WHAT’S IT’S ABOUT
The fashion consumer – and by extension the entire fashion business – is radically changing and creating winners and losers across categories. Which path a brand takes – to grow and thrive or struggle and die – depends on how well it adapts to this new reality.
Using real life examples from both the industry and consumers, Why Fashion Brands Die & How to Save Them gives fashion brand marketing directors key insights into the “new fashion consumer” and the tools they need to prosper in this disruptive environment.
Because the truth is, you can pretty much overcome any problem with your customer on your side. But a brand that doesn’t serve their needs, wants and desires is headed for the graveyard.
PEEK INSIDE & DISCOVER...
- How the failure of the classic buying process will force brands to change, and how to use a clue from Silicon Valley to adapt to this new psychology.
- How the collapse of traditional consumer segments has created great new opportunities in our space—and new threats for flat-footed fashion brands.
- What the trends of authenticity, transparency and sustainability mean to the fashion consumer (it goes much deeper than you might think).
- How the millennials and the generation behind them are changing the world of fashion (in expected and unexpected ways), and how to appeal to their unique buying ideals.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Michael Solomon literally wrote the book on consumer behavior. Hundreds of thousands of business students have learned about marketing from his books, which include Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, the most widely used book on the subject in the world. He is also the co-author of Consumer Behavior in Fashion and has worked with some of the biggest names in fashion including Levi’s, H&M, Under Armour and Calvin Klein.
Brandon Roe is the host of The Fashion Consumer, a popular podcast that offers fresh ideas and insights into the ever-changing fashion consumer. With a rare skill set that brings together cutting-edge technology and consumer-centered marketing, he has worked with clients in eight countries and three languages over the past two decades.
Maurice Mullen
Head of Fashion & Luxury Goods, London Evening Standard
Member, Advisory Board, British Fashion Council
London, UK
When your ship is sinking, do you reach for a scholarly treatise on seafaring or a guide offering immediate, practical help? In the increasingly cut-throat world of fashion, the principle is no different.
‘Why Fashion Brands Die’ is the product of meticulous research by two highly qualified and experienced writers. Ultimately, however, its value lies in providing real world solutions to real world problems. When your brand begins to wobble, this is the book you should have by your side.
Aurore Bardey, PhD, CPsychol, SFHEA
Course Leader BSC (Hons) Psychology of Fashion
London College of Fashion
London, UK
The book ‘Why Fashion Brands Die & How to Save Them’, written by the international experts Michael Solomon and Brandon Roe, is an essential guide to better understand consumer behaviour in Fashion. By explaining the shift in consumer behaviour, the impact of geopolitical change and the rise of technologies, this book provides the reader with the essential knowledge in improving Fashion marketing in today’s society. It’s an awe-inspiring survival guide for marketing students, academics, and practitioners.
Pamela N. Danziger
President Unity Marketing, Researcher and Author
Pennsylvania, USA
This is a must read for anyone in the fashion industry. It is filled with consumer insights that will determine whether your fashion brand will die or succeed based upon the inherent values that your brand reflects and the consumer needs it fulfills.
“The better you understand and serve your customer, the stronger your fashion brand will be,” is the underlying premise of the book, to which I wholeheartedly agree.
Qiulae Wong
Co-Founder, Common Objective
London, UK
Today’s fashion consumer is very different than a decade or two ago. Brandon Roe and Michael Solomon’s book explores several important topics, including the consumer’s desire for more transparency and accountability by fashion brands for the social and environmental impact of their supply chains. I sincerely hope this book helps fashion professionals better understand the growing conscious consumer market, who will be central to the future success of all fashion businesses.
Joshua Williams
Assistant Professor, Parsons School of Design
Founding President, Fashion Consort
New York, USA
Brandon Roe and Michael Solomon really capture the essence of today’s consumer in a global and competitive marketplace. They cover wide-ranging issues such as the connection between technology, transparency and sustainability, the need for authenticity in brand engagement across gender, race and age, and the complexity of reaching consumers one-on-one while maintaining a strong, consistent brand identity. It’s a must read for anyone in the fashion business—executive or student—that seeks opportunity and success in this moment of profound industry change.
Rosemary Goodenough
Artist and Designer for the Rosemary Goodenough Fashion Brand
Norfolk, UK
If you are the owner of a fashion brand, read this book. If you are thinking of starting a fashion brand, read this book. If you have any interest in fashion marketing, read this book! It is very rare to come across a work which gives such knowledgeable insights in such an accessible form. As such, I cannot recommend it too highly.
Thom Gridley
25-year Footwear and Apparel Design Executive
Puma, Vans, New Balance and Saucony
Massachusetts, USA
The book ‘Why Fashion Brands Die & How to Save Them’, written by international experts Michael Solomon and Brandon Roe, maps out the shift within the current consumer mindset and the accelerated pace in which customers engage, digest and consume in real time. Brands will find this toolbox of insights quite helpful to not only determine how you message your brand, but furthermore, how it should influence the conceptual creation of product to maintain relevance. A must for anyone in product design or marketing.
Carolina Devia Angarita
Head of Product Management, Barneys New York
New York, USA
‘Why Fashion Brands Die & How to Save Them’ describes the trajectory of customer behavior related to the Fashion industry and how internal and external variables have made an impact on the purchase journey. It’s an essential read for marketers and product managers at any level who are looking to understand how to launch a new idea within the fashion arena or how to transform an existing business around the ever-changing rules of consumer behaviors, priorities and available technology. Well done!
DREW L. (The Real Uncle DR3W) GREER
Product Maestro + Storyteller: Nike, Ralph Lauren, Supra, Under Armour & eSports
- WHY FASHION BRANDS DIE & HOW TO SAVE THEM is The Most Current + Clear Articulation of The Industry’s Ecosystem:
- From Defining A BRAND’s Vital PURPOSE to THE DELIVERY of Authentically Engaging {BRAND} STORIES, EXPERIENCES & PRODUCT.
- Laced with Clear Examples of BRANDS who “GET IT as well as Those Who Are Lost in Their Own Greedy and/or Lazy Sauce.
- The Priceless Fact based History of Consumers and The Mindset of Today’s Generation I found to be a stimulating feed.
- This Narrative is Ideal for Those Aspiring Future Leaders Who Look to Enter The Profession as well as The Accomplished GAME-CHANGERS Who Seek to Keep Their Skill-Set, Approach and Instincts Sharp.
- One Must Learn, unLearn and reLearn as the Market, Consumer + Technology continues to Evolve.
- This Masterpiece Accomplishes all the aforementioned and plus Some/Sum!
Dr. Ana Roncha
Course Director, MA Strategic Fashion Marketing
The Fashion Business School | London College of Fashion
London, UK
The central idea, “the better you understand and then serve your customer, the stronger your fashion brand will be”, is clearly and cleverly delivered in this new book. It is a very well structured, clear and sharp work about consumer behavior in fashion that outlines how consumer preferences have changed within the industry.
I found Part 3, “Where the fashion consumer is going”, particularly fascinating as it providing interesting insights into what the future holds for this industry and how the new consumer is interacting with issues such as digital fashion, AR, VR, wearables, IoT etc…
I highly recommend this book for both undergraduate and postgraduate studies, to anyone with an interest in fashion or that is intending to start a fashion venture!
