Are Whistles missing out on vital sales due to not fully
immersing themselves into the trend of fast fashion??
Whistles reported their sales to have increased by 11% to £62.9m
in 2014 due to the long lasting Kate effect, their launch into the
menswear market and the expansion of their number of stores. However,
Whistles still recorded a £2.4m loss for the year January 31st, 2015.
(Bridge, 2015) Fast fashion leader Zara on the other hand, is trading
very profitably with a brand value of $10.7b. (Forbes, 2016) This is due
to their ability to produce 450 million items a year (Lu, 2016) which is
because of their 2-3-week turnaround. It takes Zara only "three weeks
from the beginning of the design process to the time it lands on the
shop floor" (Sowray, 2015) In order to improve sales and keep up with
other brands, Whistles could look at improving their turnaround time.
Whistles and Sustainability
Shepherdson is known for her concern with sustainability as she voluntarily
produced a fashion chain for Oxfam aimed at ethically conscious shoppers
consisting of sustainable fashion labels, a rebrand of their second hand
clothes as recycled fashion and an initiative to work with some of London
College of Fashion’s most promising students who will design items of
clothing created from a mix of environmentally friendly fabrics and
restyled second-hand clothes and textiles. (Callender, 2008) This very
public information on Shepherdson and the fact that Whistles launched an
eco-collaboration with Ciel in 2011 (Alexander, 2011) gives them an advantage
over their less ethical and sustainable competitors as customers whose
priorities lie with the environment are more likely to buy from Whistles than
say All Saints who don’t disclose anything about their social and environment
impact. An issue that could be improved for Whistles would be to completely
eradicate the use of animals in their clothing however it could be argued
that this would devalue the brand’s image and most certainly its worth.
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