You must have been living under a rock for the past few years if you haven't noticed the affect the current economic slump has had on the luxury goods industry. High end retailers have been hosting sale after sale and continue to work on strategies to pull consumers onto the shop floors. Department stores, in particular, have felt the brunt as the ultra rich have scaled back on their spending - but not anymore it seems. According to The New York Times, the rich aren't shy to spend again.
Need evidence? The Olsen's crocodile backpack priced at a whopping $39,000 has already receieved orders and a Chanel coat retailing at $9,010 has sold out at Nordstrom with a major waiting list. And ithey're not just spending on clothes. Mercedes Benz recently revealed that they sold more cars in the US last month than they did in the last five years.
Despite reported financial trouble, Thakoon had a hard a good year. Like Jason Wu, the designer got a big boost due to a certain First Lady wearing his clothes. Unfrotunately, it looks seems like that hasn't been enough for the designer financially. According to Fashionologie, last week he told Cathy Horn that he ended up buying a lot of 'crinkled jacquard and printing it in different patterns' that he can use for future seasons as way of cutting costs.
After news that Patricia Field is experiencing cut backs in the wardrobe department of 'Ugly Betty', all we can do is hope that the economy will not reach the new 'Sex and The City' movie.
However, I can't help but feel anxious after seeing the outfits Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon wore during filming this week.
Recent reports claimed that Teen Vogue have cut the accessories director position. However, the spokesperson of the magazine has been quick to squash the rumour, saying that the position has not been eliminated. According to The Cut, Teen Vogue accessories staff, Sarah Kuhn will take over from accessories director, Taylor Tomasi Hill, who is leaving the magazine to work at Marie Claire.
The past few months have been pretty hard for US Vogue. As previously reported, the ad pages for their September issue have dropped by 36% from last year, with ELLE beating them in pages for the first time.
In light of these problems, recent reports claim that the magazine is quietly revamping. "Think a new circle of models, an influx of fresh, young photographers and a desire for 'unpredictability' in the stories."
The credit crunch hasn't reached Russia if the latest issue of Vogue Russia is anything to go by. Where most magazines are being cautious of price points and even US Vogue is following suit, Vogue Russia appears to be moving the opposite way. The latest cover showcases diamonds after diamonds on model Dree Hemingway.
In the current economy, consumers are less worried about looking and living the lifestyle of the girl in the Michael Kors campaign. Instead we are focusing on whether the style will have longevity and take us from season to season. Quality is now key. Who would have thought that it would take an economic depression to make people realise that this just might be, the best way to think.
Brands are now forced to take this into consideration when planning their campaigns. In the next few seasons expect product led adds with less emphasis of buying into a lifestyle.
Anna Wintour is not the only editor absent at the couture shows this week. British Vogue editor-in-chief Alexandra Schulman was also MIA from the action.
Is haute couture becoming irrelevant due to the problems with the economy or does their absence signal that closing the September issues in today's climate have proved particularly difficult?
Last week we broke the news that, for the first time, ELLE bagged more ad pages than Vogue. When asked about how the magazine's advertising is doing, as they begin to close the big September issue, Vogue's publisher Tom Florio tried to diffuse the situation but actually revealed how bad the situation actually is. "We'll have over 400 pages of advertising," he told the NY Post.
As Jezebel said, 400 pages is a considerable drop from the 727 ad pages they had for the 2007 September issue, and the 607 pages last year.
People are quickly beginning to question whether this is a result of the economy, or whether it shows that Anna Wintouris losing her touch.
People were willing to pay ridiculous sums for designer clothing and accessories because they thought they had to. It was cool. Witness the incredible success of Balmain in the past couple of years, those 1,000-euro jeans and $15,000 beaded mini dresses about the size of a T-shirt. The Balmain clothes are beautifully made — no argument there — but much of the appeal was the price.
”Cathy Horyn sheds some light on the reason why high-priced luxury goods had been so successful prior to the credit crunch
