Discussions about the fashion industry thread

[blacklight]

Yup, too bad for Givenchy, Burberry, etc... who jumped too late on the band wagon.

Givenchy? Late? In which world?

 

[bry2000]

Re the new Armoury shop, it could mean home furnishings, but it could also mean a cafe in the shop.

Several retailers are incorporating cafes, etc to drive foot traffic. Brooks Brothers on Madison and Blue in Green in SoHo are two examples.

On a separate note, I stopped into Opening Ceremony this evening. Such a fun place to shop. It is sad that the store will be closing later this year.

 

[Phrost]

Yeah I wouldn’t know how to keep an independent retail shop open these days. Rent’s absolutely crazy in places like NYC.

While I do appreciate the experience of seeing things in person, we’ve all been spoiled with the convenience of online shopping and having everything shipped to our door.

 

[clee1982]

there is new Armoury shop?

 

[LA Guy]

The End of Opening Ceremony Marks the End of Shopping As We Know It

Multi-brand stores no longer serve the purpose that they once did. Why do we need them now?

www.businessoffashion.com

Here is a radical idea. Just price match. It's certainly not a new idea, and it's been done in other industries. The brick and mortar has a built in advantage then. Not even one hour shipping with make up for the experience of immediate, not one hour delayed, satisfaction. Make shopping at your store a no brainer. You have the best stuff, at the best prices. AND you have cool other stuff to look at as well.

Make up your margins with collaborations and self-branded merchandise that is of the same or higher price as the desgners and market those hard, while at the same time offering the price match to bring people into the store. Mix in high end vintage that you simply won't be able to find, or if you do, you run much bigger risks.

Offer a limited selection online that - there, you don't have to price match (no incentive to do so), but you mostly put collabs and self-branded goods on your website.

I think that the "experience" thing,as currently envisioned, is a dead end.

 

[smittycl]

there is new Armoury shop?

They are opening a new, apparently larger store in the Upper East Side this year. Sounds interesting. That location definitely fits with their pricing. Seriously, though. I wish them success and will definitely visit new store next time I'm in NYC.

 

[clee1982]

Well I might visit then, the old location just sort of middle of no where

 

[smittycl]

Well I might visit then, the old location just sort of middle of no where

Yeah, Tribeca is well off the beaten path for me.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Givenchy? Late? In which world?

Imo they went full #streetwear just a few seasons ago.

 

[happyriverz]

Imo they only went full #streetwear a few seasons ago.

Pretty sure Givenchy under Ricardo Tisci was one of the first luxury houses to do the streetwear thing with the whole rottweiler graphic that was all over the place back when Watch the Throne came out. This was in 2011, and Tisci was the artistic director on that album.

If anything, present day Givenchy under Clare Wright Keller is much more tailoring-focused, with some dandy-ish touches (obviously not in the classic menswear sense of "tailoring," but definitely not "streetwear"):

Givenchy Fall 2020 Menswear Collection

Givenchy Fall 2020 Menswear collection, runway looks, beauty, models, and reviews.

www.vogue.com

Givenchy Spring 2020 Menswear Collection

Givenchy Spring 2020 Menswear collection, runway looks, beauty, models, and reviews.

www.vogue.com

Givenchy Fall 2019 Menswear Collection

Givenchy Fall 2019 Menswear collection, runway looks, beauty, models, and reviews.

www.vogue.com

 

[Nyarlathotep]

I stand corrected

 

[Omega Man]

The End of Opening Ceremony Marks the End of Shopping As We Know It

Multi-brand stores no longer serve the purpose that they once did. Why do we need them now?

www.businessoffashion.com

Here is a radical idea. Just price match. It's certainly not a new idea, and it's been done in other industries. The brick and mortar has a built in advantage then. Not even one hour shipping with make up for the experience of immediate, not one hour delayed, satisfaction. Make shopping at your store a no brainer. You have the best stuff, at the best prices. AND you have cool other stuff to look at as well.

Make up your margins with collaborations and self-branded merchandise that is of the same or higher price as the desgners and market those hard, while at the same time offering the price match to bring people into the store. Mix in high end vintage that you simply won't be able to find, or if you do, you run much bigger risks.

Offer a limited selection online that - there, you don't have to price match (no incentive to do so), but you mostly put collabs and self-branded goods on your website.

I think that the "experience" thing,as currently envisioned, is a dead end.

Agree. It will be the new normal. Case in point, HAVEN (a shop in Toronto/Vancouver, Canada) offers A Bathing Ape (not my cup of tea...), you can only buy it in store in the past, which helped to drive foot traffic. I believe they have recently started their own label "Haven", with a number of collaborations. The line is also available on End Clothing. House label probably has a higher margin. Their proprietors are ahead of the game.

 

[LA Guy]

Agree. It will be the new normal. Case in point, HAVEN (a shop in Toronto/Vancouver, Canada) offers A Bathing Ape (not my cup of tea...), you can only buy it in store in the past, which helped to drive foot traffic. I believe they have recently started their own label "Haven", with a number of collaborations. The line is also available on End Clothing. House label probably has a higher margin. Their proprietors are ahead of the game.

The Haven line is good, too. And priced right. If you want your brand to hold currency, it can't be lower priced than your carried brands. The way Saks, Barneys, Neimans, Nordstrom, all the old department stores did their house lines, that's a non-starter in 2020, It can't be a second best, a "I'll settle" product.

I personally mighe experiment with one or two item categories that are deliberately priced at a lower tier, making it seem maybe like an oversight, simply to create buzz ("Oh man, the gloves are so cool, but they are way cheaper than you'd expect, should jump on them because they sell out nearly immediately), but most of it must be priced high enough to command respect. I wantded their vest, but it was sold out at $950 CDN nearly instantly. That's good for business. Those deliberately lower priced items (gloves, neck gaiters) will allow aspriational purchases without degraditng the brand, and still give good margins. So will the collaborations with Vans, Nike, etc... which are premium priced for those brands, but can be safely below the price of of the brand. I would love to do a collab with them and a third party, since the styles would be complementary anyway. Fok of SF x Good Art x Haven. Something utilitarian and a bit military, but made in sterling. Hmmm... maybe I'll reach out. I just thought of at least one or two ideas.

 

[cb200]

The streetwear model was built on limited availability, multiple timed drops a year, being in the know, cultural alignment, and collaborations the expand both partners scope. I think there's value to that model still regardless of the style of clothing that's current.

That said, the streetwear model is a framework that lends itself to cargo-culting. The things mentioned are levers and changed the way things could be done, but by themselves without some thing meaningful behind them is not going to build sustainable brands. Colabs for Colabs sakes can be a bit dull. They are at their best when they open up something new from the two parties working together.

 

[LA Guy]

The streetwear model was built on limited availability, multiple timed drops a year, being in the know, cultural alignment, and collaborations the expand both partners scope. I think there's value to that model still regardless of the style of clothing that's current.

That said, the streetwear model is a framework that lends itself to cargo-culting. The things mentioned are levers and changed the way things could be done, but by themselves without some thing meaningful behind them is not going to build sustainable brands. Colabs for Colabs sakes can be a bit dull. They are at their best when they open up something new from the two parties working together.

I would agree with all of that. I should add that, having been part of this myself, not as far back as Supreme, obviously, but in the mid 2000s, when things started to blow up) that the low quantities and out of season drops were not by design, but a happy accident built of a combination of lack of funds and taking advantage of out of season production. The factories were all occupied making things for big brands in time for in season delivery, so we did production in the off season, and made only enough to cover the minimums (often negotiated down) because anything over say, 50 units, to sell to an untested market, seemed foolhardy and a great way to go broke and be left with 150 pairs of jeans or jackets or whatever.

I think that a sterling sliver carabiner to wear on your belt or belt loop, like we did back in the 90s, to carry keys, but with an optional wallet/watch/compass chain that could be clippped on or slipped on, would be a cool collaboration. It's actually something that I would use, and aside from oranmentation (which is is), I can think of several ways it could be used/worn as well. I have a few designs sketched out, Haven has great points of distribution complementary and distinct from Good Art's, and we all have pretty decent marketing infrastructures with slightly overlapping audiences. To me, that's a pretty decent bet.