RESEARCH: Statistics & Facts

As I was researching for statistics of spending habits within the fashion industry I found this interesting article. This article has really good statistics which I would be able to use in my documentary such as:

1. The average British woman will spend over half a million pounds on fashion over their lifetime.
2. The British fashion industry is worth £26 billion to the economy.
3. Women between the ages of 30 and 45 spend on average £1,200 on fashion items per month.
4. There are 3 categories of 'Wardrobe Wealth'. Category 1 - 'The major must have's', this includes pieces which are hot right now but will soon go out of fashion. Category 2 - 'Contemporary Classics', designer items which retain their value, designer pieces you would wear to work, the investment into timeless pieces. Category 3 - 'Lifetime Luxuries', designer items which will rise in value over time e.g. a classic quilted Chanel handbag .

I also found out from this article that a website called covetique.com had been set up where you could buy or sell designer clothes from other people, unfortunately this site has now shut down.


As I continued with my research I looked at comparisons of the annual revenues of high street vs designer brands, here is what I found:

Designers...
*Chanel -  5.2 billion USD
*Louis Vuitton - 10 billion USD
*Cartier - 6.1 billion USD
*Burberry - 2.515 billion USD

High Street...
*ASOS - 1.158 billion USD
*New Look - 1.528 billion USD
*River Island - 925.8 million USD
*H.Samuel - 3.665 billion USD

My documentary is based on the reasons behind why people buy and wear designer brands, so I wanted to find some facts on this, I found 2 articles on this. One from the guardian and one from college candy, these articles had opposing opinions of designer brands, one for (college candy) and one against (the Guardian), below are some interesting points I have taken from these articles:

The Guardian...

1. They are brand snobs and think flaunting the name of he shop where they bought their clothes makes them cool.

2. People who wear designer brands fail to see that they are being used by the brand as a form of free advertising.

3. They are paying more money for clothes just to be an advertisement.

College Candy...

1. Product quality is much better than the quality of high street store clothes, they use better materials and stitching.

2. Consistency within brands, people end up swearing by one designer and staying committed to that one brand.

3. Different designers give their own certain representations, they can give their consumers an identity and can represent who they are.

4. You feel and become part of an elite group, those who can afford the designer clothes.

5. You are much less likely to see someone else wearing the same item as you, designer products are much more rarely seen.

6. Celebrities wear them, lots of people identify with celebrities and want to be like them which includes wearing the same clothes/designers which they wear.

Finally, I found a website called Fashion United which has many statistics for the UK fashion industry which will be very helpful to use within my voiceover of my documentary. Go to this website here.