2.2 The Role of Fashion Change in the Fashion System
Competition in the Fashion System
The fashion industry is one of the most competitive industries. Everyone is competing with one another, from apparel designers, manufacturers, and distributors to importers, licensors, and retailers. Even though there is a broad range of apparel goods that are available, everything is categorized by either fashion or non-fashion. The competition is not solely based on prices, but on designs and the societal interpretation as well. Competition influences fashion change because designers or whomever it may be try to create their own unique designs hoping that consumers will catch on and if consumers do catch on, that is competition for another designer to do better that, which is where fashion changes. For example how Mary Quant wore the first miniskirt and Andre Courreges competed with that and revamped it.
Technology in the Fashion System

Technology plays a big role in the fashion system and influences fashion in a big way as well. It both supplies data and generates usable information in the form of simulations and models, which makes it easier for companies as far as their production and distribution cycles and accessing goods and services worldwide. Nowadays, many apparel companies clothing designs are made and edited with technology such as computers. There have been many advancements with technology and fashion in our society today. According to the article companies that do use technology have a competitive advantage over companies that don't.Today, one of the major advancements is 3D printing, which has had a big impact on the fashion world. Continuum is a clothing company that creates wearable 3D printed pieces. Customers can go to their website and design their own pieces and specify their body shapes and measurements. The company then uses nylon to print out each unique order. Here is a video of how they created their first shoe.

Having advancements as 3D printing allows companies to differentiate themselves from their competition because they bring something new and different to the table. Technology also plays a big role in consumer fashion as well, because consumers are attracted to technology in our society today. For example, browsing or shopping online makes it convenient for consumers. Even technology without fashion plays a big part in every individual's life.

Gronmo Typology of Strategic Positioning in an Information Society

Gronmo states that there are four strategic positions. The first is potentially influential, in which retailers have potential influence when their interests are congruent. An example would be if you created your own private label. You would want to select a store that has more influential in the market. By selecting a greater influential store as in Forever 21 and or Target would bring more profit to the private label than selecting a small independent store as in a boutique. Potentially powerful is when a manufacturing and or a retail store have more power than another. Potentially powerful is referred to when a retailer/ manufacture tends to be more powerful than their competitor. Certain laws and Acts are put to control restrictions goods, such as importing and exporting goods. Protection or as in the Robinson-Patman Act 1936 is consider when manufactures need to provide the same assistants to smaller retailers as they do with larger retailers. For example, a manufacture that wants to advertise with a retailer. Under the Robinson-Patman Act the manufacture needs to provide the same amount of advertising funds to the smaller retailer as they give the larger retailer. Finally the last strategic positioning is powerless. Powerless is when a small independent retailer has now power in the market, and is subject to decisions already made by more power retailers and manufacturing. It occurs when different retailers, independent and dependent are selling the same goods and when different manufactures are producing products that are similar to one another is when they people powerless.