Random fashion thoughts - Part II (A New Hope)

[habitant]



bam that's not a bad idea...how would that work though? like, click here to receive a free swatch? great idea in theory, would require a lot of legwork though. wonder what the roi would be. also, sometimes it's not about the self fabric but about the combinations of linings, bindings, trims etc...

also I like vfiles. it's important. not that all of it is good.


sip im curious to hear exactly what 2009-2010 pe you thought was particularly inspired vs current stuff.

Knoll does this.

 

[zissou]



I move around on scooter or bike.  I really like it, except for the fact that sometimes I see people and am forced to talk to them.  If I wanted to talk to you, I would have arranged to meet you somewhere...

Man, you really are a grumpy old dude. Impromptu chats with my neighbors are one of the most personally enriching parts of commuting through my neighborhood. There is a rehabilitation center (i.e., nursing home, but not just for old people) a couple blocks from my house, so I get to have some really interesting conversations with some very peculiar characters. It's fun.

 

[LA Guy]

I think this is precisely the problem Patrik's getting at. He does design a lot of really subtle stuff, and while some of it is sort of visible in the webstore closeups, a lot of it just doesn't come across and really can't unless the stuff is in your hands.

The flip side of this is that perhaps it's not actually a matter of these things being visible on a screen, which sometimes they aren sometimes they aren't so much; but a matter of the customer actually appreciating something like, to paraphrase from another part of the interview, the play between two different tones of navy next to one another etc. I would venture to guess that this kind of stuff is lost on a lot of people who are buying things online.

I think that Robert Geller suffers the most from this. I still have a small box of samples in the storeroom, and a lot of the small details, let a mesh fabric contrasting against a cotton twill, on the back yoke of a pair of pants, is completely lost on the internet. Sometimes, even in stores, these types of details require someone invested in the piece to highlight it and point it out. One standout from his collections are pieces like this:


The "wow" effect is really in the contrast of the texture between the wool and the heavy military nylon bottom. This is immediately apparently, at first glance, in store, from 10 feet awat. Unfortunately, on the screen, even with good photography, capturing this is nearly impossible, especially on blacks and midnight blues, and even in this picture, which is well done, you see it, just it doesn't have any real emotional impact.

I think that shopping online vs. in-store is like drinking a very nuanced bordeaux vs. say, a California Cab, which packs an immediate wallop. You look at a picture, and the first thing you see is the silhouette, which is why we have arguments about whether an H&M jacket is comparable to... whatever designer it is aping. In person, you can generally tell that it's a cheap POS that should be killed with fire. Comparing an H&M duffle to say, a Balenciaga duffle which has been carefully but subtle color and texture blocked is... insane. But if you look at at the pieces on a little screen, and have never seen the pieces in person, whose to blame the viewer?

 

[GoldenTribe]

And from the commercial designer standpoint, who needs nuance when there's a booming marked for $1,600 bedazzled birkenstocks?

(That's what sold out overnight; those weren't online yesterday. I'm guessing half-sizes were never in stock, but still...)

 

[LA Guy]

And from the commercial designer standpoint, who needs nuance when there's a booming marked for $1,600 bedazzled birkenstocks?



(That's what sold out overnight; those weren't online yesterday. I'm guessing half-sizes were never in stock, but still...)

Womenswear is a whole different ballgame.

 

[bamgrinus]

Huh, in European shoe sizes, is there a difference between men's and women's sizing? Wouldn't a size 46 be gigantic for a women's shoe?

 

[Bam!ChairDance]



I think that Robert Geller suffers the most from this.  I still have a small box of samples in the storeroom, and a lot of the small details, let a mesh fabric contrasting against a cotton twill, on the back yoke of a pair of pants, is completely lost on the internet.  Sometimes, even in stores, these types of details require someone invested in the piece to highlight it and point it out.

Great example, and after mulling over this a bit, I think what designers and webstores need is to arrive at a combination of copy and photography that gives the customer the right "lens" through which to see the garment.

Like, if Totokaelo were to include in the copy, "hey, check out this contrast between the wool and heavy nylon" and provided the best photo they could of said contrast, they'd at least give us a mental framework for imagining what makes the garment really special even if we couldn't access those things in person. For the most part stores do this fairly well (with some exceptions, SUP YOOX GROUP), but there's no standardization. If they have the budget for it, brands should assign some intern to get on the phone with every stockist and coordinate which aspects of the garments to highlight.

 

[GoldenTribe]



Womenswear is a whole different ballgame.  

Those are men's sandals, though I might be misunderstanding what you meant.

 

[LA Guy]

Those are men's sandals, though I might be misunderstanding what you meant.

Nice. Well, I guess that luxury brands and the South Beach market are also a completely different market.

Luxury brands, including things like SLP, have two types of customers:
1) Fanboys/girls - this customer trades up in fashion at the cost of other things less important to them.
2) Rich people - there are tons of people with a ton of money. "Wipe your ass with $100 bills" money. To a certain segment of them, a luxury plaything is just that. It's bought, used, and discarded. Incredibly lucrative, but also extremely fickle, unlike, say, a mid-priced menswear brand, that can do okay for a long time, but never really be a booming business. On the other, those are unlikely to be super hot one day and a pariah the very next.

 

[cyc wid it]

I've been trying to physically boutiques and stores more. That said, I pre-ordered 2 pretty pricey items and proxyed another sight unseen for this season. :foo:

 

[Bam!ChairDance]

So, I just saw that Mr. Porter is carrying Kilgour, a brand that looks like what would happen if Devoa opened up a shop on Savile Row. The brand's story is pretty cool-- apparently the designer is actively trying to push "traditional tailoring" into the future, which is the sort of targeted focus I don't usually see from similarly-minded peers. Let's hope this catches on, ya? Then CM and SWD can bleed together into one big happy lapelless forum.

 

[toothsomesound]

bam that is a great idea about having interns reach out to stockists about details for copy. will pitch that.

kilgour...I dunno, the aesthetic leaves me sort of cold, but I bet I'd be much more impressed with it in person. Another great example of that dichotomy again; I remember reading about Eidos/seeing pictures, not really my world so I didn't pay it any attention. But seeing it in person at No Man blew my mind open. Holy god, those guys know how to make clothes. The difference between that stuff and your typical designer stuff is incredible.

 

[Ragechester]

Man Kilgour is nice, I thought they only did MTM

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

So, I just saw that Mr. Porter is carrying Kilgour, a brand that looks like what would happen if Devoa opened up a shop on Savile Row.

I'd be pretty into this if their OTR included down to size 34, but as usual, that's asking too much.

 

[Ragechester]

1) Fanboys/girls - this customer trades up in fashion at the cost of other things less important to them.

So basically this is where we all fit in, just kicking back in our CCP with girls just wanna have fun playing in the background...?