The name Forever 21 is catchy and noticeable. For women below the legal drinking age, turning 21 is the most awaited time period. Similarly, a woman who has crossed this ripe age, 21, seems to be the ideal age to go back to and live in forever. “Aspirationally 21” is the motto on which this well-known brand Forever 21 stands upon. Not one person belonging to this digital world has stayed away from the hype created by Forever 21. Today’s topic is Forever 21- Mission and Vision StatementThe brand has created a public image that stands upon how stylish, affordable, and accessible they make fashion to young adults.
Originally known as ‘Fashion 21”, this 1984 American clothing shop has gained popularity worldwide with its high-quality clothing provided at affordable rates. Founded by a Korean immigrant couple, Do Won and Jin Sook Chang, this brand created employment for more than 15,000 people and was originally born in Los Angeles. Initially, the company only sold women’s clothing, but has reached its peak; Forever 21 started making clothes for adults and children.
PEAK IN THE HISTORY OF FOREVER 21
The Korean couple came to the U.S. and noticed that most people belonging to the rich strata of the society indulged themselves in the garment business. It is this realization that pushed them to start a clothing business themselves. Starting as a small fashion brand a quarter-century ago – the Korean-born Jin Sook Chang and Do Won sold small, fashionable clothing pieces and items.
Soon seeing the profits escalate, they enlarged their target audience and started making fashion pieces for girls, children, and adults. Their business grew, and they opened 10 stores even though the couple had no expertise in retailing. In 1997, they started Forever 21 in Del Amo Fashion Center mall. Soon, they leaped and started expanding their brand internationally through their online portal in 2000, and the next year turned towards setting their business online.
With the owners valued at US $ 3.1 billion as of 2016, the Changs have ensured that Forever 21 remains a private enterprise with the idea of family heritage attached to it. Do Won Chang acts as the owner and the operator of the company, while Jin Sook Chang looks into all the brand’s clothing pieces, accessories, and other merchandise.
In addition, the two daughters Linda and Esther, have been the brand’s face for a long act as the Vice President of Merchandising and Senior Marketing Director. Keeping the top positions in the family itself, the Changs ensure a smooth transition of the family legacy from the father to the daughters. This also showcases how the Changs have no desire to let go of the privately-owned company and make it public.
CORE VALUES THAT DRIVES FOREVER 21
Being a family-owned company, one of the core values that Forever 21 abides by is “to encourage giving, to lend a helping hand to those who need it most.” They have ensured that their products actually reach out to all the masses. The core value extends with the words “help the needy” and “time consciousness.” The products manufactured by Forever 21 have reached several organizations and have helped many. They have formally created the “Give to Love, Love to Give” brand, where all the proceeds will be heading towards a particular charity.
These core values are also reflected in their faith and belief in the tenets of Christianity. The brand takes forward this Christian ideology that the Changs shared. Even the shopping bags of this brand have John 3:16 printed beneath them, projecting the owners’ values. This deep religious faith and belief in God’s supreme grace that the couple had found the confidence to start on this venture.
The Changs truly believe that it is God’s will that drove turned their dream into reality. Hoping that the customers would also understand God’s love, they decided to insert the scripture beneath. The shopping bags stood for a statement of faith that they want their customers to have in the brand. Although the faith-building value has a Christian connotation in this aspect, it is definitely one of those values that help the brand prioritize its customers.
VISION OF FOREVER 21
The vision statement also includes providing a worthwhile shopping experience for the customers. With a captivating and interesting store experience that displays trendy clothes and accessories, the idea is to visually keep it appealing for the shoppers and a fun store to shop from. The statement reads, “to inspire all customers’ shopping experience by providing a captivating and exciting store environment with a never-ending flow of fun, on-trend fashion at a great value.”
The vision statement can be dissected into three parts that are as follows:
- Inspiring the shoppers
- Providing affordable yet stylish clothing range
The vision is to ensure that all the shoppers get inspired with each purchase. This essentially means that to satisfy the needs of the shoppers, the company analyses what is trending and what influencers promote and brings it to young women at the most affordable rates. Most of the ideas that they get for their designs are from the customers. Diving deeper into the customers’ minds to understand what they really wish to wear and turning each feedback into a brand-new design shows how they inspire their customers by taking some inspiration from them. It also lays out the foundation of how the brand’s vision is how to make the customers feel important.
While ensuring that they do not compromise on the style aspect of the clothing piece, Forever 21 keeps leveling itself up by making accessible fashion outfits at affordable prices for women. Young women who do not have the financial capability to buy extravagant clothes will definitely be lured to purchase from Forever 21. Even women who can stretch themselves economically for lavish outfits will want to come and go around the store and purchase trendy picks. This way, Forever 21 has well set itself in the hearts and minds of their target audience.
MISSION STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Forever 21’s statement is a clear-cut portrayal of their business mindset where catering to their client’s needs is of utmost importance to them. The Mission Statement reads, “to provide shoppers with an unprecedented selection of today’s fashions with affordable prices.” The company solely believes that their business growth and progress depend on the clients, and it is their satisfaction that catalyzes their growth.
To keep their clients satisfied and business blooming, they use a two-fold step:
- Changing the shopping experience
- Adding value to the lives of the people
All the 460 stores of Forever 21 set themselves apart by ensuring that the shopping experience is not restricted to buying and selling clothes. They offer an interactive environment where all the store employees are willing to offer help to the shoppers. The environment acts as a mood lifter for most shoppers, making them want to come back for more. The stores are dynamic and ever-changing. With new seasons, occasions, and trends – this store keeps bringing in newer varieties of clothing with an added detail to each of the pieces. This consistency in the quality of services has consistently made all the shoppers come back to Forever 21.
The element of surprise is also noteworthy when we focus on the mission statement. This element of surprise instantly touches hearts adding brownie points to their engagement with their clients. Be it constantly updating their stores with new pieces or mesmerizing the clients with that one piece that every woman immediately dreams of having in their closet – the small surprise elements are ever-present in the stores. By adding these surprising elements of color to the clients’ lives, the company gets rewarded with a further boom in business.
The other part of the Mission statement reads, to “dress young women everywhere in the latest trends.” The company ensures that they cater to young women and keep them focus while deciding the designs. All the designs are trend-setters and loved by young adults till today. Forever 21 also ensures that the designs are up to date with the latest fashion trends with the fast-paced fashion world and its constant changes. The brand has also associated itself with several young celebrities like Justin Beiber, Emma Watson, and Lady Gaga, ensuring that the brand remains a trendsetter throughout. Hence, they are “always changing and always in style.”
SUMMARISING THE REASON FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE VISION AND MISSION OF FOREVER 21
- Innovation has been their biggest friend – The Changs understood how important change is. Much more important than that is ensuring that the dead stocks do not keep repeating themselves. The popular saying ‘Get it now, or it’s gone is highly applicable when it comes to this brand. Keeping in tune with the vision, they curate unique pieces. They keep outdoing themselves by bringing out new designs each time that happens to be a trendsetter. No wonder, when you go the second time to the store, that one piece you wanted to purchase will already be sold!
- No compromise on quality and easy accessibility – Keeping in tune with the mission, the brand takes quality and accessibility both seriously. They ensure that you get clothing materials at the cheapest rates, yet worth buying. It is this value that extends the brand to create an entire market for children, pregnant ladies, men, and also young teenagers.
STRENGTHS THAT TAKE FORWARD THE VISION AND MISSION POLICIES OF THE BRAND
One of the greatest strengths of Forever 21 lies in its production model. Most of the competitors took a minimum of six months to formulate a design or get it from the big design houses and then execute and manufacture them. Forever 21 cut short this entire process and brought down the six-month-long wait to just weeks. As soon as the recent trends of the design houses are on the runaways and the young adults go gaga over them, the company’s journeyman designers instantly take note of them.
Within no time, the manufacturing starts, and the designs go up on the shelves even before the originals come out. The brand has always proven that they are welcoming to changes. They had taken to the internet in the early 21st century, analyzing it well in the coming boom of the digital world. Most of their sales are now generated via their online store. Even in this pandemic, the store continues to get regular customers due to its establishment right from the start.
Forever 21 continues to take forward its vision and mission ideologies online in this technologically advanced world, from developing its own app to constantly updating the website. The section of feedback that has a scale ranging from “not my style” to “I like it” has allowed the team to dive deeper into the customers’ needs.
INFERENCE
The common notion surrounds the idea that the fast-fashion pieces will be thrown away and not statement ones that you can keep in the closet. This thought process revolves around the idea of ‘use and throw.’ Forever 21 hits exactly at this pain point of the shoppers. The brand clearly aims at doing high-fashion fast. This means that you will not be throwing away their quality pieces and instead re-wearing them.
The brand has successfully challenged top-notch design companies by designing and manufacturing the trendiest fashion at great speed. Being a customer-savvy fast-fashion brand, Forever 21 has become one of the biggest fashion brands that the world has known and become the American Dream that the Changs had always looked forward to.
