December 2007 Archives
11:07 a.m.
Live by the sword, die by the sword:
Souring economy causes luxury items to lose luster
"While few analysts see the ultra-rich trimming their spending dramatically, there is concern that middle-class shoppers, who helped create the boom in high-end brands from Gucci to Burberry, might be cutting back as skyrocketing gas prices and the declining housing market continue to eat away at consumers' discretionary spending."
Over the years, I've read countless op-eds bemoaning the "democratization" of luxury brands (i.e. watering down the quality to gain quantity sales from the expanding middle market buyers), but the luxury corporations made a determined push for the mass market, ringing up massive profits in the process.
In 2004, Luxury retail sales were up over 9.6% while the overall retail market registered just under 4% in growth, but middle class shoppers are fair-weather friends: when times are good, their wallets are open; when the economy slows, all that new merchandise collects dust on the store shelves and corporate profits evaporate.
"This season's sluggish consumer spending means retailers in Southern California are going to unheard-of lengths to make the hassle worth our while. Suddenly, super-deep storewide sales -- 50% to 70% off -- have become as common as Pinkberry outposts, encompassing every tier of retail, from Old Navy to Gucci."
There's the argument that luxury retailers have a client base that is less dependent upon the vagaries of a shifting economy, but the rapid and dramatic expansion of the Luxury Retail presence worldwide might just turn out to be its own Achilles Heel -- now that the once independent, family-owned luxury manufacturers have mostly been snapped up by huge corporations such as LVMH and PPR, has luxury retail lost its immunity to economic downturns?
1:32 p.m.
Somewhere, someone in a record company executive's office decided it would be a bang-up idea to get Bing Crosby and David Bowie together for a Christmas special. Below is their somewhat stiff rendition of one of the holiday classics:
Methinks they both could have used just a bit more spike in the eggnog, but it still sounds like Christmas to me.
Below is some holiday cheer that's a bit less reserved:
11:45 a.m.
Karl Lagerfeld has declared jazz singer turned drug-horse Amy Winehouse the new Brigitte Bardot:
"She is a beautiful, gifted artist. And I very much like her hairdo. I took it as an inspiration. Because, in fact, it was also Brigitte Bardot's hairdo in the late '50s and '60s. And now Amy has made it her own style. So, when I saw her, I knew it was the right moment. Amy... she is the new Brigitte."
To be frank, I'd say she's more like the new Lagerfeld:
That's two kinds of scary, that's what that is!
But you have to give Lagerfeld props for recognizing a papparazzi magnet and potential cash-generating walking controversy when he sees one. Current Lagerfeld "muse" and Chanel mannequin Irina Lazareanu (a Canadian model and self-described musician), pretty and witty and night-life ready, has been unable to achieve name recognition outside of the hippest fashion circles in New York and London, try though she might, yet what a global fashion brand craves is enough real public spectacle to keep its name on your lips and its designs on your back.
Enter, Ms. Winehouse:
"With a string of problems including drug addiction, bulimia and a jailed hubby, troubled Amy Winehouse looks like a walking disaster zone. Unless, of course, you're in the fashion industry."
Lagerfeld is no fool. Winehouse is internationally famous, recent winner of 6 Grammies and trailed by a constant entourage of photographers following her every move in hopes of catching that next messy meltdown for tomorrow's front page. Should the latest Chanel bag be featured slung over her shoulder as she stumbles the streets in an alcohol-fueled, line-snorting daze, all the better.
Our good friend Karl eats muses for lunch, so I hope Winehouse takes advantage of his attention while it lasts. Note to Amy: When Lagerfeld starts gifting his K line rather than sending 'round the good stuff, you'll know he's found his new inspiration.
Below is a quick vid of Winehouse loading up on-stage:
10:19 p.m.
So I ran across the Catriona MacKechnie website the other day and thought, "Hey, I know someone who would really groove on this!" -- so I emailed Louise a link. She promptly forwarded the link to several friends of hers, resulting in 3 or more sales in one day.
Damn. I should get a commission!
But you should check the website out -- it's a new online entry into women's Intimate Apparel, and it has kickass swimsuits, as well. Located in the old meatpacking district of New York City. Louise said they have a great return policy, and terrific shipping.
4:43 p.m.
British designer Matthew Williamson is celebrating his ten year anniversary in the fashion world with a retrospective of his work at the Design Museum in London. Only graduating from design school in 1997, he's already nabbed a head-design position at top fashion house Pucci while also running his own namesake label, a feat that used to take decades or more for designers to manage.
You can see a brief review, with a few photos, of the Williamson show at the Design Museum here.
With the rise of fashion conglomerates like LVMH and PPR, young designers with a sharp eye for trends get snatched up quickly to revitalize moribund houses that have the necessary name for global expansion, but aren't yet turning out the right products to reach that all-important international consumer.
Pucci was a classic example of a once great design house that lost its ability to keep up with modern trends. Acquired by LVMH in 2000, it's since experienced a serious turn-around in profile and profitability, first with Christian Lacroix at the helm, and now Matthew Williamson. Williamson's clean, sometimes minimalist approach dove-tails nicely with Pucci's archive of graphic prints and slim silhouettes, though Williamson does occasionally break out the unexpected frilly flourish or showy embellishment.
"I would describe the Matthew Williamson woman as being effortless, bohemian, feminine and in love with rich colour, texture and pattern. Whereas the Pucci woman doesn't have time to mess about. I think of her as speedy, she's not interested in fuss, she's high-maintenance, quite powerful and vivacious. I always think of the Matthew customer as having flat shoes and the Pucci woman wearing high heels, but essentially, they have the same DNA of colour and print." -- Matthew Williamson, November 14th, 2007
There's some concern that Williamson's work with Pucci too closely resembles the work he does for his eponymous label, which could result in a cannibalizing of customers from both sides -- but there's always another hot-shot young designer in the wings and a company as attuned to the word on the street as LVMH is not about to watch any of its bottom lines suffer. Besides, Williamson can always be liberated to work more closely with the line that bears his name, and it's not like Pucci hasn't seen head designers come and go before.
Emilio Pucci, Spring/Summer 2008:
Matthew Williamson, Spring/Summer 2008:
5:27 p.m.
China's red-hot economy is most often featured front and center in U.S. news reports, but the expansion of the Indian economy has not gone unnoticed by the giant fashion conglomerates. Earlier this year, LVMH purchased a 20% stake in Indian leather works company Hidesign, which is now expanding its focus on luxury leather handbags and developing a line of leather footwear.
Hidesign plans to cash in on its fashion status, eyes footwear
"Hidesign plans to open nine more stores in India by March, taking its total number of stores in the country to 48; it also has 15 stores in the US, South Africa, Russia and China. Kapur said the company plans to add 10-15 stores in overseas locations every year. The expansion will be funded from internal resources and the money invested by LVMH, said Kapur."
Hidesign's product line isn't particularly dazzling at this point in time, but LVMH has plans to change all that. A seriously revamped website wouldn't be a bad place to start, but perhaps that's not a top priority.
"Don't hate us because we're not European."
The infusion of cash from LVMH will enable Hidesign to widen its global appeal by expanding its product line, not to mention scaling up its offerings to compete with already established European fashion houses. Louis Vuitton trendy style and a higher quality of craftsmanship means they can start charging Louis Vuitton prices, and LVMH is all about the high prices.
"According to Kapur, the company is using the expertise of LVMH, which has a 20% stake in Hidesign, to chart its journey towards becoming a fashion brand. Hidesign's employees are being trained at the offices of the French luxury brand, one of the best known in the world."
Now that LVMH has established a presence on the Indian continent, there's speculation that their intent is to export Indian designs and prints to the rest of the world, rather than transforming Indian tastes to accommodate Western fashion. While fashion houses Prada and Gucci have set up manufacturing centers in Vietnam, LVMH is betting that India is the place to be, with its rapidly modernizing economy, growing affluence and increasingly educated population from which to draw workers.
A taste of contemporary Indian fashion below:
11:07 a.m.
David Beckham has had his ups and downs since moving to the states, but initial football/soccer woes and Victoria's failed TV bid aside, he just recently inked a three year, $20 million dollar deal to be the public face for Georgio Armani -- not a bad first step for a world-famous athlete with his eye on the Hollywood prize.
The first of the high-profile ads will make its debut in February, though images are already circulating like wildfire around the internet, and international tabloids are predictably atwitter at the full-frontal campaign.
If Armani wanted buzz, they got it. Just take a gander at the articles dishing about Beckham's carefully arranged and, er, enhanced photo:
1. David Beckham shows off Golden-bulge in Armani ad
2. David Beckham's Risqué Ad for Armani
3. Becks' Big Package
4. David Beckham In Controversial Armani Pants Ad
5. David Beckham Flashes Golden Balls For Emporio Armani
6. Bare It Like Beckham
And so on.
The number of press and Internet blog mentions is piling up by the minute, and this is only the very first shot across the bow in the Armani Beckham campaign. It's starting to look like this is twenty million dollars wisely spent on Armani's part, and every single other design house must be kicking themselves silly for not snatching up Beckham first.
This will probably go down as the new millennium's answer to Marky Mark in his Calvins, and if Beckham is really serious about wanting a Hollywood movie career, there are worse ideas than following in Mark Wahlberg's trouser-shedding footsteps:
11:51 p.m.
I just ran across these YSL wedge-heeled sandals for Spring 2008, and I think they pretty much encapsulate, in one effortless swoop, what I find so fascinating about the upcoming collections:
"Close your mouth, ma'am -- no one likes a drooling gawker."
The muted pastel of the new Verde hue, the cork wedge with the wash of color slathered indelicately just under the leather foot bed -- the casual artiness of it all is a total knock-out punch.
Yves St. Laurent has been struggling to regain its once vaunted spot in the fashion world ever since Tom Ford came and went, so it's encouraging to see Ford's successor, Stefano Pilati, producing items that hearken back to YSL's classic, feminine origins while yet embracing today's emotional minimalism.
The wedges are also offered in black as a kind of no-brainer option, but it's apparent that in Verde is how this shoe was really made to present.
Stefano Pilati quote: "The biggest mistake you can make when dressing is to pretend you're someone else. Proportions are everything. Don't wear jackets with big shoulders if your shoulders are small. Don't dress like a kid if you are old. Clothing should be a representation of a body, not a distortion of it. That said, I love women in men's clothing."
I feel like, with Spring 2008, I'm witnessing a new generation of designers come into their own. Yes, you can play spot the influences, but what's intriguing is witnessing the preceding decades compressed and cobbled together to result in unique compositions that stand on their own.
9:45 p.m.
I know, I know -- I keep beating that "The 80's are Back!" drum, but really, they are!
Swatch and Tiffany Ink Strategic Alliance
"Under the agreements, Swatch Group will create a Swiss-based watch-making company, authorized to use Tiffany's trademarks . . . Swatch has made clear it will produce a full line of Tiffany & Co. watches, all made in Switzerland. Many of the watch designs for which Tiffany is noted will be continued and new designs will be added."
Brian and I were talking the other day about how it's just about time for Swatch to make a reappearance, and voila! What a reappearance! For those of us who remember Swatch watches from the 80's, it seems like an unlikely alliance, but the Swatch company raked in so much cash from its original venture that it ran around buying up smaller, boutique watch companies like a teenage girl set loose in Hot Topic.
"Swatch Group is the world's largest producer of watches and jewelry, with 2006 sales of over 5 billion Swiss francs, or 3.85 billion US dollars. Its stable of brands, which includes Breguet, Blancpain, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Pierre Balmain, Certina, Swatch, Flik Flak and Endura, is produced in some160 production centers, located in Switzerland . . . 'Tiffany & Co. is a true luxury brand with a long-standing heritage in watches. The two companies will collaborate on design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and service,' added Nick Hayek Jr., CEO and President of Swatch Group's management board."
I, for one, can't wait to see what they come out with -- a Tiffany Swatch? Japanese schoolgirls will swoon!
11:19 a.m.
There's an article in this morning's Wall Street Journal (Why Is This Man Still Fashionable?) about the continued, and even accelerating, success of fashion designer Oscar de la Renta. With many of his contemporaries exiting the fashion stage and/or selling controlling interest in their eponymous lines to huge conglomerates such as LVMH or PPR, Oscar de la Renta is a rare fashion-business anomaly, keeping design duties in-house and controlling interests in-family.
Just one and a half years ago, de la Renta's clothing was selling at only seven chain retailers worldwide with just another seven free-standing boutiques of his own. Today, Oscar de la Renta is offered at over 45 chain retailers around the world, and there are plans to bump boutique locations up to twelve in 2008 as the company rakes in over $750 million in annual retail sales with seemingly plenty of room to grow.
Asked to what he believes his current success can be attributed, he answers that "probably it has to do with the fact that I seriously address today a consumer who loves clothes . . . I have always done very feminine clothes, so this is my time, the time for women to really be proud to be women . . . Today a woman knows that putting on lipstick, looking great, putting on a beautiful dress, is wonderful. She can express who she is, in a much stronger way, exercising a sense of femininity."
Below is the video of Oscar de la Renta's Fall/Winter 2007/2008 Ready to Wear collection:
Part of the interview dealt with several political First Ladies' penchants (Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush) for dressing in de la Renta, with Oscar expressing his wish that Hillary Clinton would wear strapless gowns -- "She has great shoulders," he says.
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