Discussions about the fashion industry thread

[once a day]

Just out of curiousity - how much did you pay for the scarf on sale? We're planning our AW19 and deciding between production in Italy or in Asia. We did a small test collection this year in Italy and where very happy with the quality, yet not sure what folks are willing to pay for quality cashmere these days.

View attachment 1101319 View attachment 1101320 View attachment 1101321

Picked up a really cool cashmere scarf from Drake's at Barneys post-Christmas sale. Anyone have a clue as to the initials or the "T"? Never seen a Drake's product marked that way. Seems a bit disingenuous to say it's from Kashmir as well. Disputed territory but is that just a dodge to avoid saying Made in India or Pakistan?

The Drake's website lists scarves apparently from the same manufacturer as some Made in India and some Made in Kashmir.

Maybe I should put this in the Drake's thread? Oops...I always forget this is SW&D. Still, kind of a cool scarf, goes with jeans I think...

 

[smittycl]

Just out of curiousity - how much did you pay for the scarf on sale? We're planning our AW19 and deciding between production in Italy or in Asia. We did a small test collection this year in Italy and where very happy with the quality, yet not sure what folks are willing to pay for quality cashmere these days.

Original price was $476 which is more than I would pay for an accessory. Got it half off.

 

[cb200]

While not Men's... or fashion. This is a crazy story from today's clothing business world- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...accused-of-hiding-millions-to-avoid-creditors

has a little bit of everything.

 

[Todd Shelton]

While not Men's... or fashion. This is a crazy story from today's clothing business world- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...accused-of-hiding-millions-to-avoid-creditors

has a little bit of everything.

Can you imagine the chaos in taking a business from $0 to $2 billion in sales in 4 years! No chance that would go smoothly. Fun read.

 

[cb200]

That kind of crazy growth would break almost any business. Maybe in the Tech-world, scale like that's conceivable to survive... but in physical product creation and selling?

 

[IJReilly]

Just out of curiousity - how much did you pay for the scarf on sale? We're planning our AW19 and deciding between production in Italy or in Asia. We did a small test collection this year in Italy and where very happy with the quality, yet not sure what folks are willing to pay for quality cashmere these days.

From a customers perspective, brand is everything to me when buying cashmere. It’s pretty easy to spot the worst cashmere out there, but it is difficult to gauge just how good a 400 euro scarf is. What I am looking for is longevity and a pill free product (within reason).

Therefore I buy only from people I trust and who who know that I expect to get what I pay for, which in the case of say a quality sweater is at least ten soft amazing years of wear, barring moths and the results of my own follies etc. if I am paying around 4-500 euro.

I am not sure how you are going to compete as a new brand. It would be difficult to compete with say Begg & co due to their incredibly strong brand. It is my perception that much of the cashmere trade has been heavily commoditized, sadly.

Best of luck to you though, fellow countrymen. Drop me a line if you are looking for some feedback.

 

[LA Guy]

Can you imagine the chaos in taking a business from $0 to $2 billion in sales in 4 years! No chance that would go smoothly. Fun read.

Possible if they brought in an experienced CEO with their own team. But it doesn't sound like that's what happened.

 

[conceptual 4est]

Now that Raf is out at CK, who should they bring in to replace him? Someone high-profile again in an attempt to get some extra cache, or someone more low-key to just keep some good design flowing and let the rest of CK pay the bills?

Alternatively, who do you think can do American minimalism well?

 

[dieworkwear]

This sounds crazy, but could they get Phoebe Philo? I feel like that would be a money maker. It would fit into their aesthetic (minimalism), but in a way that doesn't crowd out their basics. It would also generate press. It would be visually accessible and they could do lower-end versions of their high-end line. And it would be focused on womenswear, which I think is probably the bulk of their biz anyway.

 

[LA Guy]

This sounds crazy, but could they get Phoebe Philo? I feel like that would be a money maker. It would fit into their aesthetic (minimalism), but in a way that doesn't crowd out their basics. It would also generate press. It would be visually accessible and they could do lower-end versions of their high-end line. And it would be focused on womenswear, which I think is probably the bulk of their biz anyway.

I thought that Phoebe wanted a break.

 

[dieworkwear]

I thought that Phoebe wanted a break.

Well too bad Pheobe you're designing for Calvin Klein now.

 

[winston86dit]

I agree Phoebe would be an amazing choice for CK.
There’s a lot of men out there who would love to get a piece or two designed by her as well.

 

[LA Guy]

Well too bad Pheobe you're designing for Calvin Klein now.

Or they cold give it to Hedi Slimane

 

[bry2000]

Now that Raf is out at CK, who should they bring in to replace him? Someone high-profile again in an attempt to get some extra cache, or someone more low-key to just keep some good design flowing and let the rest of CK pay the bills?

Alternatively, who do you think can do American minimalism well?

Alber Elbaz or Lucas Ossendrijver.

Re: minimalism. Let's leave that to the Scandis. Besides, a lot of these upstart DNVBs claim minimalism as their aesthetic when they really have no creativity.

 

[OccultaVexillum]

I could see Ossendrijver being a good fit actually. Or Margaret Howell.

Aside from them I think they are better off just going to Thom Browne or Tom Ford and hiring one of their design team though. There'd be little press a lot of the people that have come out of those two design teams have been making good things on their own that would fit the "American Minimalism" thing.