Archive for March, 2008

Chic Fashion versus Cheap Fashion

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | 1 Comment »

Upmarket brands may have begun stalking mass consumers, but the trend labelled ‘massluxe’ (or ‘masstige’, take your pick) is more about chain stores smartening up. Gap, for instance, went one ... Read more..

Strategic Alliances In Fashion

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

There may have been a time when fashion was constructed like a pyramid, with haute couture at the apex, designer ready-to-wear just below, challenger brands in the middle, and a ... Read more..

When haute couture meets high street

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

In the end, the New York Daily News summed it up best of all. ‘Fashion king Karl Lagerfeld is a mega-hit for the masses from Manhattan to Milan,’ the newspaper ... Read more..

Italian Fashion

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

The connection between Dr. Martens, Burberry, Lacoste and Dior is that they have a lengthy heritage to rely on. They may choose to highlight or mask different aspects of their ... Read more..

Controlling the Fashion Plot

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

But if consumers are invited to play a part in the story of a brand, what happens when they subvert it? Throughout the history of fashion, consumers have had an ... Read more..

Fashioning an Identity

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

Exploring the fashion world occasionally feels like gate-crashing an exclusive club. At least, that’s the sensation I experience as I climb a spiral staircase in a building near Place Vendôme ... Read more..

Surviving The Fashion Crash

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

In their latest incarnation as dream merchants, fashion brands seem curiously resilient. In September 2001, a minor war had been preoccupying industry-watchers for several months. The conflict ranged Bernard Arnault ... Read more..

The Rebirth Of Fashion

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

The glamour factory had been plotting its resurgence all along, humming away in the background throughout the late 1990s, while industry observers fretted about the rising tide of ‘smart casual’. ... Read more..

Death of Fashion

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

When did fashion stop being fashionable? To paraphrase Hemingway, it happened slowly, and then very quickly. Probably the rot set in around the mid- to late 1980s, provoked by a ... Read more..

Chanel, Dior And Beyond

Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Introduction to Fashion | No Comments »

Gabrielle Chanel considered that Poiret’s dresses were costumes rather than clothes, and a growing number of women seemed to agree with her. ‘Eccentricity was dying: I hoped, by the way, ... Read more..