Fashion is renowned for its chameleon-like qualities. Its ability to adapt to changing times has never been more evident than now. Recession chic is the new look on the street, the overt spending of diamond dripping wives of moguls, oil tycoons a la Dynasty and Dallas is a thing of the Nineties.
In today’s world of busy career women in their twenties, value is key. The High Street has stepped up its game and has garnered a niche in the market; the likes of Topshop, French Connection, and Karen Millen have perfected the mix of expensive lookinh bang-on-trend-yet-still-affordable to a tee. Rather than a top to toe designer look, it’s now cool to mix high street with designer bags and shoes. Even celebrities are emulating this trend mixing Balmain with Topshop as seen on the likes of Beyonce and Rihanna.
Not to be left out of this Mecca of profits, established fashion houses have thought of a way of getting a shoe into this market. And so the high street and elite designer collaboration is born. This new trend has produced a frenzy on the part of customers and mega profits on the part of the companies involved.Ever the trend-setters, film stars, musicians, and models are everywhere mixing designer gear with affordability.
The chic, elegant, faux-designer wardrobe has never been more accessible to all than it is. Some high street stores have taken advantage of this more than others. Leading the way is H&M whose collaborators have included Viktor and Rolf, Matthew Williamson, Roberto Cavalli more recently Jimmy Choo. Zara had the beautiful Cruz sisters, and New Look collaborations had both the legitimate designer in the form of Giles Deacon as well as the pop stars in Lily Allen and Beth Ditto designing signature ranges. And perhaps most prominently Sir Phillip Green’s Topshop have their wonder girl Kate Moss at the helm, designing multiple sell out collections each year.
Fashion houses that can seem too ‘exclusive’ for the high street have designed cheaper capsule collections for the savvy shopper. Armani has its cheap and chic collection, Marc Jacobs has Marc by Marc Jacobs, Donna Karen has the popular DKNY and that’s just a few of the big names who have ventured into this domain. Never before has the fashion elite catered more to the needs of the everyday woman on a budget.
Even designers that have decided to keep their ‘exclusivity’ and not design on the cheap have had to adjust. The era of 3 designer bags a season are gone, beautiful statement pieces that last for a lifetime is what is on the minds of most people. This is proved by the continued rise in sales of these items. The classic Burberry trench coat, the Channel 2.5 bag, Christian Louboutin heels. All these spell out elegance, and durability. Burberry has diversified its trench so it appeals to a wider range of people not just middle aged, middle class. The Channel bag is on the arms of 40 something and 20 year olds alike, the same can be said for Louboutin heels.The secret of these items is their ability to transcend barriers such as age and ethnicity.
Yet one brand keeps nagging me, simply because of how it continually bucks the trend. Louis Vuitton does not offer sales, it has maintained its traditional design, it manufactures its products the same way it always has, and it streamlines it’s costs to a bare minimum without losing any of it’s key characteristics. It took me a while to figure out its continued appeal without any serious re-branding, but it seems to me that Louis Vuitton isn’t so different from any of the others after all – it has made use of musicians and film stars to sell its wares as well, and it’s reluctance to back down from high end exclusivity is perhaps just its unique selling point in this highly competitive industry.Applying the cross generational tactics in its subtle ways, Madonna for the older, Rihanna for the younger.
The recession may possibly be over, and the economy back on the rise with Christmas shopping acting as a boost, but recession chic fashion is not going anywhere in a hurry, it is definitely here to stay.
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