Designer Deja Vu
Peculiar behavior or in need of sales?
This season, we’re seeing a lot of double takes of designers choosing to showcase in both Montreal and Toronto’s fashion week. Designers like Andy-The Anh, Denis Gagnon, Lucian Matis, and Evan Bidell will present their collections for the second time next week at L’Oreal Fashion Week. I’ve also noticed a few designers who have jumped ships and decided to only show in Toronto, namely RUDSAK, Bodybag by Jude and Morales.
Could it be that the American buyers I had talked to last season were right? Designers are traveling to several tradeshows often showing the same collection again and again, in desperate need of buyers. Yet showcasing in a coveted Fashion Week is expensive, let alone two. Given that Denis Gagnon has been plagued with financial troubles in the past, I wonder how he was able to bounce back to two Fashion Weeks this season.
What does that say of the state of the Canadian fashion retail business? Are Canadian cities not doing enough to stimulate local sales? That in turn, it is forcing local designers to seek their fortunes elsewhere? New York Fashion Week, the circus that is has become, also generated a lot of concern this season by nearly squeezing London Fashion Week out of the calendar next Fall, and the city has become a viable target for talented emerging London designers. It would seem that Montreal, like London, is unable to keep its designers at home as they’re vying for the bigger fashion weeks where they know the media and buyers will be abundant.
Net-a-porter Pulling An H&M Of Its Own
Everyone knows the bad economy is driving shoppers away from store retailers and into the arms of the internet to seek the best deals on clothes. As such, wealthy shoppers, who used to have lots of liquid money to play with, are now more guarded than ever and will only choose to splurge on the pieces that are worth the price.
However, every time I grace the pages of Net-a-porter, perhaps the most successful eluxury commerce site today, high end shoes like Christian Louboutin’s $1500 bootie or a cute Oscar De La Renta sweater, sell out immediately (at least in my size). They’ve also broken ground on pushing the online experience by collaborating with designers to be the first to exclusively sell pieces from runway shows before any other retailer can get their grubby little hands on. Last season it was Halston. This season it’s Alexander McQueen, with a sneak peak look at his collection, behind-the-scenes videos, and yes, be the first to shop 8 exclusive looks from his Pre-Spring 2009 collection right there on the site.
It would seem that designers these days are willing to take a risks in collaborating with non-typical retailers. H&M set the example by having a well-known designer (or at least bleeping on our fashion radars) create a collection exclusively for H&M for November. It’s been a smashing success and the crowds can’t get enough. Target and Gap did the same with Izaac Mizrahi and Roland Mouret. And now, Net-a-porter is boosting its profile as a premiere eluxury commerce site by featuring exclusive pieces from runway collections. Like H&M, I get the impression that perhaps brands like Alexander McQueen and Halston needed some of the publicity to boost up sales, especially with such a current economical meltdown Americans are having. The unique take on this is that neither brand had to resort to designing an affordable collection for the public, they are selling high end collections right off the bat - and they’re flying off the virtual shelves.
Net-a-porter has crafted a great presentation of videos, with an informative and attractive narrative describing the clothes (albeit sometimes a lil too promo for my taste). But it’s great to see the clothes in movement without the “noise” of media people crowding on the benches. There are also bits of slow motion, which is great to really analyze and see how the clothes shift (an option you’ll never get by being at a live show or by watching tv).
Were it not for the fact that money would be an issue, I would’ve definitely snatched up the Column Dress (with removabe shoulder pads!) and the white tuxedo jumpsuit. Hats off to Net-a-porter!
Image credits: Net-a-porter
Webzines mentioned in The NY Times
I came across The Business of Fashion blog today with the title that they’ve just been recently featured and quoted in today’s NY Times fashion article “Where The Fashionistas Go For A Quick Fix“. But that’s not the only exciting part, a few other well-established webzines have been mentioned, including:
- Gloss Magazine - which I used to write for (is it too hopeful of me to say that perhaps Mr. Amed or Ms. La Ferla saw my blog and that I wrote for them?)
- Fashion156.com - in which Susie Bubble regularly contributes…on a side note I got contacted by them but had to turn them down.
- Unvogue.com - Well-talked about by Malcolm Sirrah on his blog Cut, Sew & Blog/Change
- Glam.com - I think anyone who owns a fashion blog or site has been contacted by them
- Iconique - my first fashion webzine experience, gorgeous as always
- Net-a-porter - the famed luxury website where you can buy RTW
If you’ve bared with me since the early days of this blog, I’ve rarely plugged myself in other media besides Gloss Magazine, probably because I’m perhaps a little too modest to mention. I’ve been contacted by an array of people including budding new designers (local and national), writing for fashion companies, invited to fashion events and even (heartbreakingly) missed an opportunity to be interviewed by the BBC….THE BBC. Yes, I had to kick my own behind for missing out on that one.
I find this is such an exciting time to write for a fashion webzine or blog as they are gaining more and more media attention from, well, traditional and online media. That somehow, in this huge network of fashion sites, any time one of our “own” is selected to be covered by the big media groups or picked up by major sites, I find it such an honor and happy for others who get to shine and recognized for what they do.
So I just wanted to say a huge congratulations to everyone who really work in keeping the fashion buzz online alive 
