Tackling Gains and Losses

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The first two pillars, planet and people, of the FBS gave us insight about how the consumer trends in the fashion and beauty industry are changing with the rise in “woke” Gen Z consumers and rapidly increasing urgency to develop sustainable methods of production and promotion in the fashion and beauty industry. Therefore, producing a profitable business with an effective supply chain strategy which can be responsive and responsible for the changing trends has turned out to be even more challenging than ever before (Christopher, et all. 2004).

According to McKinsey and Company, the global fashion industry was estimated to be worth between $1.7 trillion to $2.5 trillion. Wherein, the beauty industry was accounted for approximately $400 billion. (McKinsey and Company, 2021)

Taking into consideration the growth of beauty industry shows multiple variations in the different sectors. However, the korean cosmetic brands or the k-beauty has shown steady growth since the 1990s. The export turnover for the k-beauty in 2018 was $6.3 billion which increased to $7.2 billion in 2020. It was noticed that during the 90’s the korean cosmetics industry went through changes in the infrastructure as well as business models (Park, et all. 2022). 

FIG. 1 Chart depicting the retail market value growth in the beauty, personal goods, toiletries of South Korea

From the fig. 1, deductions can be made regarding the growth of k-beauty industry over the years. Through a thorough analysis, it can be seen the body care sector of k-beauty industry has had a steady growth since 2017, with the peak growth being in 2021. The predictions for the k-beauty industry however doesn’t seem so favourably as the growth percentage of every sector has been predicted to be near zero.

In the Asia Pacific Business Review (2023), a case study on the leading k-beauty brand, COSMAX, showed how the brand underwent rebranding after almost filing for bankruptcy during the Asian Financial Crisis, 1997. COSMAX shifted its business model from OEM to ODM and formed a part with the Japanese brand Kolmar. COSMAX thus proved a change in business strategy could be a game changer in the business world. 

Nevertheless, a change in strategy could be brought upon by directors, creatives or creative directors. Taking into account, the appointment of Daniel Lee into Bottega Veneta has created a sensation on the fashion calendar as the most anticipated show. He is deemed to be the one to increase awareness regarding the brand, bringing in new consumers while giving the brand a brand-new reputation. (Österlund and Stenwall, 2020)

Therefore, to conclude, the third pillar of the FBS could be tackled easily with the application of right strategies and bringing in people with creative values of high regards. For a brand to withstand through uncertain times, it is necessary to develop a plan with long run benefits, though not necessarily one with extremely high returns, but one with schemes and methods to avert crisis.

REFERENCES

  1. Christopher, M., Lowson, R. and Peck, H., 2004. Creating agile supply chains in the fashion industry. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 32(8), pp.367-376
  2. Di Vaio, A., Hassan, R., D’Amore, G. and Tiscini, R., 2022. Responsible innovation and ethical corporate behavior in the Asian fashion industry: A systematic literature review and avenues ahead. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, pp.1-45.
  3. Kwon, Y.J., 2018, January. The emergence of k-beauty: rituals and myths of Korean skin care practice. In International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings (Vol. 75, No. 1). Iowa State University Digital Press.
  4. Österlund, I. and Stenwall, A., 2020. Dismantling the Creative Director: a media content analysis of creative directors Daniel Lee and Simon Porte Jacquemus.
  5. Park, Y.W., Hong, P. and Shin, G.C., 2022. Rising and thriving in the post COVID-19 era: a case study of COSMAX, a leader of the Korean cosmetic industry. Asia Pacific Business Review, pp.1-20.
  6. Saeed, N., 2021. Western buying behavior of Korean beauty products: Passing trend or permanent shift?.
  7. State of Fashion, 2021. McKinsey and Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion
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