Discussions about the fashion industry thread

[clee1982]

1. joint liability is also regulation in a different form,no? And it would also be as determined by US (say someone who sue RL/JCrew in whatever state they incorporate) vs local supplier host country, so same dynamic at play?

2. You mean support union at supply host country? Doesn’t sound any easier to me though?

 

[Quesjac]

1. joint liability is also regulation in a different form,no? And it would also be as determined by US (say someone who sue RL/JCrew in whatever state they incorporate) vs local supplier host country, so same dynamic at play?

2. You mean support union at supply host country? Doesn’t sound any easier to me though?

1. I believe so, but cuts out the problem of one country's legal system trying to apply itself to another jurisdiction. She raised it in the context of same-country suppliers so maybe there's more to think about here.

2. Kumar had some fairly positive examples in Mexico and I think Bangladesh but is very clear that it's a steep hill to climb. It did seem to make sense that local workers / unions would have a clearer picture of what changes actually increased safety / quality of life compared to pressure groups in other countries.

 

[clee1982]

1. Joint liability is still applying one country's legal system to another right? It's not cross border in the sense of I actually go to your country do something, but the financial cost is passed through (as it meant to be). And it would be determined most likely in the US.

Regarding to the FT article, feels like it's a different point though. I thought the issue that FT was writing about was failure to enforce existing rule locally (UK) not dealing with oversea supplier (the original debate). In general, I'm not sure what's the solution if consumer is unwilling to pay up, you can definitely force the rules, but then I guess they will move oversea, and one can probably argue if the goal is to sell 5 GBP dress, then perhaps that job can only be oversea.

2. I can definitely see that working, though I would imagine it's very country/culture specific (i.e. you're not going to get one size fits all solution). Though thought one of the earlier issue that was brought up was Uighurs, to me the only solution on that one is politician sit down and talk, and if doesn't work, layout the rule exactly, so US companies knows what they can or cannot deal period (i.e. sanction list).

 

[cb200]

RL, like basically everyone, having a tough time.

Ralph Lauren Mulls Overhaul After Tough Quarter; Shares Drop

Ralph Lauren Corp. plans to revamp its structure as it looks to avoid the fate of several retail rivals who’ve been unable to weather the unprecedented season for apparel.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[clee1982]

not surprised, but if there are brand I wish to survive, RL would be one of them

 

[dieworkwear]

The best piece of fashion journalism I've read in a while

Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed (Published 2020)

Even before the pandemic, it had started to unravel. What happens now that no one has a reason to dress up?

www.nytimes.com

 

[leytune]

The best piece of fashion journalism I've read in a while

Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed (Published 2020)

Even before the pandemic, it had started to unravel. What happens now that no one has a reason to dress up?

www.nytimes.com

V.good read

 

[keykoo]

The best piece of fashion journalism I've read in a while

Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed (Published 2020)

Even before the pandemic, it had started to unravel. What happens now that no one has a reason to dress up?

www.nytimes.com

Great article, thanks for sharing. Band was the first "luxury" brand that I was into and I bought a couple shirts every season, usually from South Willard. I haven't really paid attention to Entireworld that much because I'm not really into athleisure, but I hope they weather this crisis well.

Also call out to Celine reminds me how much I miss Phoebe Philo's Celine.

 

[clee1982]

off topic (but tangential I suppose) so I just googled Entireworld for the first time, what's so special about them vs. say other basics?

 

[cb200]

Good read in that link... thanks for sharing. The comment section is full of some ripe takes.

"I'm not interested enough in fashion to read an article this long, but I did get far enough to wonder if Sternberg is responsible for Daniel Craig wearing suits that were at least two sized too small and two inches too short in his James Bond movies? "

 

[Mariokartfever]

off topic (but tangential I suppose) so I just googled Entireworld for the first time, what's so special about them vs. say other basics?

mental health ward chic

 

[circumspice]

The best piece of fashion journalism I've read in a while

Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed (Published 2020)

Even before the pandemic, it had started to unravel. What happens now that no one has a reason to dress up?

www.nytimes.com

Am I the only one who read that and ended wanting to grab the BoO dude by the lapels and shake vigorously? He seems to desperately want an investor when that is what basically finished off BoO. If you can sell the **** out of sweats in a pandemic, how is your business model so fucked up you want to get an investor?

 

[clee1982]

I guess he is not expecting the same run rate as he had in March/April, didn’t he say the surge in supply made it last until the end of summer? I guess he is not at the point of self sustaining break even

 

[mozi]

Am I the only one who read that and ended wanting to grab the BoO dude by the lapels and shake vigorously? He seems to desperately want an investor when that is what basically finished off BoO. If you can sell the **** out of sweats in a pandemic, how is your business model so fucked up you want to get an investor?

Reading this NYTimes article, it seems that the US Venture Capital/Private Equity industry is a big cause of the fashion bubble. They have all this money and keep trying to create institutional companies out of designers that had one nice seasonal collection.

Take Band of Outsiders: OK, this guy Sternberg came up with the skinny tie. Great for him. It was clever in that circa 2005 moment. So then VC/PE investors have to go and tell him that he should take their money and go build the next big IPO in a 5-year time-frame, so they can all be billionaires. He takes their tens of millions, and now he has pressure to grow 50% every year, which inevitably results in compromises in design, quality and definitely loss of exclusivity. But really, it reads like all Sternberg really had was the skinny tie idea, and not much else.

If you look at the big billion-dollar fashion brands today, these tend to be things that either have long- and hard- earned heritage (Chanel, Patek, Rolex, LV, etc), or they are companies with a huge supply chain advantage that cost a ton of money to build (Uniqlo, Inditex).

But these fashion investors are either too stupid or too impatient. They want to throw money at start-up brands which just had one good seasonal collection, or some trite DTC model.

Without 100+year heritages, consumers have no reason to care about anything other than price and the latest fashion. The biggest problem, i think, in the fashion industry is way too much supply of product. That comes from all these companies taking tens of millions of VE/PE capital, which means they have pressure to grow 50% every year, which saturates the market with commoditized products.

 

[clee1982]

I find it doubtful it's a "big cause", it is definitely "a cause". It might be a big cause for the new DCT brands, but fashion as a whole I would say PE/VC only accelerated the "drinking the kool-aid" (ever faster season/more discount etc.) rather than being the driving force.