer profile) as there will be an increase in brand awareness as there is a retrospective for her story. Therefore, a rental service would open an additional sales channel that allows consumers to wear iconic items of clothing and represent a strong movement in social change. The consumers would want to rent clothes to have a guilt-free way of engaging in consumerism (Clarke and Mortimer, 2013) as they can wear something new for each occasion without breaking the bank or having as much of an impact on the planet. Sustainability is a global concern due to the current state of the planet and the future possibilities (Ceron, 2022), therefore, introducing a strategy that can contribute to reducing the impacts of consumerism would appeal to a global reach.

The innovation and trend in action 5

The innovation that is suggested for Vivienne Westwood is an occasion wear rental service called ReVIVe. To do this, a selection of occasion wear pieces will be available on its own page on the Vivienne Westwood e-commerce website. Like average online shopping, the customer will be able to choose a size and add to bag, although, they will also be able to choose the duration that they want to rent the clothing for. After that, the clothing will be delivered to the consumer where they can wear it like usual before returning. It would be beneficial to encourage the consumer to take pictures at the events they wear the clothing to so that it can be posted onto a community page Other brands such as Pandora have done similar campaigns, for example, Pandora Me (see appendix B) which emphasises uniqueness and allows consumers to use a hashtag to get inspired by others (Pandora, n.d.). By doing this, it creates an involved community that has a common ground that people will identify with which can encourage new consumers to try out rental clothing. The main value will be sustainability and the need for circularity that the rental service will fulfil.

conclusion

In conclusion, the consumer trend Waste to Wear can be used to inform Vivienne Westwood’s future strategy by creating an innovation that involves an occasion wear rental service The economic crisis and the shift of consumer shopping behaviour to more sustainable practices drive the market Not only that but competitors of Vivienne Westwood are responding to the drivers by implementing more sustainable options. Vivienne Westwood’s consumer is someone who stays on top of current affairs and is passionate about the environment which is why the rental service is appropriate. The innovation aims to inspire consumers and open a new sales channel for making profit.

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