Elin Kathrine Saunes from the Norwegian Fashion Hub on the future of fashion
— The consumer expects other things from the brands they want to be associated with now, and as a brand you have to pay attention to these expectations, says Elin Kathrine Saunes, project leader at Norwegian Fashion Hub.
When was the last time you read a news story about the fashion industry and the ways in which it is lacking the necessary innovation that can propel it to the future? During the recent decade, the (mostly lack of) innovation and sustainability has proven to be a big headache for many big brands out there. But this does of course not mean that the fashion industry — hugely profitable despite its areas in need of improvement — is a lost case, or one we’ll only read about in history books: Innovation and sustainability is at the forefront of many rising stars within the world of fashion — trends which largely have been shaped by the consumers.
As leader of the Norwegian Fashion Hub, Elin Kathrine Saunes is involved in the development of many promising projects and brands within the fashion world through NF&TA. NF&TA develops various development and innovation projects for the fashion and textile industry, within the mindset of circular economy: There is production and design, trade and consumption, as well as reproduction and recycling.
We have a circular strategy, and within this strategy we have several innovation projects that are meeting the requirements from the industry. The aim is to go from having a linear business model to having a circular business model for the fashion industry. It’s all about making fashion and fabrics into a more sustainable industry, and then you have to work on the entire value chain, says Saunes.
One of the projects within the circular textiles area is Most, which is a sustainability network consisting of retail, NGO´s and collectors of textiles such as Fretex, which is the initiator of Tekstilaksjonen — an action campaign to inspire and inform the consumer towards sustainable behaviour. In addition to this, there is the union for the fashion brands, Norwegian Fashion Hub. It involves both the startups and the more established brands: It’s all about new models of doing business, development, internationalisation, strategy, and other business development.
Investing in the trends
Despite being a business sector which we all depend on to some degree (we all have clothes, and many of us enjoy buying new clothes too), negative publicity on the ‘old and outdated ways’ of the fashion industry can create the impression that there is nothing new to invest in: As if the entire industry was stagnant and completely missing what it is most known for — creativity.
I would like for us to communicate to new and old investors that there is a vast potential within our business sector. Fashion is one of the biggest industries globally, and there is a lot going on in terms of digitalisation and sustainability. All of this is changing our sector at a quite rapid rate, and this also makes the fashion industry interesting to observe as an investor. And within Norway we see that there are a lot of things going on, things that make the Norwegian fashion stage a more interesting place. There are for example growing brands, as well as digital innovation, new consumers, and new markets.
Saunes adds that the Norwegian Fashion Hub also are involved in projects with Blockchain technology. This technology in particular is beneficial to ensure traceable information on both sustainability in production and that worker’s rights are well taken care of.
The average consumer is more aware now than before — and this affects the industry backwards in the value chain too. The ways of the industry are not sustainable for the future, and we see how the nature’s resources often are invested in creating products for humans. The modern consumer wants to know how a piece of clothing was created, and how this affected both the environment and living conditions of the people sewing their clothes.
Fashion in the times of Corona
But with just like any other industry out there, the Coronavirus has had an impact: Even though people are spending more time at home now — and most likely have gotten to do the spring cleaning in most rooms, closets, and drawers — people are not necessarily in need of more clothing. Despite the (assumed) urge and wish to go on an online shopping spree whilst hiding from the pandemic, you might not have the economy for that anymore. Many workers all over the world have been laid off, and many are fearing for their economy of 2020 — even if they still have a job.
The textile industry (and therefore also the fashion sector) is very affected by the Coronavirus. Ever since the early days of the virus, we have seen how there has been a decrease — first within production, as the virus struck in countries where a lot of the fashion items are produced. The value chain is of course very globalised — and as a result, we have seen how production, transport, logistics, and storage were affected — before the virus even reached the brands’ consumers. There has been a stark decrease in the consumers’ rate of shopping for new clothing and fashion items. This in turn affects the economy — and just like other sectors, the fashion industry has to lay people off due to loss of income, and other causes.
NF&TA and Norwegian Fashion Hub’s projects often are about cooperation for development — and so, the Coronavirus crisis has not given them any less to do. As with any other crisis out there, innovative minds now have a chance to bring forward their ideas. Many startups came from a crisis of some sort, and so the key is to pay attention to the market trends — whether new or old. Saunes says that even before the Coronavirus outbreak, there was a general tendency that people bought less clothing, compared to what they used to.
The fashion industry has seen a rise in trade and consumption for a long time, but now we are facing a situation of people’s already overfilled closets. The consumers seems to be quite content with what they have to wear now, and they are not in need of more items. In a situation where they want something new to wear, they would for example rather rent the clothing instead of owning it. But I believe the human need for dressing up and showing off our identity is innate in us — we want other people to see who we are. Our need for clothing is not less, but our ways of consumption can change in the future.
Changing the industry through awareness
Turning big industries around often prove to be a rather challenging task — especially when the industry already is globalised and involves many different countries and laws. Although we these days can find professional-looking (often home-sewn) clothing in our local vintage stores and get praise for wearing it, many decades have passed since this was a mainstream way of fashion. And since that time, the way of fashion has slowly turned into one where mass-production is the mainstream.
In 2020, the industry struggles with an overconsumption of water, bad chemicals, and overproduction: All of this has caused the common business model to grow outdated during the recent years. Before the Coronavirus, our industry was very marked by a great need to rethink the structures and thinking of a different kind of business model. We do for example want to rethink our approach to reaching the consumer, as retail is not dead. And maybe we have to think more digitally around our design processes and look for new markets — such as the market for digital clothing.
Maybe it’s all about how fashion makes us feel: In recent years, the average consumer have grown more aware of issues such as pollution, unsafe working conditions, and other areas of improvement within the fashion industry. Some brands may ‘solve’ this case of curiosity by not actually providing all production information on the tags in their clothing — making the origins of a sweater or T-shirt a mystery. But do the influencers and general consumers of today want to be associated with brands that won’t reveal how their clothing was made?
This awareness trend affects the brands, of course: The consumer expects other things from the brands they want to be associated with now, and as a brand you have to pay attention to these expectations. You will for example have to be more transparent — and you have to be certain that you can stand for the value chain and the contents of it. You need the same certainty to show that the garments you are selling are better — or at least just as good as — the competitor, in terms of sustainability, and of course in terms of people and profit as well.
The branding of Norway in fashion
Norwegian brands often seem to come with the same ‘image’ embedded: The light and airy branding of forests, wilderness, fresh air, and sea. All the relaxing, free-spirited — yet resilient — vibes of nature. Innovation and sustainability have found their seats neatly among the other imagery Norwegian brands are eager to draw upon when designing their new items.
Generally speaking, I see the Norwegian fashion industry as rather ‘leaned in’. But there is also a need for more sustainability, and by that also more innovation. The way I see it, quite a lot of the industry see the need for a change, and maybe to an even greater degree now that the Coronavirus has shown us that the ‘old’ way of doing business is very vulnerable. Within the fashion sector itself, there is of course some differentiating opinions on how the future of the industry should be — but we are seeing the emergence of extremely entrepreneurial, skilled brands.
