I am not saying this out of the blue. I am advocating for local fashion brands now more than ever for a reason. Because I am witnessing a rise of great local solid businesses in my economy. The phenomenon has made me want to stop and think. So today, I want to share my research findings with you. I want to tell you more about my unpopular opinion: Local fashion brand X will make profits that are very close to any other global brand in the market. Hear me out first, and then you get to decide whether you are convinced or not. Also, I will give you some ideas on Albusi’s professional services to help you kick-start this local fashion business with our help.
Just an important disclaimer before I set off and tell you the reasons behind my opinion: all the insights I share here are based on practical experiences managing projects and interacting with business owners from different fields in my own context. These only serve as a guide for you. So don’t forget to check how fit any of my conversations to your context and the business rules in your specific fashion market.
Alright, let’s dive more into this.
Research To Back Up My Unpopular Opinion: Local Fashion Brand Business
I recently enjoyed starting my articles with some figures and numbers that back up my idea. So, I’m doing this again now for local fashion businesses.
Because I’m an admirer of Deloitte, I looked up and found a survey of over 12,000 consumers and users in 10 different countries on local and global brands. Guess what are the findings of this 2023 survey? Here are the catchy figures of this study: 60% reported their willingness to pay more for locally-made fashion products! This is not the only percentage. Add an extra 10 to have 70% who believe that local fashion brands are more sustainable and ethical than global brands.
What do you think about these percentages? For me, these are high figures that show how customers are behaving towards the locals.
Apart from studies, let me tell you what led to my firm belief in local brands.
Reasons For My Unpopular Opinion: The Rise Of Local Fashion Brand Businesses
Yes, global fashion brands often drive the whole market and dominate the trends and styles in fashion. However, I have also seen local fashion brands that have gained popularity quickly and made high profits. The reason? They are revolutionizing the industry with their innovations and creations.
With this revolution, they are grabbing the attention of many and attracting more people to their fashion pieces. Here is why:
Local Brands Support The Local Community
A big key reason that attracts new customers to local brands every day.
Buying local fashion pieces contributes directly to more economic stability of communities. Customers are becoming more aware of this every day, especially in times of economic stagnation in their countries (this is the case already in many nations of the world now). Local brands are spreading awareness that by buying their products, customers support their country. And, of course, shopping locally keeps money circulating inside the country, helps small businesses, creates jobs, and fosters a sense of community pride.
Their Innovation Is Super high
Local brands are limitless when it comes to innovation. They don’t have the same boundaries as global brands. Instead, they are free to explore newness in materials, techniques, and designs. This freedom of innovation drives the progress of the local fashion business at all times. Because they are innovative, they can create unique, differentiated products that grab the attention of many people who are looking for something new and exciting to buy.
Preserving Local Culture & Craftsmanship
How do local fashion brands create and produce their collections? Exactly, Locally. Local brands collaborate with local artisans, who eventually revive traditional techniques. Whenever you mix your business with traditions, you showcase the unique heritage of specific communities. This is an eye-catcher for customers as this preservation of cultural heritage adds a lot of value and authenticity to fashion products in general.
Convinced Already? How Can Albusi Help You With Your Local Brand?
If you have made it to this last part of this post, then it’s either because I am a great convincer or because you were already into the argument and needed some extra insights. Either way, you are interested and would like to know more or get more help to open your own local brand.
First, I strongly encourage you to check out these very related posts about the fashion industry. This one is on a fashion pitch deck with some guidelines on the business. Also, skim through this to dive deeper into a fashion startup business plan. Both pieces can add a lot to you, and they are only 2-minute reads.
In addition to these, we have many other downloadable pitch decks and business plan templates on Albusi’s website that serve as excellent guidance to prepare business tools for your local fashion business. We also build your own! The Albusi team can craft a one-of-a-kind pitch deck just for you! This is another exceptional service to entrepreneurs that you should check out.
Another thing that you will need in your fashion business is experience. If you need to talk more about your idea, you can come to one of our freelancers. They will help you with everything you need to plan for your business. They are great at pitching and will help you with the tweaks you need to pitch your idea to others, too.
So, let’s cooperate together to plan this to build the local fashion business you dream of.
Meet The Author Of This Article
I’m Jenny Ayman, a project manager in the development field with specific knowledge and experience in capacity building and entrepreneurship programs. I aspire to transfer the hands-on experience I gain in my professional career through writing.
Also, if you need help planning your business, I recommend checking out some of our freelancers’ business plans or pitch decks!
