The Power of Collaboration in the Fashion Industry

One of the most impactful and resourceful creative industries that is also a source of massive income for many globally, fashion is an art that sells through seasons. It rarely has downtime and is one market that never really shuts. But, it is still important to understand that it is a creative industry, run mainly by creative heads who are passionate about their art. And, as seen very often, raw creativity like fashion and public marketing is not exactly a combination one person may have.

So, let’s look at it this way. A creative fashion professional is someone who does the work that sells. But, it is sold efficiently and effectively by another party. This is one of the major and most common forms of collaboration that has helped the fashion industry flourish and sustain strongly since its inception. If not for such associations between two professionals/parties, the world wouldn’t even know the art of fashion in the first place. Let’s just say that without collaboration, no brand, fashion or otherwise, would be able to reach you in any way.

Why are Collaborations Needed?

Of course, the purpose of any association is to generate more sales and market a brand/product to the right audience. But, many times, collaboration doesn’t exactly help a brand churn out sales and may instead lead to losses instead of profits. In such cases as well, the collaboration proves to be beneficial. Wondering how? Well, besides generating sales, one more purpose of collaborations is to build a brand presence and get it some recognition in the market. So, if an affiliation fails to build profit for a brand/professional, it can still bring it attention and recognition, which is a potential contributor to better sales and traction.

How Do Fashion Collaborations Take Place?

When it comes to fashion in today’s digital times, collaborations form the core of all marketing and sales activities. But, there is definitely more than one kind of partnership in the fashion industry. Scroll below to take a peek.

- Between Fashion Labels

One of the most recent collaborations in fashion stirred up quite a lot of buzz in the country and beyond. Yes, we’re looking at you, H&M x Sabyasachi! The collaboration between the fast-fashion brand and the high-end designer couture label when announced had everyone pre-booking their pieces and fangirling over the association of their dreams. It was that powerful!

Source: The Hindu Reason? Well, it was between two brands beloved to a majority of fashion-buyers. While one brand targeted everyone between a thirteen-year-old to a forty-year-old, the other targeted a much more mature crowd and only to a certain class of the society, owing to its high-end price points. So, when the collaboration was announced, it definitely sent a wave of excitement to the target audience of both, especially H&M’s. Everyone wanted to get their hands on casual fashion pieces touched by

the sartorial etiquettes of Sabyasachi.

Well, if this isn’t enough proof of what collaboration can do for two fashion businesses with different approaches and nature, then we don’t know what will. When two brands in the same industry but with different features, join hands, the association serves to be beneficial to both. Of course, it may not reap the same benefits for both, but it does so in different capacities and degrees.

- Between a Brand and a Marketer

Moving on, let’s bring your attention to another kind of collaboration that is a common one in this age. Today, with the surge of digital resources, there is more than one way to market your fashion business. First, there was offline marketing but now there is a much more flexible, effective, and accessible mode of marketing–online marketing.

With social media platforms, trends, and all the digital resources available to us, marketing your brand offline as well as online has almost become a necessity. And, that’s where marketing professionals come into play. As a fashion business owner, one may or may not be equipped with the know-how of this domain, and that’s where they need to join hands with someone who does.

This is when a fashion brand collaborates with a fashion marketer who takes over the entire responsibility of promoting their products, services, USP’s to the right audience, in the right spirit. So, with an association like this one, the fashion brand/professional benefits and so does the marketer.

- Between a Brand and a PR Professional/Agency

Advertising marketing is one thing and PR (Public Relations) Marketing is another. Many of us may end up confusing the two with one another but well, here is the difference. While a marketer promotes a business’s products and services to the right audience using different marketing mediums and tools, a PR professional promotes it using editorial/media coverage.

This means that a fashion business’s media presence like on digital magazines, publications, TV programs, newspapers, etc, is the work of a PR professional/agency. So, evidently, a fashion business/individual who already has a lot of creative work on his plate, this collaboration comes in handy and might we add, beneficial. An association between a PR agency and a fashion label/business opens up the gates towards a better market presence and better sales in turn.

- Between a Brand and an Influencer

An influencer is anyone who holds a certain kind of power or influence over their audience and their purchasing decisions. A celebrity, a fashion or a travel influencer, or any public figure who is popular amongst their audience has evidently influenced us. You watch your favourite fashion influencer wear a shirt and you are compelled to buy it. You watch a bag advert featuring a celebrity you’re fond of and you are drawn to the product. You see? This is nothing but human psychology and that’s

exactly what has also become a major marketing business today.

Source: The Telegraph Brands and businesses rely on influencer marketing to promote their products or services, where a certain personality becomes the face of it. So, when someone who has a great influencer over a certain crowd, associates themselves with a brand, that crowd also does so. And, this is what leads to better profits for that business. That’s the reason why brands, especially in the fashion sector, collaborate with influencers as a way of marketing tactic.

- Between a Professional and a Team

Today, one can make a business out of anything. Moreover, the digital revolution that this generation is known for, has only given rise to a whole new range of jobs and businesses. And, this is where collaboration also comes into play. Yes, we’re getting to the ‘how.’ Say, you’re a fashion illustrator who’s great at their work but may or may not be equipped with other relevant skills, you can tie up with other professionals who can fill those gaps. If you’re a fashion marketer, you may want to collaborate with a fashion writer for instance. In retrospect, a collaboration of this nature helps a professional who holds expertise in one field, build a team of sorts to attend to a larger work profile.

Now that you know what role collaborations play in the fashion industry, we would say, be open-minded and don’t hesitate in outsourcing help from fellow professionals, in order to expand yourself.