CSR Campaign for a Luxury Fashion Chain

This report outlines a plan as to how the Trend-Z Luxury Fashion Company will address the primary concerns and grievances of plus-sized women who are interested in buying luxury fashion from the company’s different outlets. It will also highlight the specific research that will be undertaken to understand initiatives and activities of luxury fashion companies in Singapore in the area of corporate social responsibility. Finally, the report will describe a plan for the implementation of this corporate social responsibility campaign.

Running Head: CSR CAMPAIGN FOR A LUXURY FASHION CHAIN
CSR Campaign for a Luxury Fashion Chain
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CSR CAMPAIGN FOR A LUXURY FASHION CHAIN
Background
Luxury fashion brands in Singapore are seen to ignore all the opportunities that can be
availed of in the plus sized sector, including companies that manufacture both apparel as well as
accessories, and the Trend-Z Fashion Company is no exception. According to Parrott et al.,
(2013), the body positive movement in terms of luxury fashion at least, in Singapore still has
miles to go (Parrott et al, 2013). Wu et al., (2015), argue that while plus sized women in
Singapore are seen to be doing well in the entertainment sector, particularly in the music and
television industries and in slapstick and standup comedies, in fashion and especially luxury
fashion, plus sized women continue to remain invisible (Wu et al., 2015). Yet the demand for
plus size fashion has been rising steadily, and Trend-Z’s refusal to include plus size garments in
its line of clothing led to a severe backlash on social media. As per the given scenario numerous
comments were posted on the company’s Facebook page, stating that the company believed in
body shaming and that it was being entirely unethical to certain sections of the Singaporean
population by not including luxury garments for plus size women at its various outlets. Such
negative feedback was not been well perceived by the Trend-Z Luxury Fashion Company in
Singapore at all, and the management of the company has decided to embark on a corporate
social responsibility campaign to improve the image of the company and to appease the plus size
clientele for luxury fashion in Singapore. This report outlines a plan as to how the Trend-Z
Luxury Fashion Company will address the primary concerns and grievances of plus-sized
women who are interested in buying luxury fashion from the company’s different outlets. It will
also highlight the specific research that will be undertaken to understand initiatives and activities
of luxury fashion companies in Singapore in the area of corporate social responsibility. Finally,

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the report will describe a plan for the implementation of this corporate social responsibility
campaign.
Addressing the Concerns of Key Constituents
In order to address the concerns of plus size women regarding not being able to buy
anything Trend-Z Fashion because of the lack of garment availability for their size, every effort
will be made to take their needs, requirements and requests into account. Malthouse et al.,
(2013), argue that social media engagement with customers is vital if an enterprise wants to
progress in its business ventures (Malthouse et al., 2013). The best way for Trend-Z Fashion to
do this is to inquire or take feedback from potential plus size customers on social media
platforms like Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram and then make this known to the production
managers of the fashion chain. Based on the type of garments that is being requested for by plus
size women and the number of women making such requests, efforts will be made to produce a
line of trendy and fashionable clothing and accessories that is exclusively meant for the use of
plus size women. The types of plus sizes that need to be taken into consideration in order to
manufacture and launch a garments line specifically for plus size women will be known only
after taking to potential plus size customers in detail and finding out what the average body size
of a plus size woman or man is. Only after finding this out by taking feedback on social media
and by entering into a discussion with clothing stores in Singapore that do manufacture garments
for plus size women, will the management of the Trend-Z fashion company know exactly what it
is that is that needs to be produced in order to build and sustain an extensive plus size client base.
At the same time, Trend-Z fashion will take care not to cater to the demands of anorexic
customers either. By supporting anorexia or the obsession with being excessively thin, the

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Trend-Z Fashion Company fails to be body inclusive in its business approach. It will instead take
all types of body sizes into account when producing luxury clothing for women and men with the
concerns and requirements plus size customers being made a priority now.
Research Proposal and Justification for CSR Campaign
The role that business has to play in societal affairs is a topic that has been hotly debated
for over a considerable period of time, in economic literature. As stated by Baker (2013),
theorists like Rousseau, Locke and Hobbes, a social contract is in place that is both implicit as
well as explicit and which governs business operations in a given community (Baker, 2013). Tai
and Chuang (2013), argue that business is granted two very significant and specific rights that
allow it to carry out its functions (Tai & Chuang, 2014). These are limited liability and potential
immortality. As stated by Witkowska (2016), the process of continuation of any business is also
something that presupposes numerous enabling or supporting things from society such as trained
and educated human resource, law and order, means of exchange and external defense
(Witkowska, 2016). Galego-Alvarez et al., (2014), state that it is possible for a business
enterprise to take full advantage of such rights but only if it performs all the duties and functions
that it is supposed to as a good and responsible corporate citizen (Galego-Alvareze et al., 2014).
According to Christensen et al., (2013), this in a nutshell is exactly what the process of corporate
social responsibility entails. The debate as to whether the responsibility of a business enterprise
lies only towards specific shareholders or to each and every shareholder, that includes the society
and the environment, is one that continues. However, it is believed that the concept of timeframe
is one that should be granted due importance in this respect and over time it is a business
enterprises capability of sustaining itself that will prove to be of vital importance (Christensen et

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al., 2013). In fact as argued by McWilliams (2015), the interests of stakeholders and shareholders
shall not only converge in the long run but it will also turn out to be much more balanced
(McWilliams, 2015).
Prior to launching a corporate social responsibility campaign, detailed survey shall be
undertaken on the literature that is available on corporate social responsibility. This will be done
mainly to arrive at a conceptualized understanding of the subject matter. The information or data
that is available regarding activities as well as initiatives related to corporate social responsibility
shall be extracted from a wide range of financial reports that are generated by luxury fashion
companies in Singapore. As many as fifty luxury fashion companies in the city of Singapore
shall also receive semi-structured questionnaires that will elicit information regarding codes of
ethics, decision-making process, corporate social responsibility initiatives, implementation
strategy as well as an assessment of such programs. On the basis of the response that is received
as well as the seriousness pertaining to efforts undertaken in the area of corporate social
responsibility, it will be possible to then go ahead and carry out detailed case studies of as many
as five to ten luxury fashion chains in Singapore and to document all the experiences of such
companies. The case studies that are conducted in detail shall entail discussions and interviews
with ethics officers, top levels of the management, independent directors, and employees
working in luxury fashion management. Documentation work in particular shall focus on the
specific strategies that can be implemented in addition to impact assessment as well as the
important lessons that the corporate world can learn from this research as a whole.

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Planning and Implementing the CSR Campaign
To carry out a CSR campaign as successfully as possible in order to make its image in the
business world a more body inclusive one, the Trend-Z Fashion Company will publish press
releases to state that it is going to be launching a garments line that is meant exclusively for plus
size customers. As many as four to five press releases will be launched in a period of two weeks
in leading websites and business magazines that will make known the efforts being undertaken
by the Trend-Z Fashion Company to include the needs and requirements of plus size customers
when manufacturing and marketing luxury clothing. The company will also engage in some
active community service and will support charities and organizations that look into the
wellbeing of plus size people suffering from diseases specific to their physical condition. As
argued by Dabijar and Babut (2014), charity work forms an integral part of any CSR campaign
(Dabija & Babut, 2014). Charities that generate awareness and concern about issues like obesity
will be well supported by the Trend-Z Fashion Company in financial terms and that too over the
long term. As argued by Chaffee (2017), advertising also plays a crucial role in the success of
CSR campaigns (Chaffee, 2017). Advertisements will be placed in target publications like
fashion magazines and all important newspapers about the new clothing line for plus size
customers. In the view of Theaker (20I7), social media must be used as best as possible for the
promotion of a CSR campaign (Theaker, 2017). So, the Trend-Z Fashion Company will also
make extensive use of social media platforms to engage with potential efforts and ask them how
best they can cater to the requirements of Singapore’s plus size population in the area of luxury
clothing.

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References
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Chaffee, E. C. (2017). The Origins of Corporate Social Responsibility. U. Cin. L. Rev., 85, 353
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Dabija, D. C., & Băbuţ, R. (2014). Empirical study on the impact of service, communication and
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Galego-Álvarez, I., Formigoni, H., & Antunes, M. T. P. (2014). Corporate social responsibility
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Theaker, A. (2017). What is public relations?. In The Public Relations Strategic Toolkit (pp. 17-
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