Apparel retailing is an exciting topic because the way we buy the apparel products is constantly changing right along with what we buy. Just as the apparel products we wear are time and culture specific, the way we buy those products and the supplies needed to make those products are also time and culture specific. Pursuing a fashion degree from one of the top fashion design colleges in Nashik can help you better understand the history of apparel consumption.
It may be hard to imagine a time and a place when and where there was no such thing as shopping, let alone shopping simply for the pleasure of shopping as many of us do today. But, in reality, our contemporary notions of what it means to shop for apparel are very different from those of individuals who lived before us.
Shopping in Ancient Times (3000 to 300 B.C)
Evidence of the existence of markets stretches back to ancient Egypt (Hine, 2002). The very first markets were open air venues in the centre of a town. Markets like this exist in the twenty-first century. Some of these markets appear temporary for special events, like weekend arts and crafts fairs. But other markets, like the market in Marrakech, Morocco are permanent shopping venues where local citizens purchase apparel items on a regular basis.
Shopping prior to Industrial Revolution (300 B.C to 1700)
Apparel shopping styles did not change dramatically immediately after the fall of the Egyptian Empire. Some changes occurred over an extended period of time.
At the end of a busy day at the marketplace, the farmers left the marketplace with the finished cloth they needed for their family. And the textile producers left the marketplace with the raw materials they needed to make cloth as well as the food they needed to feed their families. To obtain the supplies they needed at the marketplace, the farmers and the textile producers could barter, or, as the use of silver and copper coins as currency became commonplace, they could use money to purchase supplies.
The Industrial Revolution and the Introduction of the Department Store (1700 to 1900)
As our ancestors began to invent machines to increase their productivity and reduce costs during the 18th and 19th centuries, the seed for the practice of apparel shopping as we know it in contemporary society was planted. The Industrial Revolution occurred when society moved ‘from a stable agricultural and commercial society to a modern industrial society relying on complex machinery rather than tools’.
Some have argued that the textile industry played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. British textile merchants selling domestic wool fabric were having trouble competing with individuals selling lower cost imports of cotton fabrics from India.
Just as a general store met a wide range of customers’ needs by stocking a wide variety of merchandise, a department store also was designed for a range of customers. Most of the earliest department stores were outgrowths of general stores.
Utilitarian and Hedonic Consumer Behaviour
People shop for lots of different reasons. Some people shop because they like to shop. Some people shop because they have to shop. Confused? Think about your shopping behaviour. If you had spare time on the weekend , would you like to spend the time visiting apparel stores, trying on different outfits (many of which you have no intention of actually buying), talking to the salespeople, enjoying the music playing in the stores, and watching other consumers? Or are you a person who only shops for apparel when it is absolutely necessary, planning in advance exactly what and where you are going to buy so you can enter and exit an apparel store with what you need as quickly as possible? Which scenario best describes your approach to shopping?
The first scenario describes hedonic shopping. Hedonic consumer behaviour is consumption that is directed at satisfying needs for fantasy, excitement and fun. Products acquire hedonic meanings when they are associated with “specific feelings or when they facilitate or perpetuate feelings”.
On the other hand, if we were engaging in utilitarian shopping, we would be very disappointed if we left the store with no merchandise. Utilitarian Consumer behaviour is consumption designed to meet functional needs.
Shopping Across Cultures
The apparel industry is a Global industry. If you need proof of this claim, take a look at the labels in your favourite apparel items. Most likely these items were not made in the country where you are currently living. Your apparel probably has taken at least one trip around the world on its way to you. Your apparel items may have been designed in one country, manufactured in another country, and sold to you in still another country.
Conclusion
While the concept of trading within the apparel industry is not new, the scale of that trading has changed over the past 1900 or so years. Today, with improvements in communications and transportation, people all over the globe manufacture apparel products for consumers located around the world. We refer to this interdependency of people from every country in the world as globalisation. Globalisation is “the process whereby the world’s people are becoming increasingly interconnected in all facets of their lives. These days, virtually every country participates in the global production and consumption cycle that takes place within the apparel industry. If you are interested in a career in fashion design, pursuing a formal degree like B.Sc Fashion and Apparel Design can be the way forward for you in the industry.