Individual Fashion Industry Business Report: Karen Millen

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes Karen Millen's business.

Individual Fashion Industry Business Report
Karen Millen, London.
1

Executive Summary
Fashion has become integral part of people’s lives in the contemporary times. This report has
been developed by focusing in the apparel-retailing organisation named Karen Millen that is
based in the United Kingdom. The influence of the requirements of the customers on the
selection of product has been analysed in the study. In addition to that, the manners in which
Karen Millen can overcome environmental as well as economical challenges have been
explained in this study. Other than that, the effect of market segments on the supply chain of
the concerned company has been described. Furthermore, three biggest competitors of Karen
Millen have also been identified.
2

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Main Body..................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13
3

Introduction
The fashion industry of the United Kingdom is comprised of numerous large and small
enterprises, which are devoted towards the business of producing as well as selling clothing
and accessories. This report will be carried out through focusing on the organisation named
Karen Millen. It is a company dealing in the clothing retail.
The organisation is specialised in tailoring and produces coats as well as eveningwear for
women. The organisation was established during the year 1981, and its headquarters is
located in the United Kingdom. The founders of the firm are Kevin Stanford and Karen
Millen. Aurora Fashions, another retailing company, dealing in fashion, was formed in the
year 2009. The concerned organisation became a part of it in the same year. However, the
firm announced itself to be established as an independent entity two years later, in 2011;
nevertheless, the company continues to work with the ethical trading team of Aurora
Fashions. The business maintains ethical trading, which is done for sustaining a transparent
and co-operative relationship with its suppliers. The products developed by the fashion
retailer are sold the British as well as American chain of department stores named House of
Fraser and Bloomingdales respectively, along with many others.
The business operates in various regions within the United Kingdom, along with many other
nations as well. The organisation has around twenty branches all across the United Kingdom.
Other than that, it also operates in the United States of America, Denmark, Austria, Russia,
Norway, Ireland, along with many other nations in Europe, Asia, as well as Australia
(Karenmillen.com, 2019).
4

Main Body
 Describe the product areas for your brand or retailer
Karen Millen can be referred to as an iconic multinational brand, which offers aspiration
luxury products at prices that is accessible by the common people. The clothing retailers is
very popular all across the world, for providing versatile investment clothing, which offer
achievable luxury along with effortless elegant glamour for women globally. It is a fashion or
clothing retailer, which is based in Britain. It specialises in tailoring. Apart from that, the
organisation is also known for producing stylish coats as well as eveningwear. Apart from
clothing, Karen Millen also produces footwear and accessories. The clothing sold by the
organisation includes dresses, trousers, shirts and blouses, swimwear along with many others.
It also offers attractive wedding attires. It has also launched various collections, such as
Animal Print, SS19 Campaign, The Lunar New year Collection and many others
(Karenmillen.com, 2019).
Figure 1: Karen Millen, London
(Source: Stylus.com, 2014)
Therefore, it can be stated that collection of Karen Millen is inclusive of every kind of
essential elements that are required in a contemporary wardrobe, which are designed very
5

thoughtfully so that they are cherished forever. In addition to that, the clothing of Karen
Millen possesses a timeless quality, which surpasses season; nevertheless, they remain in the
trend. These clothing are crafted form luxury textiles. While designing the dresses
impeccable attention is given to details, so that the clothing can display the signature
obsequious fit of the brand.
 Analyse how your consumers’ needs affect the product selection
“Customers’ need” can be referred to as the desire, which compels the customers to purchase
a product or a service (Kim et al., 2012). Therefore, it can be stated that, the consumers are
purchasing products or services in order to satisfy own requirements. This is an important
aspect that requires being considered during developing or selecting the genre of products or
services. The simple and powerful tool of Porter’s Five Forces has been applied to
organisation Karen Millen for assessing the bargaining power of its customers (E. Dobbs,
2014). It has been discovered that due to the presence of several other clothing retailers in the
fashion industry of the United Kingdom, the concerned organisation’s customers have high
bargaining power.
Figure 2: Porter’s Five Forces Framework
(Source: Jurevicius, 2013)
6

There are many factors, which has to be considered at the time of selecting the products that
are to be sold in the store. Amongst all the aspects, customers’ needs are one of most crucial
one. The product in a fashion retain company such as Karen Millen, the products are
selecting after observing and analysing the customer needs and the buying behaviour of its
target segment. This assists the organisation to arrange for clothing that will be appealing to
its target segment. In this way, the company will not only make the organisation capable of
retain its existing customers, but also obtain a number of new potential ones. Therefore, it can
be stated that, the selection of the products are dependent on the current as well as the future
requirements, along with the expectations of the customers.
 Define how the business adjusts to economic and environmental external challenges:
consider this both into terms of growth and supply
The macro environment of organisations influences its operations, which is consisted of
various factors, such as political, legal, economical, social, technological, and environmental
and many others (Bosdriesz et al., 2012). Therefore, the organisations require adapting to the
challenges created by the factors mentioned above. Through the implementation of the
analytical framework called PESTLE, it has been found that Karen Millen is influenced by
environmental and economical factors.
Figure 3: PESTLE Analysis Framework
(Source: Blog.oxfordcollegeofmarketing.com, 2016)
7

Economical Factor
The manufacturing costs of the apparels are increasing due to scarcity issue of important
factor such as water, oil and many others as such (Lupinepublishers.com, 2019). As a result,
of the declination of the manufacturing sector, the amount of skilled labour has decreased.
This has led to increase in the labour costs. This can be threatening to the competitiveness in
the fashion industry. Therefore, in order to cope up with this challenge, Karen Millen will
require outsourcing its production to countries, which will facilitate low-cost manufacturing,
for instance, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and many others. This will assist the organisation to
reduce the cost of production as well as labour.
Environmental Factor
The stakeholders of Karen Millen are the organisation to decrease its carbon footprint and
instead incorporate practices that are environment friendly in conjunction with its supply
chain in order to reduce the consequences that could be brought by the climate change. In
addition to that, it has also been found that the activities carried out by fashion organisations
similar to Karen Millen, which are related to their supply chains, cause environmental
pollution. Thus, the company requires designing a new supply chain that will be more
environment friendly, in order to overcome the environmental challenges.
 Explain how different market segments affect the supply chains form the design and
manufacturing of fashion product to their distribution and retail
Manufacturing at the highest level of capacity will only be profitable for Karen Millen when
the products can be distributed in a swift pace to the customers. Market segmentation
confines the essence of the strategies of marketing for all suppliers. It can be referred to as a
conceptual tool, which is utilised for concentrating and obtain the requirements of the fashion
retailer as well as the customers (Sarabia-Sanchez et al., 2012). There are three kinds of
market segmentations.
Geography: This market segment describes the lactation of the market that has been targeted
including quantity and delivery frequency for ensuring that the multi-line stores possess the
necessary amount of stock. Therefore, it can be mentioned that, this market seeming affects
the supply chain of Karen Millen in terms of design as well as distribution.
8

 Behaviour: This one explains the manner in which orders are received, and then
delivered, along with the method of payment preferred by the target market. Thus, it
can be stated that this market segment affects the distribution and retail part of the
supply chain.
 Demographic: On the other hand, this one defines the nature of the population or
customers the customer is serving as well as arranging delivery schedules that are
suitable for them. Therefore, this part of the market segment affects distribution,
along with the retail parts of the supply chain of Karen Millen.
 Competitor analysis: who are your three main competitors? What makes them
competitors?
Figure 4: SWOT Analysis Framework
(Source: Thebusinessanalystjobdescription.com, 2018)
The competitors can be referred to as other fashion retailers similar to Karen Millen who
belong to the fashion industry of the United Kingdom, and are selling their products in the
notation (Görener et al., 2012). Through the application of the framework of SWOT
Analysis, the top three competitors of Karen Millen have been identified. These three
organisations are described as follows:
9

Topshop: This organisation is one of the top rivals of Karen Millen. It is a private
organisation, which was established in the year 1964 and is located in London. Similar to the
selected company of the study, Topshop deals in apparel retail industry. In comparison of
Karen Millen, it generates more revenue, as well as has more employees. Topshop gives
though competition to Karen Millen globally.
Asos: This establishment is considered as one of the biggest competitors of Karen Millen. It
is a public organisation, which was founded in the year 1999 and is situated in London. This
company was well operates in the sector of apparel retail. However, it has more number of
staffs on comparison to Karen Millen and generates revenue in billions. Thus, it can be stated
that, this organisation competes with Karen Millen in the United Kingdom, as well as all
across the world.
Yoox Group: This firm is perceived as well to be one of the top rivals of Karen Millen. This
organisation was established during 2015 and is located in Italy. The company operates in the
industry of ecommerce and generates more revenue than the concerned establishment
mentioned above. With the growing popularity of e-commerce, Yoox Group has been giving
hard competition to Karen Millen in the United Kingdom, as well as internationally.
 Compare your supply chain (design manufacturing, distribution and retailing) to
one other brand at different levels of market.
The other brand that has been selected for comparison of supply chains with Karen Millen is
Marks and Spencer.
Segments of Supply Chain Karen Millen Marks and Spencer
Design The supply chain is designed
for catering the demands and
requirements of the
customers.
The supply chain is designed
for catering the demands and
requirements of the
customers.
Manufacturing The clothes sold by Karen
Millen is manufactured in
Europe.
The clothes sold by Marks
and Spencer are
manufactured in
Bangladesh, India and Sri
Lanka.
Distribution The products are distributed The products are distributed
10

through its own distribution
channels.
through its own distribution
channels.
Retailing Fashion retailing company
operating in the apparel
segment of the retail
industry of the United
Kingdom
Retailing organisation
operating in the retail
industry of the United
Kingdom
Table 1: Comparison of Supply chains of Karen Millen and
(Source: Created by the learner)
11

Conclusion
From the above study, it has been observed that the Karen Millen is one the well-known
names in the context of fashion retailing in the United Kingdom. The organisation is known
for its specialised tailoring along with coats and eveningwear. The product area of the retailer
has been discovered to be versatile investment clothing. The fashion retailer produces such
dresses that complement the modern wardrobe of a contemporary woman. It has been found
that the selection of products at the concerned organisation is dependent on the requirements
and demands of its customers. In addition to that, it has been deduced that the company
requires outsourcing its production in ruder to cope up with the economic challenge of
increased production and labour costs. On the other hand, the establishment must develop a
new design for its supply chain which will environment friendly overcome the ecological
challenges discovered through PESTLE analysis. Other than that, it has been found that, the
different parts of the market segment affect the supply chain of Karen Miller in diverse
manners.
Topshop, Asos, along with Yoox Group are indentified as the top three competitor of Karen
Millen. This has been done with the assistance of the framework known as Porter’s five
forces. Apart from that, the supply chain of Karen Millen has been compared with the same
of another brand at different market level named Marks and Spencer, in this study.
12