A new age in clothing brand and retailer collaborations: Trends and recommendations for a successful partnership

Abstract

A new common practice in the clothing industry is mass-market retailers partnering with brands and offering a one-of-a-kind collaboration line. These collaborations are often highly beneficial for both parties, and their popularity has caused changes in how retailers are using partnership for their strategic benefit and to differentiate themselves from competitors. The purposes of this study are to analyse the changes in major retailers’ collaboration with clothing brands and to provide retailers with lessons for future direction by examining a successful and an unsuccessful case. By comparing their collaboration trends before with after mid-2000, this study will examine how and why such changes occurred. For a successful case, this study takes a closer look at H&M’s collaboration strategy due to their continued success in implementing brand collaborations. Further, considering that not all collaborations are successful for retailers, this paper demonstrates the importance of perceived fit between the retailer and collaboration partners through a case study. Suggestions for retail managers on how to make a successful partnership will be presented.