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Is it time the institutions peddling fashion’s next generation followed suit to address what’s not working?

This is just a part of a sentence and I am confused with the sentence structure. Can somebody parse this as "who does what" since this will be very clear to me?

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  • 1
    [the institutions peddling fashion’s next generation] -> is it time they followed suit to address what's not working?
    – Othya
    Aug 10, 2016 at 16:06
  • 1
    Is it time the institutions followed suit? Which institution? The ones peddling fashion’s next generation. Why should they follow suit? To address what’s not working.
    – Jim
    Aug 10, 2016 at 16:06
  • Sure. Why aren't people buying what we're selling (clothes)?
    – Elliott Frisch
    Aug 10, 2016 at 16:22
  • It's simply saying the fashion industry needs to look over the products their selling to see what is not being sold enough. In other words, what are they doing wrong that they can improve upon.
    – Roy C.
    Aug 10, 2016 at 16:36
  • 2
    There are five different clauses in this sentence, so it's not surprising that it doesn't fall apart immediately.
    – John Lawler
    Aug 10, 2016 at 18:50

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Here's your original sentence:

Is it time the institutions peddling fashion's next generation followed suit to address what's not working?

First, take a look at this sentence:

I say it's time we got the hell of here! Or else we're gonna get killed by that angry mob!

The pattern that's used in this example is as follows:

It is time I/you/we did something.

This type of phrasing is employed when you want to say that it would be a rather good or very reasonable idea to do something.

So, here's my interpretation of your sentence:

Is it time that the institutions (organizations that sell clothes, clothing manufacturers etc.) that are peddling fashion's next generation (promoting the next generation of fashionable clothes) followed suit (did the same thing as, I presume, companies, firms etc. in other industries are doing) to address what's not working (it would be a good idea if they started asking questing about what is wrong with this new generation of things to wear)?

Without the parenthetical stuff:

Is it time that the institutions that are peddling fashion's next generation followed suit to address what's not working?

Is it time that the institutions...
What institutions?
The institutions that are peddling fashion's next generation.
Is it time that they did what?
It is time that they followed suit.
For what reason?
To address what is not working.

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