The production and distribution of clothing collections in recent years by fashion houses are beating record times. The offer is constantly renewed, a calendar of shows loaded and punctuated by ephemeral trends.
The model of the fast-fashion
Fast-fashion is a widespread trend in the fashion industry. It is based on ultra-fast, disposable fashion and low-cost products. It is singled out for its many social and environmental consequences.
Since the 1950s, most high-end designers have stayed away from fast-fashion, which offered copies of their own products at discounted prices. The paradoxical ambition of luxury to reach mass has become evident with the collaboration of Karl Lagerfeld with H&M in 2004. The supply chain is fast and flexible. We are dealing with “chic and cheap” products that are distributed in thousands of stores.
Collaborations between luxury and fast-fashion brands are not new. Balmain helped H&M create high-end clothing at affordable prices. Collaboration between brands selling in different markets or in the same sector can be very beneficial. Luxury brands invest a lot on advertisements and notable celebrities to arouse the desire for immediate purchase.
Nobility, beauty and technique
The pillars that make luxury stand out are the local know-how and the history of clothing collections. The search for beauty is also part of one of the essential vectors of luxury. Just because you pay an exorbitant amount for a product doesn’t make it luxurious. It is because the product itself has an indecipherable value that luxury houses sell it to exorbitant prices.
See now, buy now
See now, buy now has spread like wildfire. A fashion show takes place and the next moment, the collection is already available online to generate the purchase immediately behind.
Traditionally, the “show” as they say takes place about 6 months before the collection arrives in store. But with this new system, the presentation of the collection is in full sync with the distribution. All the luxury houses packed up, Burberry announced at the beginning of the year that it would only do two parades per year, including for each of summer and winter, which will be available for sale the next day in their shops.
Another side effect is the fashion houses such as Dior and Louis Vuitton that put pressure on the creative teams. They are forced to lay more collections, more quantity and novelty. As a result, the sudden departure of the great designers multiplies and worries. Without artistic stability, these luxury houses lose value.
However, small emerging fashion week brands don’t have the space or financial stability to mass produce before presenting their collections.
To conclude, fast-luxury is already well established in the fashion industry. This model moves more and more away from the responsible model of slow fashion to ally itself with fast-fashion.
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