Dualité

Isn’t it a little early to announce yet another designer collaboration with H&M? I mean didn’t they want Rei Kawakubo to bask in the glory of her collection? It seems like the announcement of Matthew Williamson coming onboard for a Summer collection seems to sort of eclipse or steal her thunder. Her collection did go on sale only a couple of weeks ago. Btw, there are still some pieces left at the downtown Montreal location if you’re still vying for a piece.

Not to say I’m not excited for Williamson, in fact, I’m very thrilled to learn this news. I’ve been watching his collections for a couple of seasons now, and what I love about this British designer is his mosaics of color in his work. Not to say all of his clothes are great, but I certainly think his attention to detail and color coordination are to be admired. I’ve been eyeing this royal purple (blue?) cashmere sweater on Net-a-porter since the fall, but can’t find a good reason to spend over $1000 to acquire it. I’ve also been fancying his rainbow colored Chapelle weave coat. I would certainly wear it on bright occasions and the colors make me smile. But because he works with such detail, most of his pieces run far over $1000, hardly affordable to collect.

I see him as a spring/summer designer anyway, vivid colors always make me think of warmer days. So I definitely expect to see an array of colorful silk dresses, and hopefully a few embroidered pieces.

Williamson’s collection will arrive at H&M stores on April 23rd, 2009. Though Williamson may gain a few more fans of his work, they will have to save all their pennies to purchase one his regular pieces, and in this economic slump, they will certainly be a hard sell.

Image credits: Style.com

Whatever accolades Ms. Kawakubo has garnered over the last 20 years, the word “deconstructive” is what has been chosen to describe her approach to fashion design. It is indeed an approach that the few and eclectic seem to appreciate.

But let’s be frank. Comme des Garcons is a label for the eclectic, for those want something different and who don’t follow any trend in fashion. H&M is a brand that sells fashionable clothing. The kind that women stand in line for up to an hour to try on 10 different outfits and walk away with 8. H&M sells it fast and cheap and always on trend.

So, it has been puzzling to many fashion writers as to what has pushed Kawakubo to agree (or even H&M to pursue) to create a collection for the masses. There hasn’t really been a distinctive answer. But I think most of us have felt skeptical as to what would be the end result.

Wait no further. You don’t have to wait until Nov. 13th to see the collection in stores. You can preview the entire collection online at H&M official website. There you will see the complete men, women and accessory collection of Rei Kawakubo’s line. A collection made mostly of black apparel with a sprinkle of polka dots here and there. There are a couple of winners such as the trench coat or jodhpur-like pants (if one can pull it off). But there are some very questionable pieces such as the half finished blazer that looks normal on one side but looks like it’s missing a piece on the other side. I’m not too keen on the dropped crotched trousers either, and don’t care much for the polka dots.

The men’s end look a little more reasonable and might score better for the men this time around. Loose fittings with somewhat structured jackets (how come these don’t have the missing pieces?).

The accessories are nothing to be too excited about either, the shoes look like regular black and white Keds and polka dot high tops.

Is it a winner?

I’m trying to like it. But if I have to force myself to like a collection…I don’t think it’s worth it. I just don’t get it. But we’ll see soon enough how sales and crowds will react to this. Let’s not also forget that putting out somewhat pricey pieces at H&M in this economic slump doesn’t bode well for the company or the designer.

Image credit: H&M

Have you ever wondered why clothes go on sale? Sure, it’s to make room for the new stock, and when people aren’t buying at full price, retailers will slash it until they can slash no more.

But if you can get a “$500″ dress at a mark down price of $230, somewhere down the line, retailers are still making a profit from that $230 price tag, albeit a smaller one. So it goes into question, what exactly is the real price of that “$500″ dress? I came to this question as I was browsing the Forever 21 site, the US counterpart of an H&M fast fashion chain. There, hundreds of items are listed one by one, each sporting a cheap price tag. But as I further analyzed…what makes this tunic cheaper or more expensive than the one next to it? Who makes these prices and why are they so varied?

If you’ve read Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. Some luxury bags are made with $250 worth of materials, yet are marked up to $1200 on the retailing floor. Of course, you’ll need a profit margin to pay for your laborers, distributors, rent, etc. But I mean, we’re talking about selling at more than four times the production costs.

Taking an example of Forever 21, they do the same, they mark it up “dirt cheap” to our eyes, at $20-$30 a garment, and can slash it as low as $14-$15 on sale. That means the piece is probably worth a mere $5 in production cost, copied and reproduced by the thousands. Wholesale is of course, always cheaper than retail pricing. You buy in bulk, you sell for more. This is really unsurprising, I suppose most consumers know this and don’t really care. This is how business has to be conducted right? To earn a profit, to earn a living.

I believe there are 3 factors that determine the price of a garment:

1. Branding
2. Emotional attachment (labour of love)
3. Production cost

Branding is an obvious factor that plays a huge role on consumer choices, why choose the Brita water filter instead of Evian’s bottled water?

Emotional attachment is connected to the designer’s love for a certain piece. Surely a more complex, hand embroidered, hand dyed dress, with a gazillion of embellishments will fetch a higher pricing. The more time a designer spends on it or loves the piece, the higher the pricing. I mean local Montreal designer Helmer made a dress out of toilet paper fabric and it was worth around $12,000, and we very well know that you can get a six pack of toilees for $7-$8 at the grocery store.

Production cost is obvious. Labourers of fabric usually get the short end of it as they have to sell the fabrics cheap for designers to buy them in larger quantities. More specialized houses will create unique more expensive fabrics, but in general, you won’t ever find the price of a garment equal to the cost of its materials.

As a consumer, the question remains the same: do you believe what you’re buying is worth it? This comes down to personal knowledge and taste. Some people are fine with Payless and others find that spending $585 for a pair of Christian Louboutin is highly justified (I am one of those people, and I own Payless shoes).

The truth is, there are clearly no right or wrong answers when it comes to determining the value of clothes (or any other product for that matter). It all depends on how influenced you are, how much money you’re willing to spend and if you feel any emotional connection to what you’re buying. I say if you love fast fashion, knock yourself out. Buy 100 outfits. Just pray you have a big enough closet to fit all of it in. For those of you who can’t live without the luxury of fine fabric, with $1800 Pringle of Scotland sweaters and $5000 corset dresses from Alexandre McQueen, enjoy it. Just make sure you really want it.

With all this buzz of fast fashion stores, I might as well touch upon two retail giants who have yet to make a landmark in Canada that could give H&M and American Apparel a run for their money.

TopShop (UK)

No, not the crappy little store in Montreal Trust that bears the same name, I’ve been to that place twice and their clothes and shopping experience wouldn’t be quite as near as I would expect for a Kate Moss famed store. This UK retailer is owned by Arcadia Group, TopShop along with TopMan are a British sensation with nearly 3000 stores, of which 420 of them are found in 30 countries. So why is it taking them so long to come to Canada?

Last year they’ve announced that their first American flagship store will be located none other than in New York City. A 40,000 sq.ft. behemoth on Broadway will open Fall 2008, making our new H&M flagship look impossibly small at 15,000 sq.ft. The birth of a TopShop flagship store in Montreal might mean the end of Le Chateau as they seem to operate in the same fast fashion styles. While Le Chateau is doing relatively well for itself earning over $240 millions in sales in 2006, its revenue is minute compared to Arcadia’s overall $3.7 billion revenue (even split into 9 brands, one brand would still dwarf our Canadian counterpart).

TopShop would probably be the last of the European giants rounding out St-Catherine, it wouldn’t be surprising that they would have to displace other businesses in order to make room for a TopShop like H&M did with their flagship.

Uniqlo (Japan)

Though H&M may be drawing some attention to Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo this fall, I ultimately believe the public will go for a more sensible Japanese fashion brand such as Uniqlo to make competition with American Apparel. Good quality office wear of chinos, button down shirts, long sleeve tees, and plain collared polos, Uniqlo is affordable comfort.

Though Uniqlo had 3 New Jersey stores a few years ago, the stores performed well below expectations and staggered in sales. Issuing a redirection, Uniqlo opened its flagship store in New York and closed the 3 New Jersey locations as to better reposition themselves on the market.

Uniqlo may not be as trendy as H&M or Top Shop, however they do tap into the market of shoppers who want to look put together without being over the top with casual wear that’s not Wal-Mart. It’s also a bonus that the New York flagship also carries Japanese yukata (summer kimono) for a cheap $40 during Spring, something that some consumers find fun and endearing. As Montrealers appreciate Japanese culture more and more, a yukata corner at Uniqlo would probably perform very well in Montreal as per my observations at this year’s Matsuri Japan festival at the Old Port. Long line ups snaked along the yukata rental booth, and many came owning their very own. At $40, it’s an affordable and fun investment.

Since a good friend of mine has been physically and mentally preparing herself for the big opening of the H&M flagship store downtown, I thought I’d pass by to give her a moral boost. Obviously, I wasn’t in for the hot cheap deals, mainly because the store was packed like a hot club on a Saturday night.

A DJ booth was set up near the escalators on the entrance floor. A sea of shoppers bubbled left and right, not an inch was spared of retail space. Surprisingly, the clothes are still holding togethers as H&M sales associates continually return clothes other shoppers didn’t want and refolding any misplaced tshirt. It was a cacophony of endless chatter and music.

I scanned the first floor for my friend. This collection is the most fashion forward and most suitable for office wear. I made my way onto the second floor where you can tell the more trendy (and disposable) fashions were grouped together. 20-30 girls lined up to try on their goods, some trying to return some items to sales clerks as they passed by with armloads of clothes to restock.

I see my friend pass by and poke her. She appeared more calm than I had anticipated (H&M has a knack of picking very special people to work their sales floor), and had a brief chat with her.

“It’s been insane since early this morning. I think there were like 500 people waiting outside to get in,” she said. When asked about how the staff was handling the onslaught of customers she replied that they were “on edge” as it appears many customers are ill-mannered, leaving food, drinks, trash all over the store (who does that?? Ill-mannered indeed!), trying everyone’s patience. Usually H&M staffers are bold with their opinions and don’t put up with client shinanigans. Still, from my observations, staffers had it together. We’re momentarily interrupted when a female customer holds up a blue long sleeved tee asking if there are any more in size 6. “If you don’t see anything back there where you got it, we’re sold out,” my friend answered politely. Sold out? On opening day? H&M must love that.

Respecting The Swedes

You would think a retail clerk doesn’t know much about that specific style of sweater and color, or the section it came from and would probably want to shoo away pesky customers on a busy day like this…but you’re wrong. After hearing about the kind of training H&M staffers receive, these little helpers are bonafide fashion gurus. I can safely say that my friend knows more about fashion style and trends than I do. Of course, I can’t say much on exactly how H&M functions within their business, but after hearing hours of what my friend has done over her training, I can safely say that working at H&M is nothing like working in regular fashion retail. And it is because of this fantastic business method that they’ve convinced me that they have set the bar in retail organization and service (among other things).

Other retailers should quake in their booties

St-Catherine looked more crowded than usual, and the beautiful day encouraged loads of shoppers to take to the street to shop. H&M bags are everywhere. I took a glance at Guess, located across the street from H&M and I could see in one of the sales associates’ eyes that she was longing to be on the other side, wanting a piece of that Swedish dream. The store was comparatively empty next to their neighbors. I mean, nobody would line up to shop at Guess.

In essence, H&M is magic. They cooked up the perfect storm, and it has Montreal fans raging. Recession? H&M. Plenty of money? H&M. It’s a win-win situation.

Image credit: The Gazette

H&M can now be dubbed as Hu-Mongous, according to The Gazette, it will be 15,000 sq.ft of space. The Grand Opening starts at noon and the first 250 shoppers will get a gift card worth $10 to $200, and each customer who purchases on opening day will get a special gift.

I gotta hand it to them, corporately, they know how to make business. Attracting fashionable clothes at cheap prices, smack in the middle of downtown (will Simons feel the heat of competition?), and enticing shoppers by giving them armloads of freebies. It’s a lethal combo, how can any mass consumer resist?

H&M workers f33r the crowd.

Come November my lovelies, nobody will be safe.

For some reason I get the feeling the 2nd H&M store on St-Catherine West is gonna suffer. But then again, I could be wrong.

P.S. I’ll probably hang out on the street to take pictures, but I stand by my choice, I refuse to buy.

A friend of mind just landed a job at mega Swedish company H&M, training for the eventual opening of the new flagship store on corner St-Catherine and Peel. She also informed that there will be a second H&M store opening on St-Catherine East near (or replacing?) the Futureshop store. This store will hold the “young and funky” collections while as the flagship store will hold the more “mature” collections, assuming of course this is where the Rei Kawakubo collection will land in November 2008. With all the rage of H&M, I can only pray for her to keep her sanity during these first new months.

Some good news for men, there will be a new store for casual men’s sportswear at the Rockland Centre opening August 2008. The brand, Report Collection, has been established since 1999 and has been successful in establishing their brand in North America as well as Europe and parts of Asia. From the looks of it, Report Collection leans more towards the sophiscated sportswear line, not exactly your next Champions, or Foot Locker type of athletic sportswear.

Another new store that opened at the Rockland Centre is This & That Axesoir which introduces a new concept in accessorizing thy self. Slick with charcoal slate countertops, you’ll find neutral and natural colored jewelry as well as a selection of clothes to choose from. A 100% Canadian brand.

Frankly, I can’t think of a better mall to shop in, I love the Rockland Centre, new stores are always popping up, the food is great, the mall is clean and slick, there’s free parking and it’s not too crowded. Though I haven’t been able to set foot in many new stores as of late due to a busy schedule, the development of new stores in Montreal is encouraging.

I have no idea if I’ll ever find the occasion to wear such a dress, but I will. These dresses are beyond gorgeous. Images and designs belong to Andy The Anh from his upcoming Fall 2008 campaign.

Hello everybody,

I apologize if there were any lack of updates as of late, my personal life has been kinda taking over my free time as I’m in the midst of moving, I have a performance to prepare for and a trip to plan for.

Concerning Montreal fashion, I haven’t had much time to consume and divulge much on that front, for that I apologize.

However I am going on a trip to Japan in a couple of weeks, so be rest assured that I’ll be reporting on Japanese fashion from abroad I’ve also read much about the glittering glass flagship stores sparkling in the Ginza district like pretty jewels, so loads of photos to come.

Afterwards I’m going to Sin City aka Las Vegas for kicks and maybe if there’s time to rent a car, make a trip to Desert Hills Outlet designer discount store (as per mentioned in Dana Thomas’ “Deluxe”).

It’ll be a bit difficult to keep things Montreal-centric as I’ll be traveling around quite a bit this year. But here’s a recap on what will be happening in terms of store openings:

• H&M flagship store on St-Catherine, the construction tarp is drapped across the building already right across the HMV store. Opens Fall 2008
• 
  TNT (The New Trend) on Westmount Square – Toronto-based trendy designer store. NOW OPEN! Check out their official site blog to see pictures galore of the new site.
• Agent Provocateur - Location TBD. UK import’s sexy lingerie line arrives in Montreal in late 2008.

The biggest upcoming fashion event will be happening during the Grand Prix celebration, for the Montreal Fashion & Design Festival from June 4th to the 8th, 2008. Showcasing at least 50 labels in a free, open-air catwalk fiesta with free goodies, bar terrasses, music, and street entertainments.

Shopping Events

Of course, Montreal is famous for it’s St-Laurent sidewalk sales which happens twice (or maybe more? I always think that there’s always a sale somewhere) a year. This year’s first sidewalk sale will coincide with the St-Ambroise Fringe Festival (don’t worry, it’s still in Montreal) pulling along another bazaar-like opportunity to shop for locally made goods at Fringe Art Marts. The sale and festival happens June 21rst and 22nd, 2008.

Summer is right around the corner which means BIG upcoming festivals: beer, jazz, just for laughs, francopholie, grand prix, fantasia, you name it, it’s going to happen. Enjoy your summer everyone! I will be back soon hopefully to write a little more before my trip and will give you updates on my journey to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Amusez-vous bien

Harajuku and J-Rock-like fashions on the runway Fall 2008.

Comme Des Garçons designer, Rei Kawakubo, has been tapped to be the next designer collection for H&M‘s Fall line.

“Rei Kawakubo has been at the top of our wish list for a long time and we are
thrilled that she has chosen to collaborate with us. We have tremendous respect
for Kawakubo’s fashion philosophy of questioning fashion’s ingrained patterns,
and admire her artistic approach to design. We are particularly excited that the
collection will be launched in Japan, Kawakubo’s native country, at the same
time as the launch of our new store there”, explains Margareta van den Bosch,
creative advisor, H&M.

I think I’m one of the few people who doesn’t quite get Comme Des Garçons or Rei Kawakubo’s line of thought and philosophy when it comes to design. I know her approach is something along the lines of deconstructing fashion, but I just can’t follow her angle. Some of her designs aren’t really wearable or salable, I mean there was a Fall or Spring line last year where she had a bunch of clown outfits… Anyone care to enlighten me on her? I’m interested in knowing what kind of collection she’ll be creating for H&M, it could possibly be the funkiest collection yet. Not that I would have any chance on getting my hands on it, all H&M collections designed by big shot designers have sold out within the first opening hour.

For her Fall collection, I can see some of that deconstruction, it reminds me of a more sophisticated version of h.Naoto, a Japanese designer who destroys fabrics by painting, stripping, and disheveling, giving that grungy british punk rock look with an edge. At least that’s what he used to do, I think these days he focuses more on J-rock, gothic Victorian inspired looks. I can see this working for Japanese fashion, the younger crowds like it elaborate, detailed and funky. But for a western demographic, it might hit a smaller audience. Well who knows, this collection just might be a hit too.

Image credit: Style.com

This book should be a lesson to everyone. In fact, I think it should be mandatory for anyone with a serious interest in fashion to read this amazing book that I gobbled up in a mere 3 days.

“The End of Fashion,” written by veteran Wall Street Journal reporter Teri Agins, feels like the equivalent of 100 NY Times or Wall Street Journal articles. Journeying through several examples of popular fashion designers, she shows an evolution in the business of fashion up until the very end of the 1990s. From the flamboyant Isaac Mizrahi to the brutally honest persona of Zoran, she details in great lengths of the struggles of fashion businesses throughout the last 20 years.

Establishing a fashion brand is more than crafting designs. In today’s standards, you have to be as much as a savvy salesman with great marketing skills in order to break even in the industry. Fashion magazines will rarely give you a look of the other side of the moon. Should you wish to further expand your knowledge on fashion, pay attention to the business section of your newspaper, you might find some interesting tidbits.

What I loved about this book are some of the spectacular failures and shortcomings of powerhouses who thought they would be unstoppable.

Read the rest of this entry »