Japanese consumers are changing their buying habits, ditching the Louis Vuitton for the Gap:
“Many fashion experts say the rise of what are often termed ‘recession brands’ reflects a longer-term shift in fashion preferences among the Japanese . . . And nowhere is that change more apparent than in Tokyo’s Ginza district, once a magnet for luxury stores . . . long snaking lines formed in the posh shopping district when Sweden’s H&M … opened its first store in 2008 and Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. expanded its Uniqlo store by occupying the space left by U.S. retailer Brooks Brothers. Speculation is rife that Los Angeles-based Forever 21 will open its first store in Ginza in a space formerly occupied by Gucci, while Gap Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, is also scheduled to move in where Louis Vuitton withdrew.”
When I visited Tokyo in 2006, Ginza was still a high-end shopping mecca, though it was starting to lose its cachet to the newer, and tonier, Omotesando district where shoppers lined up for hours for the privilege of browsing through Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Hermes boutiques. Now, it looks like Ginza has dropped its high-end ambitions entirely and traded down for more affordable, yet still style-conscious, brands.
I think I blame Karl Lagerfeld: “The concept of the affluent shopping only for high end items has been undermined by high/low offerings that have linked star designers with main-street brands. Karl Lagerfeld’s 2004 collection for H&M opened the floodgates to designer collaborations that have led consumers to believe they have a right to buy high fashion at low prices.”
Lagerfeld for H&M — 2004
In other Trading-Down in Japan news, Abercrombie & Fitch Reports a Record Opening Day in Ginza — Abercrombie & Fitch opened its first Asian flagship store on December 15th in the Ginza district of Tokyo, drawing a huge crowd of eager consumers, as well as a police presence to keep everything under control: “‘Ginza is a great place to broadcast to the rest of Asia,’ said David Marx, a freelance writer and fashion market analyst in Tokyo. ‘A&F could use the store as a way to tell Chinese customers and other Asian customers about the brand in the luxury context.’”
A video clip below of the Tokyo A&F scene, with shirtless male models to entice the female Japanese shopper:
A&F is at the higher-end of the fast fashion price range
In even pricier Trading-Down news, American sportswear brand Tory Burch expands to Japan, opening a flagship boutique in, you guessed it, Ginza! — “Tory Burch has just opened her first free-standing boutique in Japan this week, located in the Ginza district of Tokyo. The flagship store … (features) the entire collection of Tory Burch goods including complete collections of ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags, small leather goods and accessories. The boutique will have its official grand opening celebration later this month, but right now the store is open to shoppers.”
And yes, the Burch collections will run you more than an afternoon spree at Banana Republic, but the Tory Burch brand is decidely less spendy, and definitely less glitzy, than, say, Gucci or Yves St. Laurent, so the opening of a Tory Burch boutique in Ginza seems to underscore the rise of fashion’s new breed of understated hip.
With consumer tastes shifting toward more classic, affordable and easily wearable brands/designs, it’s no surprise, then, that been-around-forever Pendleton Mills finds itself at the forefront of the new fashion wave with their “American heritage” prints: Pendleton Woolen Mills blanketing the runways — “Pendleton, one of the nation’s oldest operating mills, has partnered in recent years with Nike ACG, Adidas and Vans. Yet in 2009, much smaller and more upscale fashion brands came calling, including Opening Ceremony and Comme des Garçons, a Japanese label that snips and sews patches of corduroy, canvas or leather onto Pendleton shirts that sell in Paris for $1,600. “
The Wall Street Journal published an article in October of this year regarding the resurgence of American Heritage in the fashion industry: “The “varsity, preppy, geek” look” is “the one bright spot in men’s clothing today,” says Christian Boehm, director of merchandise for custom clothier Tom James Co., noting that “with the young kids, ties are cool again.” He cites the Jonas Brothers, Zac Efron, and Robert Pattinson, star of the movie “Twilight,” as major influencers. “Now the dads are picking up on it,” Mr. Boehm adds.”
No kidding — you can’t swing a cat these days without hitting someone dressed in at least one item of plaid, thanks to the styling vampire clans of Twilight, yet considering the hundreds of millions of dollars the Twilight movies have generated worldwide, the havoc this less than sophisticated teen-lit series has wreaked upon the entire industry is one of fashion’s biggest untold stories of the last two years.
Re: Pendleton, a video clip below of the Pendleton + Opening Ceremony collaboration, incorporating the navajo and plaid prints for which Pendleton was famous (and now famous again):
“Plaid . . . it’s not just for vampires!”
Oh, and let’s not forget the current mania for the peacoat. It’s so everywhere that I get a good dose of retro-80′s whiplash every twenty paces. We can thank Twilight for that, too.
Robert Pattinson in the peacoat heard ’round the world
Admittedly, the influenc
e of the Twilight series on the fashion industry isn’t as much an untold story as it is unspoken agreement: Twilight will pull in gobs of money, and for its part, the fashion industry will flog everything about that bandwagon (and its stars) that it can: Twilight’s Fashion Invasion Reaches Calvin Klein, Vogue — “The power of Twilight did not escape the notice of the fashion media, which also fell on incredibly hard times in 2009. Desperate to recover and, like too many of us, unable to ignore the psychodom of the Twilight empire any longer, fashion editors let loose their fangs and sank them into the vulnerable horde of teens and their parents.”
***Note: Taylor Lautner, another Twilight cast member, is being considered as the new face for Armani Exchange, the teen (and wallet) friendly lineup in the Armani family. Expect more to come, with female star Kristen Stewart likely to follow Harry Potter star Emma Watson into the cool glare of high-fashion fame (Watson has been photographed by Karl Lagerfeld and is Brit luxury brand Burberry’s latest face).
But I can’t fully equate the Twilight plaids with the rising popularity of American Heritage style in Japan, as the original Twilight movie grossed only a paltry $2.5 million in Japanese theaters (compared to the $86 million raked in by the second Matrix film) — so I think we’ll just have to call them “converging” trends. You know, like when a movie just happens to tap into an existing cultural zietgeist rather than instigating the zeitgeist in the first place.
Because I think I can safely say that the global recession is the existing cultural zeitgeist behind Japan’s present love affair with Trading Down.
And along those recessionary, zeitgeist lines, high and heritage brands are seeking out associations beyond just Pendleton and its Parisian fans, such as Vivienne Westwood and Lee Jeans, not to mention Hermes head designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s embrace of the formerly blue-collar Levi’s denim for his namesake brand’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection for men: “The French designer, a loyal Levi’s jeans wearer, interpreted the signature Levi’s denim styles with his free and iconoclastic touch for Paris Fashion Week. ‘Levi’s is the American Dream, it’s a myth, it is the original jeans. It was a joy to work on my versions of the 501,’ said Jean-Paul Gaultier.”
Levi’s just might possibly be the one brand that doesn’t need Twilight to keep it afloat.
***Last words: in light of the success of the Twilight franchise, I’m wondering if the Nina Ricci people (plus Puig) are reconsidering their animosity regarding the alleged perfume bottle rip-off — after all, Twilight is currently far more famous worldwide than the Ricci name, which might only help sales of the Ricci perfume rather than harm it . . . ?
I can’t find any further information about this particular lawsuit, so I don’t know if it’s still continuing or if the companies settled already. Usually, a lack of continuing information means one of two things: 1.) the original complainant dropped the suit because it wasn’t worth the expense of further litigation, or 2) the companies involved settled the matter with the mutual agreement not to speak about it again.
Call me crazy, but I’m guessing it’s option #2.
