Archive for February 12th, 2009

I’m not sure if our readers have seen Man On The Moon, which is about the comedian Andy Kaufman, but this reminds me very much of that movie. Fully committed to a public persona to create controversy all for the end goal of some ingenious practical joke.

Reuters ran an article yesterday about how designers at this seasons New York Fashion Week are adjusting their shows to save money. Additionally, designers are trying to entice penny-pinching buyers and consumers to boost their spending.

Famous designer and head chair person of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Diane von Furstenberg said that one of their solutions is “to make clothes highly appealing.” Wow, what a comment.

“You need to show clothes that are real friends to women, so that ‘friend’ will make you feel good when you open your closet,” said von Furstenberg.

Many designers are doing low-cost presentations, rather than a full runway show.

Some design houses opting for presentations over shows are Betsey Johnson, Nary Manivong, Reem Acra, Luca Luca, Joanna Mastroianni, Temperley and Generra.

Others are throwing runway shows at smaller venues and Marc Jacobs is cutting his attendance to just 500 guests from his usual 2,000.

Here is my personal rant and hopefully not many people in the fashion industry will read this because they will probably boycott this website. I’m not sure how many readers have actually met people in the luxury goods industry, but I find that many of them are fairly elitist. In a way, how can they not be. They are designing dresses that cost $500+ dollars. For many aged 18-30, that is close to half of their rent. In a certain way, these designers are saying that their clothes are only meant to be worn by those who have at least $500 in disposable income. In Europe, not so much the UK, it’s actually more common that people save up, buy expensive clothing, and only wear those limited pieces. Of course, in the USA, it’s actually a little taboo to be seen in the same outfit all the time. Therefore, Americans usually do not spend as much money per item of clothing. Hence, Forever 21. Of course, we like to promote a healthy balance. Clothing that are not too expensive, but that can be worn over and over again. Nonetheless, I still do not believe many Europeans spend $250+ on a top.

There is no doubt that that designers who showcase at New York Fashion Week create the trends that are adapted to those designs you see in your local Target store, but if they want to survive in this tough economy then they may want to consider making clothing that are accessible to the rest of the 95% of the world.

Anyway, our store is planning to carry a lot of affordable items, but also a little less affordable items that will still only peak at $75-$100.