After reading several articles pertaining to 2010 in retrospect, I have to say that 2010 was filled with exciting new progressions in social media and its relationship to fashion. Scandals, death, revolving doors, parties, and fashion, 2010 has been a difficult year to keep up, I have to admit.

Last year was really the year of the fashion bloggerati, featured left and right in fashion magazines, news media, and at front row seats during fashion week. Included in the latest spin, H&M will be confectioning a mini capsule collection designed by Elin Kling, a Swedish fashion blogger who owns Style By Kling. Kling’s success into fashion is not singular though, FashionToast‘s Rumi Neely paired up with jewellery brand Dannijo to launch her own collection of stylish neck and wristwear for Tobi.com. Not to be outdone, Style Rookie‘s Tavi Gevinson had styled her first photoshoot after pitching the idea for BlackBook. All we’re missing is Bryan Boy to join the fray, he has sort of, as he was one of the more flashier bloggers to speak at the first Independent Fashion Blogger Conference.

What with social media tools being refined, new collections, new designers, new editors joining into the new year, is it any wonder that it would be easy to get lost into the brouhaha?

As I’ve distanced myself a little from fashion in the past couple of months, it’s amazing what little I would know of fashion were I not to keep up with it. It was only by happenstance that I came across news that Andy-The Anh’s business has shut its doors due to poor sales since the economic downturn. Meaning that his two stores in Montreal, and the ones in Toronto had to be shut. It was surprising, yet not.

Despite rave reviews, Andy The-Anh may have had the talent, but he didn’t have the marketing strength to compete with other brands at the same price point. While it’s nice that a lot of Canadian designers choose to stay within the country and market themselves as Canadian-made, it’s of little comfort when even the local luxury retailers like Holt Renfrew (and recently The Bay) would not carry his lines like they did for Denis Gagnon. The latter made several efforts in several areas that I think other Canadian designers should take note of. Venturing into social media, creating a documentary, establishing an exhibition in a museum, creating a capsule collection for Bedo, and even inviting non-Canadian bloggers to see his collections, all have contributed to Gagnon’s current media darling success. When a designer thinks outside of the box and is willing to take chances into the new, the results can be wonderful. Andy The-Anh’s lack of online presence and restricting himself only to the fashion arena for professionals and editors may have contributed to his lack of sales. To say that the “market isn’t willing” to take on new collections is completely inexcusable. New collections pop up 24/7, I mean if a fashion blogger, rather than a bonafide designer, can create a capsule collection for the masses, there’s plenty of space. Although Business 101 may not be taught in fashion school, let this be a hard earned lesson to all new designers that if they want to make it into the business, they have to be willing to take risks. Especially considering how Andy was one of the few who had investors willing to expand his brand, but didn’t have the marketing savvy to levitate him as far as he could’ve gone.

I would hate to see similar brands like Greta Constantine, David Dixon, and Pink Tartan to suffer a similar fate. They’re hot now, but if they don’t do anything to get their social media mojo going, they won’t be sticking around for long.

While I myself, sometimes wish for the times of yonder when the fashion conversations weren’t so convoluted, I know that time waits for no one. While 14 yr olds are able to decipher today’s library of technical jargon, my aging Generation Y (yes, aging!) genes sees that the light in the tunnel is getting further and further for me to catch up. And perhaps one day soon, a blog will be a thing of the past.

And so then, what would the future of fashion writers be?

I don’t particularly understand this concept of “H&M is going luxe” rather than “Lanvin is going cheaper”. Isn’t it simply PR manipulation of words to ease the luxury consumers that Alber Elbaz has not forsaken his creativity in order to make a masstige line?

H&M shouldn’t toss around the word “luxury” like they really understood it, much less try to convince us that they’re trying to go luxe with the Lanvin line. And similarly, Lanvin’s Elbaz (as much respect as I have for him) shouldn’t try to convince us that he’s not dampening the Lanvin name by trying to make a collection more affordable to the public. I feel that because there’s much affection for Elbaz, critics including the NY Times seem to be making excuses that Lanvin will be “different” with this new collaboration. It’s not. I’m sorry to say. This is simply PR trying to smooth the ruffled feathers of those who are faithful to the actual RTW brand, feeling that their once special pieces they’ve bought for thousands of dollars can somewhat now be seen on a teenager who paid $100 for a dress designed by the same man. That would leave a sour taste in my mouth.

But then again, I suppose I could be a hypocrite for buying Denis Gagnon’s Bedo dress for $100 when his $1000 fringe dress for Spring 2011 could’ve been a better investment. For the record though, his new spring line is considerably cheaper than his Fall 2010 line, in fact about $600-1000 cheaper for near equal craftsmanship. Might want to take a look at Holt Renfrew and judge for yourself if his spring and fall line are still there.

But I digress.

You can’t really compare Lanvin and Denis Gagnon, the difference in financial support is enormous and Elbaz has far greater budget to work with in crafting his elegant pieces worth his $3000+ price tag. I have no doubt that the H&M x Lanvin line will be a smashing success, I just don’t think that H&M and Lanvin are being honest of what’s actually happening here.

Image credit: Fashionista.com

Isn’t it a little early to announce yet another designer collaboration with H&M? I mean didn’t they want Rei Kawakubo to bask in the glory of her collection? It seems like the announcement of Matthew Williamson coming onboard for a Summer collection seems to sort of eclipse or steal her thunder. Her collection did go on sale only a couple of weeks ago. Btw, there are still some pieces left at the downtown Montreal location if you’re still vying for a piece.

Not to say I’m not excited for Williamson, in fact, I’m very thrilled to learn this news. I’ve been watching his collections for a couple of seasons now, and what I love about this British designer is his mosaics of color in his work. Not to say all of his clothes are great, but I certainly think his attention to detail and color coordination are to be admired. I’ve been eyeing this royal purple (blue?) cashmere sweater on Net-a-porter since the fall, but can’t find a good reason to spend over $1000 to acquire it. I’ve also been fancying his rainbow colored Chapelle weave coat. I would certainly wear it on bright occasions and the colors make me smile. But because he works with such detail, most of his pieces run far over $1000, hardly affordable to collect.

I see him as a spring/summer designer anyway, vivid colors always make me think of warmer days. So I definitely expect to see an array of colorful silk dresses, and hopefully a few embroidered pieces.

Williamson’s collection will arrive at H&M stores on April 23rd, 2009. Though Williamson may gain a few more fans of his work, they will have to save all their pennies to purchase one his regular pieces, and in this economic slump, they will certainly be a hard sell.

Image credits: Style.com

But if you can get a “$500″ dress at a mark down price of $230, somewhere down the line, retailers are still making a profit from that $230 price tag, albeit a smaller one. So it goes into question, what exactly is the real price of that “$500″ dress? I came to this question as I was browsing the Forever 21 site, the US counterpart of an H&M fast fashion chain. There, hundreds of items are listed one by one, each sporting a cheap price tag. But as I further analyzed…what makes this tunic cheaper or more expensive than the one next to it? Who makes these prices and why are they so varied?

If you’ve read Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. Some luxury bags are made with $250 worth of materials, yet are marked up to $1200 on the retailing floor. Of course, you’ll need a profit margin to pay for your laborers, distributors, rent, etc. But I mean, we’re talking about selling at more than four times the production costs.

Taking an example of Forever 21, they do the same, they mark it up “dirt cheap” to our eyes, at $20-$30 a garment, and can slash it as low as $14-$15 on sale. That means the piece is probably worth a mere $5 in production cost, copied and reproduced by the thousands. Wholesale is of course, always cheaper than retail pricing. You buy in bulk, you sell for more. This is really unsurprising, I suppose most consumers know this and don’t really care. This is how business has to be conducted right? To earn a profit, to earn a living.

I believe there are 3 factors that determine the price of a garment:

1. Branding
2. Emotional attachment (labour of love)
3. Production cost

Branding is an obvious factor that plays a huge role on consumer choices, why choose the Brita water filter instead of Evian’s bottled water?

Emotional attachment is connected to the designer’s love for a certain piece. Surely a more complex, hand embroidered, hand dyed dress, with a gazillion of embellishments will fetch a higher pricing. The more time a designer spends on it or loves the piece, the higher the pricing. I mean local Montreal designer Helmer made a dress out of toilet paper fabric and it was worth around $12,000, and we very well know that you can get a six pack of toilees for $7-$8 at the grocery store.

Production cost is obvious. Labourers of fabric usually get the short end of it as they have to sell the fabrics cheap for designers to buy them in larger quantities. More specialized houses will create unique more expensive fabrics, but in general, you won’t ever find the price of a garment equal to the cost of its materials.

As a consumer, the question remains the same: do you believe what you’re buying is worth it? This comes down to personal knowledge and taste. Some people are fine with Payless and others find that spending $585 for a pair of Christian Louboutin is highly justified (I am one of those people, and I own Payless shoes).

The truth is, there are clearly no right or wrong answers when it comes to determining the value of clothes (or any other product for that matter). It all depends on how influenced you are, how much money you’re willing to spend and if you feel any emotional connection to what you’re buying. I say if you love fast fashion, knock yourself out. Buy 100 outfits. Just pray you have a big enough closet to fit all of it in. For those of you who can’t live without the luxury of fine fabric, with $1800 Pringle of Scotland sweaters and $5000 corset dresses from Alexandre McQueen, enjoy it. Just make sure you really want it.

TopShop (UK)

No, not the crappy little store in Montreal Trust that bears the same name, I’ve been to that place twice and their clothes and shopping experience wouldn’t be quite as near as I would expect for a Kate Moss famed store. This UK retailer is owned by Arcadia Group, TopShop along with TopMan are a British sensation with nearly 3000 stores, of which 420 of them are found in 30 countries. So why is it taking them so long to come to Canada?

Last year they’ve announced that their first American flagship store will be located none other than in New York City. A 40,000 sq.ft. behemoth on Broadway will open Fall 2008, making our new H&M flagship look impossibly small at 15,000 sq.ft. The birth of a TopShop flagship store in Montreal might mean the end of Le Chateau as they seem to operate in the same fast fashion styles. While Le Chateau is doing relatively well for itself earning over $240 millions in sales in 2006, its revenue is minute compared to Arcadia’s overall $3.7 billion revenue (even split into 9 brands, one brand would still dwarf our Canadian counterpart).

TopShop would probably be the last of the European giants rounding out St-Catherine, it wouldn’t be surprising that they would have to displace other businesses in order to make room for a TopShop like H&M did with their flagship.

Uniqlo (Japan)

Though H&M may be drawing some attention to Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo this fall, I ultimately believe the public will go for a more sensible Japanese fashion brand such as Uniqlo to make competition with American Apparel. Good quality office wear of chinos, button down shirts, long sleeve tees, and plain collared polos, Uniqlo is affordable comfort.

Though Uniqlo had 3 New Jersey stores a few years ago, the stores performed well below expectations and staggered in sales. Issuing a redirection, Uniqlo opened its flagship store in New York and closed the 3 New Jersey locations as to better reposition themselves on the market.

Uniqlo may not be as trendy as H&M or Top Shop, however they do tap into the market of shoppers who want to look put together without being over the top with casual wear that’s not Wal-Mart. It’s also a bonus that the New York flagship also carries Japanese yukata (summer kimono) for a cheap $40 during Spring, something that some consumers find fun and endearing. As Montrealers appreciate Japanese culture more and more, a yukata corner at Uniqlo would probably perform very well in Montreal as per my observations at this year’s Matsuri Japan festival at the Old Port. Long line ups snaked along the yukata rental booth, and many came owning their very own. At $40, it’s an affordable and fun investment.

Since a good friend of mine has been physically and mentally preparing herself for the big opening of the H&M flagship store downtown, I thought I’d pass by to give her a moral boost. Obviously, I wasn’t in for the hot cheap deals, mainly because the store was packed like a hot club on a Saturday night.

A DJ booth was set up near the escalators on the entrance floor. A sea of shoppers bubbled left and right, not an inch was spared of retail space. Surprisingly, the clothes are still holding togethers as H&M sales associates continually return clothes other shoppers didn’t want and refolding any misplaced tshirt. It was a cacophony of endless chatter and music.

I scanned the first floor for my friend. This collection is the most fashion forward and most suitable for office wear. I made my way onto the second floor where you can tell the more trendy (and disposable) fashions were grouped together. 20-30 girls lined up to try on their goods, some trying to return some items to sales clerks as they passed by with armloads of clothes to restock.

I see my friend pass by and poke her. She appeared more calm than I had anticipated (H&M has a knack of picking very special people to work their sales floor), and had a brief chat with her.

“It’s been insane since early this morning. I think there were like 500 people waiting outside to get in,” she said. When asked about how the staff was handling the onslaught of customers she replied that they were “on edge” as it appears many customers are ill-mannered, leaving food, drinks, trash all over the store (who does that?? Ill-mannered indeed!), trying everyone’s patience. Usually H&M staffers are bold with their opinions and don’t put up with client shinanigans. Still, from my observations, staffers had it together. We’re momentarily interrupted when a female customer holds up a blue long sleeved tee asking if there are any more in size 6. “If you don’t see anything back there where you got it, we’re sold out,” my friend answered politely. Sold out? On opening day? H&M must love that.

Respecting The Swedes

You would think a retail clerk doesn’t know much about that specific style of sweater and color, or the section it came from and would probably want to shoo away pesky customers on a busy day like this…but you’re wrong. After hearing about the kind of training H&M staffers receive, these little helpers are bonafide fashion gurus. I can safely say that my friend knows more about fashion style and trends than I do. Of course, I can’t say much on exactly how H&M functions within their business, but after hearing hours of what my friend has done over her training, I can safely say that working at H&M is nothing like working in regular fashion retail. And it is because of this fantastic business method that they’ve convinced me that they have set the bar in retail organization and service (among other things).

Other retailers should quake in their booties

St-Catherine looked more crowded than usual, and the beautiful day encouraged loads of shoppers to take to the street to shop. H&M bags are everywhere. I took a glance at Guess, located across the street from H&M and I could see in one of the sales associates’ eyes that she was longing to be on the other side, wanting a piece of that Swedish dream. The store was comparatively empty next to their neighbors. I mean, nobody would line up to shop at Guess.

In essence, H&M is magic. They cooked up the perfect storm, and it has Montreal fans raging. Recession? H&M. Plenty of money? H&M. It’s a win-win situation.

Image credit: The Gazette

I gotta hand it to them, corporately, they know how to make business. Attracting fashionable clothes at cheap prices, smack in the middle of downtown (will Simons feel the heat of competition?), and enticing shoppers by giving them armloads of freebies. It’s a lethal combo, how can any mass consumer resist?

H&M workers f33r the crowd.

Come November my lovelies, nobody will be safe.

For some reason I get the feeling the 2nd H&M store on St-Catherine West is gonna suffer. But then again, I could be wrong.

P.S. I’ll probably hang out on the street to take pictures, but I stand by my choice, I refuse to buy.

A friend of mind just landed a job at mega Swedish company H&M, training for the eventual opening of the new flagship store on corner St-Catherine and Peel. She also informed that there will be a second H&M store opening on St-Catherine East near (or replacing?) the Futureshop store. This store will hold the “young and funky” collections while as the flagship store will hold the more “mature” collections, assuming of course this is where the Rei Kawakubo collection will land in November 2008. With all the rage of H&M, I can only pray for her to keep her sanity during these first new months.

Some good news for men, there will be a new store for casual men’s sportswear at the Rockland Centre opening August 2008. The brand, Report Collection, has been established since 1999 and has been successful in establishing their brand in North America as well as Europe and parts of Asia. From the looks of it, Report Collection leans more towards the sophiscated sportswear line, not exactly your next Champions, or Foot Locker type of athletic sportswear.

Another new store that opened at the Rockland Centre is This & That Axesoir which introduces a new concept in accessorizing thy self. Slick with charcoal slate countertops, you’ll find neutral and natural colored jewelry as well as a selection of clothes to choose from. A 100% Canadian brand.

Frankly, I can’t think of a better mall to shop in, I love the Rockland Centre, new stores are always popping up, the food is great, the mall is clean and slick, there’s free parking and it’s not too crowded. Though I haven’t been able to set foot in many new stores as of late due to a busy schedule, the development of new stores in Montreal is encouraging.

I have no idea if I’ll ever find the occasion to wear such a dress, but I will. These dresses are beyond gorgeous. Images and designs belong to Andy The Anh from his upcoming Fall 2008 campaign.

I apologize if there were any lack of updates as of late, my personal life has been kinda taking over my free time as I’m in the midst of moving, I have a performance to prepare for and a trip to plan for.

Concerning Montreal fashion, I haven’t had much time to consume and divulge much on that front, for that I apologize.

However I am going on a trip to Japan in a couple of weeks, so be rest assured that I’ll be reporting on Japanese fashion from abroad I’ve also read much about the glittering glass flagship stores sparkling in the Ginza district like pretty jewels, so loads of photos to come.

Afterwards I’m going to Sin City aka Las Vegas for kicks and maybe if there’s time to rent a car, make a trip to Desert Hills Outlet designer discount store (as per mentioned in Dana Thomas’ “Deluxe”).

It’ll be a bit difficult to keep things Montreal-centric as I’ll be traveling around quite a bit this year. But here’s a recap on what will be happening in terms of store openings:

• H&M flagship store on St-Catherine, the construction tarp is drapped across the building already right across the HMV store. Opens Fall 2008
• 
  TNT (The New Trend) on Westmount Square – Toronto-based trendy designer store. NOW OPEN! Check out their official site blog to see pictures galore of the new site.
• Agent Provocateur - Location TBD. UK import’s sexy lingerie line arrives in Montreal in late 2008.

The biggest upcoming fashion event will be happening during the Grand Prix celebration, for the Montreal Fashion & Design Festival from June 4th to the 8th, 2008. Showcasing at least 50 labels in a free, open-air catwalk fiesta with free goodies, bar terrasses, music, and street entertainments.

Shopping Events

Of course, Montreal is famous for it’s St-Laurent sidewalk sales which happens twice (or maybe more? I always think that there’s always a sale somewhere) a year. This year’s first sidewalk sale will coincide with the St-Ambroise Fringe Festival (don’t worry, it’s still in Montreal) pulling along another bazaar-like opportunity to shop for locally made goods at Fringe Art Marts. The sale and festival happens June 21rst and 22nd, 2008.

Summer is right around the corner which means BIG upcoming festivals: beer, jazz, just for laughs, francopholie, grand prix, fantasia, you name it, it’s going to happen. Enjoy your summer everyone! I will be back soon hopefully to write a little more before my trip and will give you updates on my journey to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Amusez-vous bien

Comme Des Garçons designer, Rei Kawakubo, has been tapped to be the next designer collection for H&M‘s Fall line.

“Rei Kawakubo has been at the top of our wish list for a long time and we are
thrilled that she has chosen to collaborate with us. We have tremendous respect
for Kawakubo’s fashion philosophy of questioning fashion’s ingrained patterns,
and admire her artistic approach to design. We are particularly excited that the
collection will be launched in Japan, Kawakubo’s native country, at the same
time as the launch of our new store there”, explains Margareta van den Bosch,
creative advisor, H&M.

I think I’m one of the few people who doesn’t quite get Comme Des Garçons or Rei Kawakubo’s line of thought and philosophy when it comes to design. I know her approach is something along the lines of deconstructing fashion, but I just can’t follow her angle. Some of her designs aren’t really wearable or salable, I mean there was a Fall or Spring line last year where she had a bunch of clown outfits… Anyone care to enlighten me on her? I’m interested in knowing what kind of collection she’ll be creating for H&M, it could possibly be the funkiest collection yet. Not that I would have any chance on getting my hands on it, all H&M collections designed by big shot designers have sold out within the first opening hour.

For her Fall collection, I can see some of that deconstruction, it reminds me of a more sophisticated version of h.Naoto, a Japanese designer who destroys fabrics by painting, stripping, and disheveling, giving that grungy british punk rock look with an edge. At least that’s what he used to do, I think these days he focuses more on J-rock, gothic Victorian inspired looks. I can see this working for Japanese fashion, the younger crowds like it elaborate, detailed and funky. But for a western demographic, it might hit a smaller audience. Well who knows, this collection just might be a hit too.

Image credit: Style.com