Discussions about the fashion industry thread

[LA Guy]

I would honestly rather pay more for content that stood out for authenticity and independence of thought from end to end, than something where I get revulsed by the overt consumerism by the mid-point.

Advertising revenues account for the vast majority of a magazine's revenues, though. I'm trying to think of any ad free (or even mostly ad free) magazine that has done well with a broad reach, even pre-internet. The real issue is not that there are too many advertisements - that was a complaint about glossies long before the internet came along and gobbled up their pie - but precisely the opposite, that people just won't pay that much for content, particularly text.

 

[Patrick R]

The real issue is not that there are too many advertisements - that was a complaint about glossies long before the internet came along and gobbled up their pie - but precisely the opposite, that people just won't pay that much for content, particularly text.

I think the real issue is that the market has shown over a broad time line that the content, particularly text, is not valuable enough to support its creation and distribution. Significant advertising revenue is necessary to drop the price into a range the consumers value enough to buy.

The distinction being the value of the content is the cause and the willingness to pay is the effect.

 

[dieworkwear]

They have had some good editorial content, but it’s sat in the midst of a morass of adverts and advertorials and the transition between the two is never handled well.

I would honestly rather pay more for content that stood out for authenticity and independence of thought from end to end, than something where I get revulsed by the overt consumerism by the mid-point.

i think those are called books?

 

[cb200]

After reading about Riahnnna, Kate Hudson, and other female celebrities who've worked their celebrity into a lifestyle / clothing brand, I was wondering if I could think of any Male celebrities who've done the same... I'm drawing a blank for any of the same kind of stature. Seems like it's not a path that is interesting to celebs on the men's side who seem more likely to start an alcohol brand with their celebrity status.

 

[beargonefishing]

After reading about Riahnnna, Kate Hudson, and other female celebrities who've worked their celebrity into a lifestyle / clothing brand, I was wondering if I could think of any Male celebrities who've done the same... I'm drawing a blank for any of the same kind of stature. Seems like it's not a path that is interesting to celebs on the men's side who seem more likely to start an alcohol brand with their celebrity status.

I can think of a few rappers, athletes and celebrities that have started lines or collaborated with brands.

 

[cb200]

Yeah, my brains kicking into gear a bit on that. Recent ones... Yeezy, Drake's OVO, and the Jordan brand has been massive for years. Sean John... there's more I'm sure.

 

[Todd Shelton]

GQ loves to run stories on celebrity fashion lines - that's probably the best source. One day this month, GQ ran stories on Russell Wilson and Scott Disick. I guess they've learned those types of stories get more clicks than non-celebrity stories. It dumbs down the whole industry.

 

[dieworkwear]

I like the celebrity stuff. IMO, fashion should be fun. And it's fun seeing celebrities you like getting dressed in cool stuff. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My hot take on menswear: guys are deeply afraid of liking clothes cause they think it makes them gay/ less masculine. And coming out of the 90s, the main way to get guys to feel comfortable with liking clothes was to do all this left-brained, logical heritage stuff about unmovable classics, construction breakdowns, and pseudo-science "objective" takes on fashion.

Whatever anyone thinks of Demna (I don't care for his stuff), I appreciate that fashion right now is in a fun place. IMO, womenswear has it right. You can appreciate the craft of haute couture and still love Rihanna, "dumb" fashion magazines, and trendy ****. Fashion is fashion. Let a little joy into your life. All this "I want to be as objective as possible" is just trying to pretend clothing is something it's not.

 

[Todd Shelton]

I realize my views on celebrity fashion lines is in the minority. The people have voted and they like celebrity fashion lines.

 

[dieworkwear]

I realize my views on celebrity fashion lines is in the minority. The people have voted and they like celebrity fashion lines.

I think that's the main view of a certain kind of menswear enthusiast, usually the one who likes a more classic style.

Guys on Ivy Style will ***** all day about modern celebrity culture, but then go and post a billion photos of Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, and the Duke of Windsor.

 

[Todd Shelton]

I think that's the main view of a certain kind of menswear enthusiast, usually the one who likes a more classic style.

Guys on Ivy Style will ***** all day about modern celebrity culture, but then go and post a billion photos of Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, and the Duke of Windsor.

My view comes as a non-celebrity brand owner, a factory owner, someone who has been working for of years to learn the industry and the 'craft'. It's a perspective that most people don't have to deal with - fortunately for them.

 

[LA Guy]

My view comes as a non-celebrity brand owner, a factory owner, someone who has been working for of years to learn the industry and the 'craft'. It's a perspective that most people don't have to deal with - fortunately for them.

I think that celebrities put the "cool" in the cool stuff, for a lot of people, men and women alike. This is not limited to North America, not by a long shot. I know that selling a brand to some Japanese retailers, for example, one of the first questions asked is "Which (celebrities) wear this?" There is a reason that there are Pitti celebrities, NYFW celebrities, etc...

Another way a lot of guys approach fashion is as a product obsessive, which I freely admt to being. I honestly don't know who wears what. In fact, I am not sure that I can pick Fred Astaire out of a lineup, and of all of the popular threads on the forum, the ones that I personally frequent least are the super popular "What are you wearing" threads. I also follow exactly zero fashion instagrammers on my personal feed. I am nearly completely unconcerned with the style of others, and focus nearly entirely on the object itself. But I'm also not a "quality junkie" in that I'm not that concerned with things like stitch density, and really, any construction issues other than "Is it super tough". I just love cool materials used to make cool objects, and my tastes vary quite a bit stylewise. From what I've seen, my type of nerd is rather less common.

 

[cb200]

Big JCrew story in/on Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/05/can-j-crew-find-itselfand-its-customersagain

 

[Todd Shelton]

Interesting points in this Quartz article: https://qz.com/1631310/us-consumer-spending-has-remained-the-same-with-one-exception/

- In 1987 US shoppers devoted about 5% of their discretionary spending to clothes. In 2017 it was about 2%.....What’s driving the decrease, though, isn’t consumers buying less clothing: Deloitte notes that the number of clothing items US shoppers are purchasing grew consistently over the period studied. Rather, clothes are getting cheaper because of pressure from “market forces,” the firm says.

- In its surveys, Deloitte asked shoppers their reasons for choosing to shop at a retailer. Price was the most common response...Next to last on the list was “alignment with core values.”

- As Deloitte noted in a previous report, retail is polarizing toward the high and low ends just as the same happens in American incomes and the middle class shrinks.

 

[smittycl]

Interesting points in this Quartz article: https://qz.com/1631310/us-consumer-spending-has-remained-the-same-with-one-exception/

- In 1987 US shoppers devoted about 5% of their discretionary spending to clothes. In 2017 it was about 2%.....What’s driving the decrease, though, isn’t consumers buying less clothing: Deloitte notes that the number of clothing items US shoppers are purchasing grew consistently over the period studied. Rather, clothes are getting cheaper because of pressure from “market forces,” the firm says.

- In its surveys, Deloitte asked shoppers their reasons for choosing to shop at a retailer. Price was the most common response...Next to last on the list was “alignment with core values.”

- As Deloitte noted in a previous report, retail is polarizing toward the high and low ends just as the same happens in American incomes and the middle class shrinks.

Makes sense that many facets of life would follow the same polarizing trend.