Next on the N17 Creative Callings business support agenda was a 2-hour masterclass with James Stewart and Fashion-Enter CEO Jenny Holloway titled ‘The New Fashion Paradigm’. Taking place on Wednesday 3rd June 2020 online via Zoom the masterclass gave inspirational insight into a new and more flexible approach to business, rethinking the outdated ‘Push Model’ with a system that is efficently lean.
The N17 Creative Callings programme targets creatives working and living within the London postcode area of N17, the two-year programme is supported by the Mayor of London and the European Social Fund. To find out more click here.
James Stewart is a visionary Business Transformation Executive who has spent his 25-year career leading & coaching senior executives across many organisations and across multiple industries in the adoption of the Toyota Business System. During his initial career at Nokia he was instrumental in reducing the Nokia Product Creation process, reducing new product time to market by over 80%.
More Recently he has turned his focus to the Retail industry and fashion having been instrumental in the successful application of this business model at Burberry, as well and supporting the journeys across the industry at Inditex (Zara), Nike & Adidas and others.
James clearly explained the old paradigm of the ‘Push Business Model’ with its exceptionally long lead times and unflexible approach to changing market circumstances v’s the new ‘Pull Model’ that is reactive to customer trends. He also discussed why lean strategies will need to be adopted if fashion brands and retailers are to survive post-Covid-19.
The current retail climate has seen a huge shift in spending and retailers’ failing to adapt are falling by the wayside. Despite all the losses there have been success stories with the likes of Inditex, the fashion retailer, which owns the likes of Zara, Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti. James and Jenny presented example brands, such as Zara, Adidas and Burberry, as case studies and explained how they have incorporated lean strategies into several areas of their business.
The full agenda included:
Intro and welcome from Fashion-Enter CEO Jenny Holloway and James Stewart
Overview of the N17 Creative Callings programme
Our Journey so far ‘The Push Model’ – An overview of the retail fashion industries journey to this point based on sales forecasting & seasons
The pandemic crisis – What have we learnt? – How has the crisis has affected retailers – the Push (forecasting & seasons) v’s Pull (demand & customer driven)
The New Paradigm – Case Studies – The Early Adopters – Inditex (Zara), Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Burberry.
The Journey towards the ‘New Norm’ – where do you start and what is the journey towards this new business model?
Q&A session
Summary and close
Feedback from the session included:
“I learnt the phrase and the meaning of Lean thinking and Push and Pull business models, this is all new to me.”
“I learnt about paradigms from different fashion brands and how to adapt the sufficient patterns that is uniquely tailored to our own brands to be more effective.”
“ I found the different case studies from various brands like Zara and how it has become the one of the most successful brands among its competitors really useful.”
“Really useful to know more about the LEAN Model in general.”
“I gained inspiration and insight from inside other brands.”
Next seminar: N17 Creative Callings: Start Your Brand Today! 11th June