Dualité

Ok, I guess that’s a bit harsh to say that there are upcoming sales on the calendar, but as you can imagine, I have no doubt that retailers will want to make up for their sinking profits this year.

Au Coeur De La Mode Nov 16th, 2008

This fashion charity event will hold its bi-annual sale at Palais Des Congres, where the $5 entrance fee will be donated to the AIDS Foundation. Once again local brands will hoist up theirs goods with prices slashed above 50% off. You’ll find a good mix of local and popular European brands like Miss Sixty and Horst. It’s a huge sales floor, so you can be there for hours.

Ogilvy en rose Nov 19th, 2008

This yearly charity fashion event will be hosted at Ogilvy on Ste-Catherine promising schmoozing and entertainment, as well as a 15% discount (in essence, sans taxes) on items sold on the floor. There will be of course a fashion show, some local celebrities, and a contest to win some prizes. Tickets are steep, $100 each. Funds raised will go to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.

Winners all year round

What can I say, this place is always on sale.

It’s no doubt that if the shrinking confidence consumers continue on, there are strong chances stores may close all together. Following lay offs in all corners of the market, one has to wonder who will be hit next. Even NRDC, owner of the recently acquired The Hudson Bay Company, will have to face some serious challenges in this dreary economic climate. On CNNMoney.com, Lord & Taylor recently replaced their CEO with a Neiman Marcus executive as they all brace for one of the worst holiday seasons in recent years. Bad economies could put the Hudson Bay Co. at risk of suffering more loses and reputation despite of their recent buyout.

Timing is of essence in business, and there are no worse timings than J. Crew’s recent store opening of their brand new high end store. Ouch. Let’s just hope Millard Drexler, responsible for launching The Gap into stardom in the 90s, knows how to weather this nasty financial storm.

As I’m clicking through Net-a-porter, my now #1 stop to dream and contemplate a purchase, has made me realize a couple of more reasons as to why this site is such a success.

Namely, it is a fashion magazine and online store rolled into one. Quite obvious I know, but a deeper contemplation made me realize that online stores in general do not necessarily have the written editorial to tout their new products in a magazine format. Think of reading Vogue and be able to buy exactly what they’re saying is the hottest item of the season on the spot, instead of dragging yourself to the store, hope the store actually carries the item, if not, special order, and go through all the hooplahs one might go through to get the item.

We’re a lazy generation. I admit that many of you probably enjoy the going through the entire “hunting” experience of getting what you want, but I think it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore our need for instant gratification.

Online stores like Saks, Neiman, Forever 21, Piperlime and Zappos display their array of products and merely announce new arrivals, not quite hyping them up like Net-a-porter does. It also helps that Net-a-porter suggests looks and combinations, and allows you to really zoom in and analyze in full detail parts of the garment since it isn’t possible to do so in person.

I’m not suggesting all stores should start posting online editorials – however, I wouldn’t find it too shabby as a strategy to get more people to buy the products, especially if the store is selling different brands. Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy could perhaps benefit of such a move, especially when Holts already establishes a relationship with their clients with their aggressive call-to-action weekly newsletter. If both stores could offer online shopping and free shipping delivery (for shoes to start), they could definitely boost sales in these harsh economic times. Shoppers tend to shift to online stores when the market is down, so it would only be natural to take advantage of the online medium to keep sales afloat.

With the right combination of marketing and savvy management of an online store and proper, relevant, editorial content, I think clothing stores should consider this as a Plan B.

Image Credit: Versace from Holt Renfrew

My trip to Las Vegas was wrapped up by taking a stroll around the ritzy hotels of The Wynn and The Palazzo. Both were highly luxurious hotels to stroll in with the biggest names in the industry with some unique boutiques such as Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Van Cleef & Arpels, Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin. Needless to say, all the stores were out of my price range, but still walking through these beautiful hotels was worth the trip.

It’s a beautiful smoggy morning in sunny California

Yes, smog is a huge problem in the state of California. An hour away from LA I could already see the smog hazily hanging over the rolling golden California mountains. The traffic is incredible, I’ve never seen so many cars in one area. However, spending much time here can easily make you forget that there’s smog in the air since you have to really be on the outskirts of the city to see it.

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Bethesda Area

This is another district in D.C. where old money rules and where you’ll find freestanding luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tiffany & Co, and Cartier lining up the streets. Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s reign over as the department store moguls, while the J.Crew and Banana Republic store windows display a large range of classic preppy American lifestyles. I realize that Montreal lacks free standing stores like these, I’m guessing there’s not much of a market for it.

Max Mara

There aren’t any Max Mara stores in Montreal…are there? I haven’t noticed. Either way it was my first time checking out this brand in its marble settings. The style and collections weren’t quite of my taste, it was directed for an older demographer (30-45 maybe), sportswear consisted of linen shirts, business suits, earth toned colors, the cuts weren’t as tailored as I had hoped. Despite this, I expressed my opinion to Susan, the sales woman, and she was nice enough to tell me to check out Co-op Barney’s New York next door, and wanted to refer us to another store in Dupont Circle (she forgot the name though), for something more young and urban. It’s unusual to hear sales people refer you to the competition, so I appreciated that she wanted to help me. Now that’s service. I’m really starting to like the service in these luxury stores.

Co-Op Barney’s New York

At Susan’s recommendation, I indeed made a stop here. I had never heard of this branch of Barney’s, but after taking a look around, it was clear that even the almighty Barney’s has succumbed to the accessible luxury market and established a more affordable store for the young and trendy. Marc Jacobs (he’s everywhere I swear!), Helmut Lang, J Brand jeans, the lot. I did end up buying a strapless jersey dress with pockets by Velvet (made in the USA!). Only to find out later on that I could’ve gotten the same dress at Cusp for 10 bucks cheaper as it was “on sale”. However Cusp didn’t have the color I wanted, which was black, so I’m not too distressed for missing out on a $10 discount.

Tyson’s Corner and Tyson II

This is D.C.’s mega mall that’s split into 2 seperate buildings. Tyson’s Corner is your generic mall where the massive flock of consumers stroll, browse and crowd the walkways. You’ll find the usual fast fashion lot of H&M, Mango, Zara, etc. I wasn’t really interested in this mall since I could find most of these brands back at home, albeit much more expensive.

Tyson II or Tyson’s Galleria has all the expensive luxury brands you can think of – Chanel, Dior, Ferragamo. Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bloomie’s also made up as the major department stores. Surprisingly though, or perhaps I was expecting too much, these luxury stores don’t carry clothes, they’re mostly accessory stores which hold the items that people would be willing to splurge on – mainly bags, wallets, sunglasses, shoes and jewelry. If you were going to look for clothes you’re better off at the department stores. You can already tell that Tyson II has a smaller, more specific crowd. I’ve seen tall models walking around (was there an event going on?) and an overall different atmosphere. Clothes however weren’t of my taste, by demographic the buyers are well aware that the people who have the dineros are the baby boomer generations, so there wasn’t anything fit for a 20-something like myself at my size. I’m not much of an accessory person either, and I’d have to think twice before splurging on $500 shoes.

Overall there’s plenty of shopping to do in D.C., my auntie even suggested that I should visit Pentagon City (about one metro stop from, where else, the Pentagon!), however I didn’t have time to go all way there. There’s also the touristy Union Station for some outlet shopping. But my best bet if you’re ever in D.C. is to visit Georgetown, it’s just a lovely place to see and hang out. I was told that D.C. isn’t really known for any local designers (a shame), however the small boutiques bring in different international brands so there’s always something new to discover.

With an economic downturn for Americans, I wanted to get some perspective on what buyers were looking for this season. Many American buyers were refraining themselves from buying any European brands because of the weak dollar. London suffered the loss of Saks Fifth and Neiman Marcus’ buyers due to its strong British pound this year.

The two American buyers I’ve met while waiting in line for a show opened up to me about their situation. They’ve also nixed the European brands this season, except for one German label in which they keep good relations with, and wondered how the French designers were going to fare at the showroom since the euro is so high. Hence they’ve made a business trip to our home turf to look for some unique pieces for their older target market from 30-65, the baby boomer bracket. I asked what trends they were looking for and they squarely replied that trends weren’t what they were looking for. The baby boomer generation are over trends, they’re looking for practical clothing that’s both unique and durable. Interesting.

What was their opinion of the state of the fashion industry?

According to them, it’s downgraded quite a lot, especially for Americans. They’ve both been to numerous tradeshows across the country, of which New York was said to be pretty chaotic. “Everyone is trying to sell you something and it’s lost itself to business,” they said. Exactly the kind of scenario Teri Agins (author of “The End of Fashion”) had described a decade earlier and it looks like things haven’t changed. Tradeshows have become popular hotspots to host, “these locations are milking designers for their money” they said. There are so many tradeshows now that buyers keep seeing the same collections over and over.

Addressing fast fashion, what with the bombardment of new designs every month, fashion is spiraling out of control, what’s going to happen? “Well everyone would be running naked if it suddenly stopped!” they joked. But in all seriousness, they believed the industry will realize how ridiculous the pace its going and will rectify itself eventually. At least, that’s our hope. I’m thinking back on just how wacky the 80s were with their zany art deco and over-the-top accessories and styles. The early 90s answer to that was minimalism, I’m starting to think that the following decade in the year 2010, we’ll start seeing perhaps a hopeful return to quality goods, what with even Chinese manufacturing becoming more sophisticated than ever.

It’s hard to say what is true fashion these days, we always refer back to the masters of modern couture, but those were different economic situations, different mentalities, and different business models. Back then, a couturier was considered a type of merchant slash artist in its medium, not to make money but to make clothes. Now it’s a totally different ball game where the reputation of a company not only lies in its quality but its business (and marketing) model. In the end, it really comes down to a matter of choice of whether or not you choose to pay for higher or cheaper quality and your sense of style. After all, fashion is subjective with the times.