This might be a good time to look at what Erin Gosson has been up to in her analysis of Topshop. Here´s her Web site for the project. There’s a lot of good thinking and overlap with our SWOT analysis unit… Take a look:
Link: The Topshop Project.
Category Archives: Marketing
Disco 2015: Pulp’s charity-shop chic is back | Fashion | The Guardian
Here’s something I haven’t seen before: Not “retro,” not “revival,” not “the ’70’s are back, or the 90’s are back” but “The ’70’s as seen by the 90’s” (or something like that.) In other words, if you needed further proof that the whole thing is disappearing into ever increasing circles inside itself…. look no further.
Link: Disco 2015: Pulp’s charity-shop chic is back | Fashion | The Guardian.
Is Another Fashion Week the Answer?
Just bumped into an editorial from last month on BoF. Link: Week in Review | Is Another Fashion Week the Answer? – The Business of Fashion.
This has been an increasingly apparent problem in the fashion business for a number of years now. I think adding more fashion weeks, especially to New York, seems more like desperation than innovation. It will be interesting to keep an eye on this.
But as the writer wonders: What else to do? This might be worth a terms-worth of discussion, but worlds change and structures change and sooner or later the former elite has to let go…
It’s Oscars Night!
Here’s an interesting article on the occasion of Oscars Night. (Actually it gets more interesting as you go along. You just have to get through the first bit….)
The quotation to think about comes toward the end:
So powerful is the potential for Oscar glory for fashion brands that Tom Ford withdrew from his London fashion week catwalk presentation last week to focus his attention on dressing the stars at the Dolby Theatre
“He was angry that the two events clashed,” says Catherine Hayward, fashion director at Esquire magazine. “So he made a strategic decision not to show his collection because he would also miss out on crucial press coverage – in media terms, nothing can compete with the Oscars now.”
Princess Awesome: the fight against ‘pinkification’
Link to article: Princess Awesome: the fight against 'pinkification' | Society | The Guardian.
This would be an interesting discussion to have. (Could be a whole course in itself.) When I was a teen (back in the 1970’s!) the general idea was that by now gender difference would not really be an issue. But here we are.
Miss Dior – The new film (Official Director’s Cut) – YouTube
Speaking of designer helicopters…
Miss Dior – The new film (Official Director’s Cut) – YouTube.
Why Are Sportswear Giants Nike and Adidas Embracing Fashion?
Link to article: Why Are Sportswear Giants Nike and Adidas Embracing Fashion? – The Business of Fashion.
There is so much in this article that is relevant to our discussion, that it could be –and probably will be– assigned reading before long. Major points are the references to the H&M and ZARA business-models and the acknowledgement of the speed of the present day Internet-driven market. No “forecasting,” just reflexivity and responsiveness. Not that that is news, but here we begin to see what may be a long-term effect of the technology. Pretty soon we won’t even be saying “fast fashion” I suspect. This will just be what it is. (The way no one talks about the Internet as “new media” any more. Maybe we’ll start talking about “slow fashion” to differentiate.)
I also found the emphasis on the collaborations interesting, especially noting the celebrities and the spectacular nature of some of those those involved.
ps
But please just whistle past this kind of marketing-speak (from NIKE CEO): “One of the things that we recognize, certainly in the women’s business, is that there is no performance without style.” (Yeah, yeah, whatever.)
2014’s Noteworthy Dressers
And we may wonder: Why them? What is new here? What is not?
Zara Follows Shoppers Into Bedroom With Home Store Format
The “everything for everyone” model, yet again. More and more, I believe this is something we need to start looking at. Where did this start? Uniqlo models after Apple, but Ralph Lauren was doing this kind of thing long ago…. (Maybe I’m confusing two business models?)
Zara Follows Shoppers Into Bedroom With Home Store Format – Businessweek.
New York Fashion Week to Leave Lincoln Center
My first reaction: I don’t think this is going to make a blind bit of difference to anything. Fashion Week was over years ago. If anything, this will perhaps prompt a re-invigoration of the phenomenon. If they just move the circus….. Meh.
My second reaction: It confirms what we have known for a while, but it may also be the beginning of a domino effect. If New York Fashion Week falls apart, then London won’t be far behind, and then what?
New York Fashion Week to Leave Lincoln Center – The Business of Fashion.
Fashion Theory Spring 2017 