INFLUENCE ME
My creations of these moodboards have knowledged me further on the topic of fast fashion and has led me to understand further what is it, the problems it causes and how large of a worry it is for the fashion industry.Fast fashion refers to a business model within the clothing industry that emphasizes speed, affordability, and trend replication—but beyond just production speed and environmental impact, fast fashion also raises important ethical and social concerns. One of the most significant issues is its reliance on low-wage labor, often in developing countries where workers face poor working conditions, long hours, and minimal labor protections. Reports have documented instances of child labor, forced labor, and even unsafe factory environments. The rise of fast fashion can also be traced back to technological advancements in the 20th century—especially in textile production and global shipping—which allowed companies to manufacture and distribute clothing at unprecedented speeds. Digital technology has further accelerated this shift, enabling brands to track consumer behavior and sales data in real time, optimizing product releases to align with micro-trends that may only last days or weeks. Fast fashion has also had a significant impact on local and traditional textile industries. As global chains dominate the market with cheap goods, smaller, artisan-based businesses struggle to compete, leading to a loss of cultural heritage and traditional practices in regions like India, Morocco, and South America. Efforts to counter fast fashion include the slow fashion movement, which promotes sustainability, ethical labor, and quality over quantity.
infuencer marketing jis whne a popular social media user collaborates with with a brand to promote its services or products, these have been happening since about 2009, but only recently become full time jobs for those who trhvie iin this platfrom. as the market has grown rapidly, since 2019 infkuencing has gdoubled the power of instagram and youtbe. Brands use the technique of influcner marketing as it is a strong method that works for them, their consumers and the influencers they work with, in 2022 it was found that over 2000 influencer marketing deals had positives for brands sales, which echoes that this method works. This is a useful strategy for bradns o use as there is never a shortage of inflcuncers in the digital world, in a 2019 survey, it was found that over 56% of the gen zers that took part in the survey claimed they would be a influenecer over any other job. Even though this is seen as a positive for the brands as they will never have to worry about finding infkuencers to use, we do not know how long this market will last for, expesically now ai is uprising in the media world. How does infleuncer marketing work ? a brand deal is made first, where the inflcunecer is is paid a specifc rate per how ever many posts with featuring the prodcu they are marketing, these payouts can be from hundreds to thousnsds to even millions, depending how large of a audience the influencer has. Once the video/image is posted on their social media, the link to the product is somewhere on their page, allowing the consumers to purchase as soon as possible, when the consumers buy the product, the inflcuncer will earn commission from thus sale, as they helped wilth bringing in the buyers. What is the best app for infleuncer marketing ? Their was a survey taken in 2022 with over 2000 brands and 80% reported back saying Instagram was their chosen platfrom for influencer marketing, but as tik tok has taken the spotlight in the past few years, the ssme survey was taken in 2023 where 50% came back with their answer for tik tok being their chosen platfrom.
Consumer Profile H&M
H&M use influencer marketing as a hugged technique I=of theirs to stay relent in the fashion industry, a way they do this is by partnering with both Marco and micro influencers, they pay influencers to post GRWM, styling videos, and outfit hauls to their consumers, marketing the H&M products and influencing the audiences to go and shop
For example, H&M have collaborated with Peyton list, Hannah Simone, Tyler posey and Jana Kramer, this was a camping where each influencer shared clips of them wearing outfits from the brand across social media, it overall lead to over 12 million engagements from both the stores consumers and the influencers consumers. Another way they use influencer marketing is through eco friendly influencers, they partner with those who share the values of being conscious about the environment, meaning the eco friendly audiences will be made aware of H&Ms sustainability effort aiming for them to be a part of the suitability conversion by aligning thems ethics about thru globe. ‘H&M is thrilled to announce a partnership with Williams to lead a worldwide initiative towards a more sustainable fashio In a major effort towards meeting the goal of only using recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030, Williams will join H&M throughout the year to drive change in fashion in the virtual world and real life’
Influencers are giving first access and excusive looks at new collections by home to broadcast these items to their consumers, this will give the audiences as feeling of priority as they have product first and will be eager to go and shop for these new products when they are released as they have already seen their favourite influ encer wear them. The hype is built but the influencers by creating unboxing videos and styling videos, to show the new products in more than one perspective for the consumers .
Age = ranges from ages 13 – 40, this is the age of the majority of those who shop at H&M, obviously there are some older and younger shoppers but majority are those age above Income = madder to lower due to looking for cheaper clothing, sales and clothing that suits the trends at that specific time. They want to look good and have the chance to hop on all of the trends without paying large amounts of money but still wanting their clothing to be a level of good quality.
Lifestyle = either In education or have full time jobs, fashion fashion orientated individuals who are trend savvy, they get majority of their inspiration from platforms such as Instagram/tik took and Pinterest to keep up with the latest styles (clothing/patterns/colors). These consumers are influenced easily by both micro and macro influencers meaning as soon as these influencers showcase a item, they will want to rush and buy the same one to hop of the trend and be relatable
How do they get influenced = they are reached a lot by advertisements on tik took/Instagram as well as influencer campaigns that are with H&M, so the content is relatable and broadcasted to the right people.
Eco friendly = this age group understands the problems happening in society with the environment, but doesn't take large efforts to be eco conscious, but defiant- ly understands and would support being more conscious to the environment.
Rebellious are also a brand with strong influencer marketing tactics, as they are not as big of a brand as H&M, they need to use their knowledge on marketing strate gically to market their products at the best level. They have done this through their social media enjoyment, they maintain a strong presence on social media with over 800,000 followers the brand frequently collaborates with influencers to broadcast their products to the world as well as create relatable content for their uses to show case their products in the real life settings that their consumers would but the products for (festivals/party's/nights out). Rebellious als marketing to anagen their audience further but having completions for t ences to in vouchers, and sometimes they will have encounters broadcast they are reaching further consumers in the industry. Their strength n flukie keting can be seen through their perforce metrics, as they have been suing social media to ad vertise, through the influenc ers, rebellious have achieved a ROAs of £59 during peak months, which generates to over £1 million for their revenue, their sales have had a impact Aswell, the brand have experienced a 72% increase in their dales as well as 125% increase in their website traffic, which highlights the effectiveness of their influencer marketing an how much of a difference this can make to a brand.
Rebellious Consumer Profile
Age = 16 – 28 ( some older gen alphas shop here but majority It is generation z and younger millennials as these are their targeted consumers due to the clothing they create fits with the average gen z’s interests
Occupations = some of the consumers are students due to the age bracket that rebellious targets at, meaning these clothes are often bought for nights out/festivals. Those who have full time jobs enjoy dressing up in this style of clothing int Ehrin reed time for different events as they feel good and expressive in the clothing rebellious creates.
Interests = these individuals are always looking for the trends and wanting to be the first ones to hop of the trends, this is due to regular watching influencers post about their new clothing and wanting to ‘copy’ them as they have great style in the consumers eyes. The clothing they generally gravitate towards is crop tops, jeans, body con dresses, streetwear inspired outfits. These individuals enjoy buying new outfits for each occasion and turn to rebellious as it has so much to offer and cheap prices, as well as this they find great enjoyment in taking Instagram photos and sharing them to showcase their outfits to others. Marketing = rebellious reaches these consumers through both adds on tik took/Instagram as well as influencer campaigns due to the consumers enjoyment in watching influencers on tik took, rebellious also collaborates with reality tv starts as they know the majority of their consumers enjoy reality tv so when they see the collaboration thewy ill be influenced further to buy ( example love island)
Windsor uses the influencer marketing to engage with their audiences, promote the products and stay align with all fashion trends that are happening. They do this through their ambassador program, this is where the brand collaborates with social media incliners promoting their products, the incliners get early access to new products, complimentary products to broadcast on their social media pages to market to the consumers to get new customers. This is don’t through unboxing videos and styling videos, so the audiences can get a view on what their products dot just look like, but will look like on and have reviews from their influencers who they trusts. As well as this Windsor also invite their influencers to events as a thank you for marketing their pieces to new customers. Some collaborations that Windsor has taken part in with influencers are their spring edit with Jessica stock-still. The brand teamed us with the content creator to launch their spring collection, they did this by creating outfits out of the new collection that Jessica then shared on her social media pages to her fans, which gave them a insight into the brands clothing and style. Another collab they have took part in is their festival camping with some California based influencers where festival outfits where made and broadcasted on these influencer pages giving customers help/inspiration for what outfits to wear and giving them a perfect festival brand.
Windsor Consumer Profile
Age = 16 – 30 ( majority are generation z with some older alphas and younger millenails), this is once again due to the clothing that the brands create ar targeted at this age as of social media, trends and personalitys of this age group.
Occupation = this is a U.S store meaning the consumers will sus- ally be in high school or college and spend a lot of their free time in malls, the u.s have a lot of younger female influncers meaning the consumers will spend a lot of time looking up to these and watching their clothing, to copy and be inspired for themselves. This store is used a lot of prom/homecoming as well as date nighs and birthdays due to the store having a more dressed up vibe, the u.s take a lot of pride in their school dances and proms meaning this sotre is perfect for their consumers as it is a cheaper source for these dresses which fit into both the aesthetic of prom as well as the trends that are around at that specifc time. They enjoy mergeing the trends they see on tik tok which the sleek style of the homecoming dresses. Due to them being so focused around the look of the dress and the age of the consumer, they usuallybuy for how the dress looks and have little to no loyalty to the brand itself. The consumers are heavily influenced by the other content creators they see online and want to take all of their habits aboard when it comes to styling clothing.
Marketing = hauls on youtbe/Instagram/tik tok are the way to reach this consumer as they are heavily online and this is their chosen/favourite conent to watch on social media. As well as this, seeing these dress be styled in wedding/prom edits will influence them further as the consumers will image themselves in that sistauojn they have just watched, making them more eager to purchase the chosen garment.
Cultural Impacts refers to aspects happening in cultures which then effects various aspects of life, this is not just in the fashion industry, cultural imapcts happens is all areas of life. Their can be cultural impacts on induviduals ( social interactions) and cultural imapcts on societys which can be through social dynamics. There are mnay different types of cultural imapcts, such as mental health, innovation, eudctaion etc,. As fashion is such a large aspect in society due to it being how people express themselves, it has a significant impact on culture, but also culture impacts fashion in many ways. Fashion can reflect social values and be seens as a form of cultural preservation, as trends may invole some aspects of culture, which will therefore be brought into the spotlight and not just remered in one way, but in may ways.
How does fashion impact culture :
Fashion allows induviduals to express their belfiefs, values and identitys which will allow others to recognize this, share simialritys and form cultures out of these (if not already made), they may not feel comfortbale enough to actually verbally share these, but fashion gives us the chance to do this, with not limitations. Another way fashion has impacted culture is through preservation, familys may pass down clothing, styles, technqiues for making garemnts, which will allow these cultures to be seen by not just one generation but many, fashion allows for history to be carried on throughout time, but in a more thrilling way, not just reading a textbook on the cultures. A lot of trends are taken from cultural movements, such as the punk movement ( 1970s), the punk aesthetic was labelled as anti-capitalist and a lot of society didn’t like how it was different to the norms they where used to, so those who enjoyed punk pursued this style meaning fashion became messy/ rebellious, this impacted designers such as Vivienne westwood to contine to be edgy in their designs and bring alternative fashion into the industry. A more up to date cultural movement in fashion is the technology and internet culture, as technology has had such a uprise in the past 20 years, fashion has taken this as a opportunity to respond by becoming more ironic with virtual expression, this has led to micro trends such as cottage core and ballet core, as well as virtual try ons becoming a way to shop now.
Another cultural impact that has taken place in the fashion industry is through the traditional garments and attire, different cultures have their own styles and traditions through clothing which have strong heritages and are reminders and eductaors to all those who see those specific garments of the history that lies benath the garment, it is more than a garment, it has a deep cul ture behind it. For example, the kimino is a tradiotnal Japanese garment that isn’t just a sybole of the elegance that is held with the kimino but also represetsn the strong values of respect that Ja- pan has. This impact is linked to the impact of material and textiles in different cultures, as each culture have differet acces to different resources, this shapes what materials will be used for their clothing, Africa as a culture uses a lot of intirctae pattern and designs in their clothing, due to that being accesbale for them in their textiles, these designs are a refelction of the contitnets rich craftmanshipand art. All cultures have different materials.patterns etc, which makes them unqiue in their own way, as well as recognisbale. Not only is heritage a large impact, but also social/political movemnts hold a large significance in fashion, this is because it can be used as a form of expression. For example during the civil rights movement, African americans used fashion to challenge societys norms and asserts their cultural pride, their afro hairstyle and garments then became a symbol of black power and resilicnace after the strength they held during these times. Another clear impact, that is becoming more and more arising is fashion companys becoming more eco friendly and fast fashion slowing down. Global warming, pollution and green house gases are all effects of the fast fashion chain that is taking place in todays society, this had lead to fashion compnays trying to become more known and eco –friendly sharing their sustinablityi movements to their customers. Some of the shifts these companies are making are ; having eco friendly packaging, moving away from frequent drops to share quality over quanity, using more biodegradabke fabrics and starting to allow recycling in order to allow pthers to reuse unwated clothes. Fashion and style are deeply intertwined with cultural influences. From traditional garments and materials to broader social and po-
Generation Alpha are those born between 2010 and 2024 (15 years and below at this present time) and are the generation after Gen Z, they are the first generation to be named after the Greek alphabet instead of the letter form. This generation is linked with the millennial generation due to majority of their parents being millennials, meaning they do sometimes get called mini millennials. What is interesting about this specific generation is they are the first generation to be born into the 21st century, they have all grown up with technology, artificial intelligence, social media, tablet streaming from birth, meaning it is a norm to them in their perspective. When all of the past generations have had to adapt and learn the ways of technology at a certain point of their life ( around age 10 for myself due to being gen z ). Due to this digital up brining, this generation is lead to be the largest, most educated, most technologically immersed in history due to how far the digital world grows everyday.
Snow Plough Parenting
As the parents of this generation ( millennials ) have gone through many changed in their life due to society, this generation is known to be parented in a ‘snow plough way’, meaning all obstacle will be cleared for them as the parents do not want any straggles for their children, as well as this the parents will have increased involvement with theist emotions/mental health, overall it is a very safety conscious parenting style. This may be seen as a positive for the children as they will face no struggles when growing up and have no worries, but when they reach a specific age, will they still be relying on their parents to battle their problems due to the parents being so copious theist whole upgrowth. Rd. Kerb describes snowplough parenting as being a sprinter even though life is a marathon. He says, “A snowplough parent may successfully push their child into the lead part in a play or on to the most competitive soccer team. They may even help their child get into a more highly-ranked college. But in doing so, the snowplough parent deprives their child of the ability to learn how to solve problems and how to deal with struggle which are critical life skills.” it is clear that all parents want is their children to be safe, and the outside world can be very far from safe, but is over protecting their child always the best option in the long run?
Consumer Profile
Age 11 (girl) = I have chosen to create this profile on a 11 year old, this is because they are understanding of technology around them and will be in the world of social media, but also because they are not fully understanding of the cultural and social problems that are happening today so have time to learn (which will be through technology)
Education year 7 = this year is a struggle for age 11 as they have just been landed in a new school and have a lot of older ages around them, which are more socially aware and are mature. They will start seeing others and growing up due to wanting to look older, comparing themselves to others an starting to hit puberty. Meaning they will turn to tik took/Instagram for help on outfit inkpot and what current trends are happening. This age is the prime year where these alphas will fall into trend cycles and the fast fashion brands due to not having a lot of their own money. Hobbies = this individual enjoys playing dress to impress when outside of school due to being able to create whatever outfit she wants and being free, taking apart in doing her makeup afar watching others on tik took as well as skin care (drunk elephant and biome), these products are not needed for a 11 year old but as her time is also spent on tik took and she sees other influencers using them, she is influenced and wants to follow the trend,
Favorite influencers = Ami Charlize, Alanna herbed, grace conder
Style = pastel ‘gym sets’, hoodies and leggings paired, jeans and a cropped top tracksuits
Brands = adenoma/sisters and seekers/boohoo/sheen/him
= biome skincare/drunk elephant/charlotte tilbury
a lot of pre teens are so submerged into the influencing world that they end up taking hobbies and styling inspiration, that was never thought of at that age for other generations, but because technology is so strong, watching others wear specific outfits and use products make the alphas want to follow along, as they look up to their chosen influencers.
Interests of Gen Alpha
Experiences that are interactive with personalization
Gen alpha like to have the sense of ebbing involved when they in their activity’s, this is due to them being born into the digital world, they have been taught that technology is how the can express themselves. This isn’t just for entertainment, gen alpha like to learn through customization, which over time will boost their memory and creativity. As well as this they ha control and freedom, which you don’t have if you are watching a this is why Roblox and Minecraft are so popular, the child has happens next in the game, the can explore and make their own decisions. Other integrative forms of entrainment which is popular within this generation are dress to impress (Roblox), pop jam, LOL Suprise dolls, and Fortnite. Entertainment overlapping with learning
Short form content ( Tik Tok, Instagram reels)
As the digital world is so large, websites, games, creators are starting to understand that generation alpha may learn better on a device, as this is what they are used to, meaning they using the fun methods that the children enjoy but using them to be educational, meaning the child is learning but enjoying it. Brain pop is a popular website that is used globally, it showcases fun characters that are comedic to children , but the videos cover all sorts of topics such as math’s, science , history etc. as well as including quizzes and games which reinforces the fa tsp. that where taught for extra memory. Duolingo is also a popular website for kids as they are rewarded for doing daily takes whilst learning a new language, meaning the children feel as if they are being entertained due to the game like methods, but still be educated o a whole ebb linguae.
Majority of gen alpha enjoy the short form content 15-30 seconds that is posted on the apps off Instagram and YouTube as they do not have a very large attention span. This is because they have grown u with these small clips, getting shared a message or told. Story in 15 seconds, meaning they grattage more towards short from content over long. Tik took is very popular for many reasons, one of them is because tik took understands the viewer and over time shows videos which relates the the person behind the phone, meaning it is enjoyable and matches with the persons interest. It is seen as a fun way to see others, they get the chance to watch their favorite influencers and get a snippet into their life as well as learn new things (facts/dances act) all through the short 30 second videos. This is the same for both Instagram and snapchat spotlight, the viewer is given a chance to see into their world all through a small video which is free.
Gravitates towards influencers over celebrity’s
It is known that the older bracket of generation alpha are very aware of social media trends and the influencer world, meaning they do take more liking and entertainment into influencers over celebrity’s. This is due to the influencers being accusable for them on their platforms like tik took and Instagram due to this being the influencers job, they are never ding or trying to stay out of the spot light. As well as this influencers grew up in social media, like their audiences meaning they are relatable in their upbringings, when celebrity’s have had fame and been on TV, meaning their life if very glamourized with the red carpets and paparazzi, this isn’t relatable for the gen alpha audiences, meaning they will be more interested in the influencers who may have a similar background to them. Another reason for this is influencers reflect on alphas values, influencers open- ly talk about topics of mental health an suitability, which the generation is being taught to care about, when celebrity’s do this through filtration due to how much media is watching
How many users the app generates of a advertisment
