luxury ready to wear: analyzing trends

Analyzing TrendsLuxury Ready to Wear

Hillary Frazer

Hillary Frazer l Analyzing Trends Fall 2013 l Luxury Ready to Wear l Chloe

OverviewLuxury Ready to Wear: The middle ground between couture custom garments and off the rack clothing.

Key Players: Chanel, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior

What it used to be: garments made of the highest quality materials, customers wore head to toe runway looks

What is is now: mix of high quality mate-rials and much lesser quality, branding, more for editorial purposes

Chanel SS14 Look 58


Force: Economy$317 Billion - the volume luxury goods sales are expected to surpass worldwide this year, +3% from last year (WWD)

In times of economic contraction, the ul-tra wealthy still consume freely, yet it is the borderline aspirational customer that contracts their consumption of luxury goods (The Economist)

The Economist

The Economist


Force: TechnologyUnited States61% - Share of luxury goods buyers who research online before making a pur-chase (WWD)

3D Printing

More methods to shop - via mobile de-vice, online, tablet, and traditional in store model

Wearable technology

Iris van Herpen Voltage Collection

Example: Iris van Herpen creates dresss-es for her couture collection with the use of a 3D printer


Force: GlobalizationAccessibility and visibility - globalization increases these factors

Outsourcing and location of production

Designers used to have a more clear sense of who they were designing for, now since everything is global, that dis-tinction is much less defined

Customer base is worldwide

Suno SS14 Look 11

Example: New contemporary luxury de-signer Suno utilizes production in Kenya and uses Kenyan textiles and patterns


“Consumers want experiences — memorable events. Yes, people still go shopping and buy goods and services, but unless retailers surround the purchasing of their merchan-dise with an engaging experience, consumers will treat them as commodities to be bought at the lowest possible

price and the greatest possible convenience.”

Joseph Pine, author of “The Experience Economy”


HypothesisI hypothesize that in order for luxury ready-to-wear to survive, brands need to: institute authenticity within their products, create a relevant narrative, and implement innovation into their designs.


Codes

logos

brand awareness

vanityself aware

luxury knowledge

wealth

superiority

exclusivity

confidence

experiential

Consumers want to be “in-the-know” with a brand

There has been a recent lack of confidence with

luxury brandsThe experience is crucial

in luxury ready to wear

quality


Trend: Trans-media

Fashion films that are not explicitly about fashion or the brand*Recent films: Salvatore Ferragamo “Walking Stories”, Rodarte “This Must Be the Only Fantasy”

It’s about the narrative that the brand creates

Telling the history of the brand in a non promotional way

Expansive reach through unconvention-al digital channels

Rodarte “This Must Be the Only Fantasy”

Salvatore Ferragamo “Walking Stories”


InsightsThe significance for the viewer is with the discovery of the film

The films are collaborative with industry professionals. Fusing art, fashion, music, film, and technology

Having the knowledge of the film gives you credibility

People want more than just the product, they want to feel a part of the brand and the brand’s narrative“The Future of Flesh” by Luke Gilford, wardrobe

provided by Prada FW13 collection


Trend: High-lowMore commom to see women pairing luxury shoes, handbags, and accessories with more af-forable clothing items

Designer diffusion lines for mass retailers

Emphasis on accessibility of items celebrities are wearing

Example: Rent the Runway allows customers to rent luxury clothing pieces for a short period of time

Consumers are finding similar qualities to luxury ready to wear as they are in much lower priced brands

Example: honest by. Muriee clothes are made in Germany and use vegan and organic fabrics

Muriee Knitwear via Honest by.


InsightsLuxury is now attainable, you can own certain pieces and feel like you’re “in” with the luxury class

The barrier to entry is much lower than before, and it makes us question: what does luxury mean today?

Example: Jessica Alba (left) pairs a $2950 Saint Laurent bag with $129 Isabel Ma-rant pour H&M pants


Trend: ImmediacySince fast fashion retailers can copy the luxury designs with less lead times, cus-tomers want that same instant gratifica-tion

Moda Operandi revolutionized with their trunkshows and allowing customers to order looks straight off the runway

Balmain for Moda Operandi

The fashion calendar is constant and fast paced, customers want to grab the latest product

Heirarchy created through the need for immediate products, those who have and those who have not


InsightsCustomers want luxury fashion as quickly as they can obtain fast fashion

It’s about being the first person to have the new item

The immediacy trend is in response to the traditional long lead time approach to luxury fashion

Influenced by technology which is very immediate, thus immediacy is wanted in fashion as well

Moschino for Moda Operandi


Subculture: Modern Day Peasants

This culture invests in hand made pieces, that have zero waste and are concerned with craft and heritage

Knowledge of process and creation of the clothes

It’s the anti brand and logo luxury

While the clothes look peasantry, Modern Day Peasants also farm their own fruits and vegeta-bles, and are engrossed in artisinal culture

Example: Designer Alabama Chanin (coat pic-tured right, $2,880) uses sustainable business practices, organic fabrics, and the clothes are made in the USA


Trend OpportunitiesLocalizing of design in prevelent and emerging markets

Implementation of technology within the customer experience and the clothing it-self

Creation of a secret network of people in which the brand designs capsule col-lections for each season that are only available to those in the network

Production in small batches, a return to exclusivity

Christian Dior SS14 Look 33


Client Profile


Client Profile

Chloe

Founded in 1952 by Gabby Aghion and Jacques Lenior

Pioneered luxury ready to wear

Known for easy dressing, an effortless look, and a 1970s aesthetic

Current head designer: Clare Waight Keller

Past designers: Karl Lagerfeld, Stella Mc-Cartney, Pheobe Philo

Chloe FW13 Look 28


Trend Actions Creation of a higher priced subdivision fo-cused on craft and quality

Produce basics and wardrobe staples with the highest quality care and keep in stores year round

Establish a network of customers who are only able to order certain pieces, these pieces will not be available for the general public

Pare down on logos and marketing - a return to confidence for the brand

Since Chloe was the pioneer in luxury ready to wear, return to the brnad heritage and the historical significance of Chloe

Chloe PS14 Look 28


The Future Of

Luxury Ready to Wear

EXPERIENTIAL EXCLUSIVEWhether luxury ready to wear will be expe-riential through the in store expereience, or through technology within the clothes, con-nectivity between product and experience

will become more prevelent

Luxury ready to wear will have a return to more exclusivity and less brand boasting, it will

become more private and reined in

ADAPTIVETechnology is going to continue to influence luxury ready to wear, as well as other forces. Luxury ready to wear needs to be adaptive

to the changing times to remain relevent.

NOVELLuxury ready to wear pieces need to be novel, yet timeless. In the future, the customer wants to invest in the piece but does not want

it to be too expected.

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