Generation Y Fashion Design and Marketing

By Candice Mancini
Fashion Design School Review Columnist

They’re fashion conscious, often found in malls, and spend billions a year on fashion. With a population of more than 70 million, they’re as high a priority in marketing as the baby-boomers. They are Generation Y.

Generation Y Fashion Demographics

Teenagers and young adults are big names in fashion design. During back-to-school time alone, families of this group (ranging from ages 13 to 26) spend more than $500 each on fashion. According to Forbes.com, this totaled $7.5 billion in back-to-school fashion in 2006.

Tricky Marketing

Although they spend a lot of their (and their parents’) money on fashion, they are finicky consumers. Teen and young-adult fashion tastes can change with the wind, or with the latest big-screen blockbuster. Once Keanu Reeves sported black wrap-around shades in The Matrix, a new fashion design hit arrived. But who’s to say how long the trend will continue? Old Navy fashions were also once insanely popular with this age group, but its popularity has waned. As one teen was quoted in SmartMoney.com: “Friends don’t let friends wear Old Navy.” Her complaint: that Old Navy’s look never changes.

Youth Fashion Design and Marketing Successes

While Old Navy currently may not be thriving, some fashion labels continue to excite this age group. These include Aeropostale, American Eagle, and of course, at the top of the list, Abercrombie & Fitch. Abercrombie’s success has as much to do with their marketing as with their cool designs. They’re selling an image that most teens and young-adults want to adopt. In monetary terms, this ingenious fashion and marketing duo rakes in more than $3.3 billion a year.

Of course, not all parents and educators are thrilled about such an image. As one middle-school principal noted in the Washington Post, her school’s dress code specifically prohibits “underwear,” “cleavage,” and “midriffs.” So perhaps the next big Generation Y fashion biggie will find marketing success with youth and their parents and teachers. Then again, recent fashion history might laugh at the suggestion.

About the Author

Candice Mancini is a writer and teacher with an unusual fashion sense that drives her to create her own clothing. She has an M.A. in Education and a B.A. in English and history.

Source(s)

Back to School Retail: Sarah Gardner, NPR Marketplace (online transcript)
Runway that launched teen clothing still going strong 75 years later: Washington University in St. Louis
Selling Seasons: Forbes.com
Smells Like Teen Spirit: SmartMoney
Teen, young adult clothes sales strong: USA Today

Posted on September 11, 2007 at 12:13 PM