Discussions about the fashion industry thread

[Rosenrot]

That's cool, but Pitti Uomo and other tradeshows don't really lend itself to the same format. Honestly, I really can't see Pitti Uomo (which is usually slated first) occurring in June. Italy is still under full lockdown, and I don't see that being lifted until May, optimistically.

Pitti Uomo happening in June seems to be like one of those dreams in which I wake up in a frenzy, and have only half an hour to get on the plane. If everthing goes exactly right, I can barely make it, and every minute, something goes just a little more wrong. Then I wake up and realize that IRL, if I only had half an hour to get onto a plane from deep sleep, that I'd just cancel the flight.

It was a combination of trade show and runway. Fashion labels upload their inventory online for the perusal of store buyers and industry insiders. I am highly doubting on the feasibility of stocking a shop this way because everyone needs to see and touch the clothing in person before purchasing, but they are trying something new.

Now that Paris mens and couture week are cancelled I doubt Pitti will go on, especially considering the entry restrictions imposed by European governments.

 

[bry2000]

RE: everlane.

Expect more of this with dtc apparel & other verticals too.

Funding has dried up significantly as VCs have realized DTC is not SaaS. Meaning the shoot 100 times at the air and hope you kill a a big ass bird approach doesn't work.

...and customer acquisition costs have ballooned. Right as DTC was heating up you could acquire customers at scale for $7 to $12 easily. Now it's more like $20 to $30 to acquire a customer that will spend $60 to $80 a cart. The math gets worse as you scale too.

I assume customer acquisition costs will come way down now. Do any of these businesses make sense at much lower levels?

 

[LA Guy]

I assume customer acquisition costs will come way down now. Do any of these businesses make sense at much lower levels?

That's not a great assumption. In a recessionary economy, customer acquisition costs will often go up. Advertising costs on a lot of channels may decrease per impression, but you are going to have to do more to acquire a customer, especially for companies looking to sell larger baskets, and the baskets sold and the life time value of a customer may drop, depending on how adept you are at using various channels and tactics to re-engage and retain customers.

The businesses generally make sense as sustainable businesses with linear growth and usually with a pretty hard ceiling, not as VC backed ventures.

 

[Ebitdaddy]

I assume customer acquisition costs will come way down now. Do any of these businesses make sense at much lower levels?

It depends on the vertical. I have an arts and crafts (lol) company that is crushing it right now and my apparel co has been bouncing all over the place.

These companies can scale to be very large like allbirds and Warby Parker but you need a truly differentiated product - not a bunch of bullshit like Everlane - and omnichannel.

 

[cb200]

 

[dieworkwear]

 

[LA Guy]

That sounds doable. I wonder about tradeshows though. They don't really lend themselves to that format. Will they simply disappear? Will it just be showrooms from now on?

 

[crazn]

That sounds doable. I wonder about tradeshows though. They don't really lend themselves to that format. Will they simply disappear? Will it just be showrooms from now on?

fashion shows are fine or less problematic with virtual shows as they present completed goods. might need extra detail shots especially for fine or small details.
tradeshows where people showcase new fabrics or leather or materials are difficult. unless you expect to be delivered swatches globally just for perusal. even then a small square is difficult for visualization and appreciation of the completed product

 

[Zamb]

All I can say is that we are entering a world that 5 or 6 moths ago no one envisioned, and as we enter it we have no idea what it will be like. all this just show the paradox of the fragility and durability of our existence...…...….but also how the things we take for granted can be upended by unexpected occurrences

 

[LA Guy]

All I can say is that we are entering a world that 5 or 6 moths ago no one envisioned, and as we enter it we have no idea what it will be like. all this just show the paradox of the fragility and durability of our existence...…...….but also how the things we take for granted can be upended by unexpected occurrences

Actually, I spoke about the fragility of our globalized miracle world, and mentioned this pandemic specifically, in a conversation we had here in early February. A lot of people - me, basically every virologist in the world, any number of computer scientists. anyone who works with the world's many integrated systems, have been warning of impending global crises for as long as I can remember...

I honestly had zero idea that this one would get so bad - dumb me - but this is not the big one, not by a longshot. Nothing comes without a price, there is no utopian world for us. We just made a deal wit the devil, and sometimes, the devil comes to collect. This is nothing though. This is just an interest payment

Random Fashion Thoughts (Part 3: Style farmer strikes back) - our general discussion thread

@dieworkwear your counterpart, jesse, lists among his followers, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Baron Davis, and Ken Jennings (to name only a few of the many celebrities). It is awesome to see the reach that PTO has achieved. Donald Glover once wore a PTO launch party tee. T-shirt was made in collab with...

www.styleforum.net

 

[dieworkwear]

Everlane's response to Bernie:

 

[dieworkwear]

Garment workers going unpaid as fashion labels cancel orders

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A survey of factory owners in Bangladesh found that major fashion retailers that are closing shops and laying off workers in Europe and the U.S. are also canceling their sometimes already completed orders, as workers often go unpaid.

apnews.com

 

[cb200]

Reading "were not profitable" in a notes app font from a founder/ceo of a San Fran DTC apparel company who just got called out by a sitting senator running for the democratic nomination in the US for what looks like union busting at the time of a global pandemic was not on my bingo card. But there it is. Why are they not profitable at the scale they were at? Weak margins / unit economics? Friday's catered lunch? CAC?

 

[sushijerk]

Reading "were not profitable" in a notes app font from a founder/ceo of a San Fran DTC apparel company who just got called out by a sitting senator running for the democratic nomination in the US for what looks like union busting at the time of a global pandemic was not on my bingo card. But there it is. Why are they not profitable at the scale they were at? Weak margins / unit economics? Friday's catered lunch? CAC?

Being profitable is not the game here. The point is to fund growth at a loss until your extremely unprofitable company can IPO/get acquired at a fairy tale valuation and cash out.

 

[dieworkwear]

Being profitable is not the game here. The point is to fund growth at a loss until your extremely unprofitable company can IPO/get acquired at a fairy tale valuation and cash out.

this is my plan with die workwear. losses are mostly in me buying clothes for myself, but i hope to one day sell the site to hearst publications