Uniqueness - A Refreshing dose of Fresh Air

Have you ever heard of Alessandra Facchinetti?

I hadn't until I read an article in the Financial Times about her new brand - Uniqueness.

Specifications for the way we live now - FT

It seems the concept of the brand is to take fashion directly from the catwalk to the store front, but without the astounding price tag.  Another core concept of the brand is that its not seasonal, and is targeted to be worn everyday of the year.

I've always had some doubts about the expanding seasonality of fashion.  It reminded me of how the story I heard about how the Japanese confectionery industry created "White Day" on March 14 by labeling Valentines Day as the day women give men chocolate (thereby necessitating a day on which men return chocolate gifts to women from which they received chocolate on Valentines Day).

Great marketing, very corporate, and I can just imagine the sales of chocolates doubling from this very savvy maneuver.  That said, its sad.

In the past, fashion like the weather had its 4 basic seasons - spring, summer, fall and winter.  The cycle to launch new collections seems to be shortening all the time with the introduction of the resort collections (for holiday goers that avoid the cold in January and February).  Seems like the same concept as White Day, but that may just be me.

So when I read about Ms. Facchinetti's new brand, I couldn't help but feel that the naming was spot on.  Ignore (for the most part) seasonality.  Ignore (for the most part) the excessive premiums put on catwalk fashion.  Ignore (to a certain degree) market position and price quality items at luxury price ranges (but not hyper luxury as we often read in the media as being an area of fashion that is doing well in these hard times).

I like it.  I like it a lot, and quite frankly (even across other industry sectors) its unique.

Uniqueness is definitely well names and is a brand I'm looking forward to seeing.

Fashion Going Digital

I found a very compelling article the past day concerning the delay in the fashion industry to adopt the internet (advertisements and sales), and how high-end brands are now scrambling to catch up.

Digital Killing Luxury Brands (AdWeek)

It explained that historically, the allure of high-end brand was its inaccessibility.  The fact that certain brands could only be owned by the wealthy that could afford them gave the customer a certain sense of satisfaction.  The internet is all about accessibility, and therefore it made sense that the high-end brands would shy away from embracing this new (back when it was still new) technology.

Well, the numbers just don't lie, and the numbers became too compelling to ignore.

Quote from the article*

Eighty percent of people with an income of over $250,000 are social media users according to Unity Marketing research, and 50 percent have used social media to learn more about a brand or see new products. Data from management consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting shows that those earning more than $150,000 are the only people spending more than they did before the recession. 

With numbers like that what are you going to do, right?

I'm a believer in the very simple concept that fashion is about making you feel better.  May it be from self image (I think I look good), exclusivity (I'm special/unique because I have this rare item), or whatever, the biggest benefit of fashion is not its utility, but its psychological affects.

Gucci, Prada, Patek etc. becoming "common" would be a sad thing, but I also think that more people knowing of these brands won't detract from their appeal and exclusivity at all.  So, is digitization ruining brands, or is it the pricing strategy of the brands that is eroding their appeal.

Brand management has to include pricing discipline (and its not the digital industry's fault).

Who would have thought....

You would think that in bad economic times (like we hear about almost everyday in the news) that people will become thrift and not spend much.  I use to always hear that in tough times, items like chocolate and make-up sell well and are recession proof products because they are the "little things" that make us happy.

That tell me how much I know about the economy.

Ferragamo H1 shows resilience of luxury sector (Reuters)

PVH posts Q2 profit beats estimates, shares up (Reuters)

Hermes posts 37 percent rise in H1 operating profit (Reuters)

Ok, I appreciate that it's that time of year when companies report how they've been doing, but this is remarkable.  Especially the news from Hermes where they have reported that their profitability is being supported by the US and China....

London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is almost upon us.

London Fashion Week

The festivities start on 16 September (Friday) with presentations and catwalks from world renown brands and up and coming new designers.  Too bad its a trade/buyer only event.

It would have been nice to experience the atmosphere, but also to see the works of new fashion designers like Meadham Kirchhoff (20th September) and J. JS Lee (18th September) and taking a look at what Aquascutum (20th September) and Tom Ford's Women's collection (18th September) has to offer.

Then again there is the Vodafone London Fashion Weekend, to which you can get tickets to go see catwalks, and shop at a wide variety of designer stalls (at a pretty good discount).

London Fashion Weekend

Anyone interested in joining me?

Share Story at Tory's

Tory Burch, the luxury lifestyle brand defined by classic American sportswear with an eclectic sensibility, this week announced that it was selling a minority shareholding in the capital of the company, reports the Financial Times. The minority shareholding is owned by the ex-husband of the co-founder of the company, its creative director and its namesake, Tory Burch. This news further fuels the rumour that the company is seeking a public listing of its shares in the next 12 to 18 months and with certain estimates as to valuation leaning towards an eye watering USD 1 billion.