Unit 31: task 2
In this assignment, I will be describing the factors that have influenced an identified fashion trend by
looking at my chosen business, Primark and Tom Ford. Also, considering the history and development
of Primark and tom fords history and development of their fashion trends.
A trend in fashion retailing is one of the important factor in the market, the reason being is that
trend is the reason to why people love shopping. However, trends ae not stable as it keeps changing.
Trends keep changing, this is because new designs are made every season, also because some people
are never satisfied with a specific trend for clothing. However, trend is like a cycle, they come and go
for a while. For example, nowadays, the trend for shoes for the age group of 15-20 is Nike air
huaraches. Nike air huaraches was established in the 90’s, now its 2016 and people are interested in
huaraches again
Factors that influence Primark to produce fashion trends.
Most of the Primark stores are usually located on high streets along with all other high end fashion
retail stores such as Balmain, Versace, YSL as well as department stores such as Selfridges. Primark is
a low end fashion retailer, this means that Primark sells products at a very cheap price. Primark
doesn’t set trends, they copy trends from other retailers and they produce similar products and sell
them at a very cheap price, no other fashion retail will sell for. Primark usually gets their ideas from
other high end retailers such as Zara, Topshop, and River Island. Primark have recently tried to copy a
high end fashion retail called ’Balmain’. Primark have attempted to copy the way Balmain designs
their jeans. Balmain and ripped jeans style has become a trend for both men and women in 2016.
The reason being is that these jeans have been worn by popular cultures, such as, role models and
celebrities. A factor that also sets these trends could be a popular actors such as Kevin Hart that
wears this certain dress code which others are impressed by and are enticed to purchase. The fact
that Balmain jeans are so expensive with a minimum cost of £500 that goes up to £2,500. Primark
has helped those to wear a similar design to Balmain jeans by producing them and selling it at a
cheaper cost, of course. However, the quality of the product is much lower than the authentic piece,
yet, the customers aren’t really concerned about the quality as the trendy product is affordable.
Primark brings out four different collection throughout the year because of the four different
seasons. This means that there are different clothing for the different seasons due to the weather. In
summer, Primark creates many different designed shorts, bikinis, sandals, flip flops, dresses, and
beach t shirts etc. most people that go on holiday shop at Primark for beach essentials and other
activities in a hot environment. Primark also picks out the most popular items that are bought in
summer by other high end fashion retailers and they copy it and sell it at a much lower cost. Primark
also puts their own twist into the designs to make it look similar to the product they’re copying as
well as making it theirs. In winter, Primark usually brings out the popular fur hood coat. This popular
coat usually gets sold out really fast even though they produce a range of colours and styles. This is
because Primark sells their product at almost two times cheaper than other stores such as Zara and
Next. Also because during winter, it gets very cold in the UK, therefore customers are looking for
clothing that keeps them warm. A fur hood coat will keep them warm. Al though Primark copy’s a lot
of items that are trendy and mostly sold by high end fashion retails, it doesn’t always seem to work
due to the weather conditions in the UK, this means that Primark must know when to release their
items to suit the weather and attract customers to purchase it. UK weather has an effect on fashion
retail as it gives them opportunities to create different products to suit the weather.
, Unit 31: task 2
Due to the fact that Primark is a low end fashion retail, it is influenced by the economy position of
the country their store are existing in. the reason to why Primark is affected by the country’s
economy, when the country is at boom, people have more income than ever, therefore, they will be
purchasing expensive products, however, this doesn’t mean that everyone will be shopping at high
end fashion retail stores. During recession, because people are receiving lesser income, they tend to
cut down on spending, therefore, they will start to shop at places such as Primark as their items are
sold very cheap.
Tom ford
Tom ford is a high-end brand and retailer, which is mostly shopped and visited by those who earn
medium to high salary. It is considered to be for those who are mostly interested in a lavish and
luxury lifestyle which once again earn between medium too high. Tom ford was initially founded by
Thomas Carlyle, named his brand “Tom” Ford. He is one of the wealthiest celebrities, he gained fame
by working with Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent being the creative director, and once again those
brands he worked with are also high-end retailers. He is also well known for being a film director
which he two Oscars for a film called “single Men” in 2009 and “Nocturnal Animals” in 2016. Beside
Thomas’ work with other high end retailers, he managed to create his own luxury brand called “Tom
Ford” which now has up to 100 stores internationally including rich cities such as London, Dubai,
Milan and Tokyo. Tom Ford’s products are aimed at high class and wealthy people. They are very
successful at reaching out to their customers and consumers. This is by using their target marketing
and segmentation.
The fact that Tom Ford himself is a well-known celebrity for directing and producing successful
movies in America, he himself has made his brand very popular especially after gaining a reputation
for being a creative director for Gucci and YSL which are both a very successful high-end fashion
retailer. Celebrities and role models such as Kim Kardashian are now the face of big brands such as
Tom Ford. High end brands tend to use popular and celebrity cultures to boost their business and
make it a bigger picture to their target audience. This is a smart strategic move from a business, for
example, Kim Kardashian plays a big role in social media, and her Instagram has 86.6million
followers. All these followers are fans of Kim Kardashian, if Kim wears a branded product, most of her
followers will be interested and are likely to copy her and purchase the product. Some people
wouldn’t ever think of shopping and buying from Tom Ford, but foolish celebrity lovers will pay just
to be like their idol ‘Kim Kardashian’. This shows how strong social media is in terms of marketing
products especially through celebrity’s fame
Celebrities don’t wear no casual clothing; they always try to find their own unique style which their
fans could be impressed by and spoken about. For example, high end fashion retail will allow big
celebrities to create their own product for their own use, in some cases, brands tend to make a
collaboration with famous music/sports celebrities to create their own products for their fan base as
well as bringing more attention to the business. For example, Kanye west created his own shoes for
Adidas and called it ‘Yeezy’, these shoes are so popular and trendy. To purchase them you need to
win a competition to get an opportunity to buy it. It is so hard to buy that it is resold for at least 8
times how much it’s worth. Another example would be the famous singer, Rhianna, she has a
collaboration with Puma called Fenty (Puma X Fenty), Fenty is her fashion collection. The use of these
celebrities to have as an ambassador and collaboration partner is very useful for a business’ cash
