fashion - cosmetics - food
Future Trend Report 03 / 2021-01-19
Patterns & Recipes: selling semi-finished products.
Strictly selling finished products has long been the fashion and cosmetics industry’s only source of revenue. These industries will change in concept, from finished products to semi-finished products: fashion patterns, fashion retouch recipes, and recipes for cosmetic products. High-end products made by the consumer themselves in their home with local ingredients and materials. No shipping costs, no abuse of cheap overseas labourers.
When buying fashion or cosmetics, in any section of the market, a product will be made from materials and ingredients from all over the world. A piece of clothing may get its fabric from Turkey made from wool in Peru, assembled in Bangladesh, shipped back to the west. It’s a hideous chain of production that everyone has come to accept as normal. The consumer of The World After is ready for change.
Fashion:
Instead of selling clothing, high-end fashion designers could instead focus on selling patterns. Supply a download to a pattern or send it directly to the consumer via mail so they can make their own product. Fabrics can be supplied by the fashion house or bought local to the consumer. It can even be made with recycled fabrics from old products or clothing. The consumer can make the piece themselves or visit a tailor.
Cosmetics:
Even in cosmetics, the industry can supply recipes to the product so consumers can make the product at home with local ingredients. Recipes can be bundled together with a bottle that bears the company’s logo or even a personalized logo or initials for the individual consumer.
This concept is really nothing new. When we look at the food industry, recipes are the standard. It’s widely accepted that top chefs create recipes gladly showing you their secrets. They aren’t afraid of losing money or people ‘copying’ their work instead of visiting their restaurant. They take great pride in showing consumers how to make fresh, beautiful products from locally bought ingredients.
We’ve already seen this translated to the fashion industry in recent history: Vogue’s famous patterns ‘Sew The Look’, where people could sew their own product from a predesigned pattern. Even high end designer examples exist for example YSL and Christian Dior.
Retouch recipes:
This concept can also be applied to the vintage clothing & fabric market. Instead of supplying a pattern for a completely new item, you can supply guidelines, or ‘recipes’, to retouch existing clothing.
Burberry can give recipes to retouch existing coats for example. Turn it inside out, adjust the belt loops, restyle the epaulettes or even replace buttons.
Even general recipes can be given, a guideline to convert a second hand bridal gown into a fashionable top for example.
Break up the chain of pollution by supplying semi-finished products; patterns and recipes instead of a finished product.
