In Times of Unpredictability...

Let's face it: the economy is unpredictable.

In one day, we may read from one source that the luxury market is improving; yet another will report news of closeouts and bankruptcies. We are living in difficult times and the future of our economy is as predictable as the weather these days here in New York City.

photo via: NY Times

So in order to stay afloat, everyone, from luxury brands to fast retailers are rethinking their game strategies. Today, the on-going trend among luxury brands is mass appeal branding. Just recently, Dallas-based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus opened a new line of outlet stores called Last Call Studio. Specifically located in suburban areas or strip malls that are not outlet centers, the stores will specialize in moderately priced goods aimed at the value-minded shopper who "may not have the reach level to buy the fine apparel that Neiman Marcus offers," says Wanda Gierhart, Neiman's chief marketing officer.

Instead of selling leftover stock from their department store lines, the store will focus on more affordable pieces from their existing lines that they already carry. In addition, they will also stock more heavily from their lower-end lines, bought directly from vendors. Unlike outlet shops, all of their merchandise will be in season and considered "new." And aware of the increase of online-shopping, they also launched an accompanying website earlier this month.

This new strategy is a clear reflection of the post-recession retail world. With an excess of unoccupied store front real estate and most traditional outlet stores having too little clearance merchandise to sell because retailers have cut inventory, Neiman's concept is one that works around today's financial circumstances. It also feeds into a market for the price-conscious shopper who still wants value and quality for their dollar. As much as it is a financial necessity, Neiman's new store concept is a smart response to today's economic situation.

Kinder Aggugini's moodboard for Macy's

photo via: NY Times

On the other hand, Macy's, a much more mainstream department store, recently joined the bandwagon of designer collaborations with plans to work with London-based designer Kinder Aggugini. The high-low concept is nothing new as H&M, Target, Gap, and Uniqlo have all already been doing such collaborations for years. However, it is a bit surprising that Macy's, a generally conservative department store, is collaborating with Kinder Aggugini, an edgy, rising designer, still relatively unknown in the States.

The collaborative collection plans to be sold at about 250 store locations, with prices ranging from $50 to $300. Attempting to offer more fashionable products, the collaboration hopes to attract more younger and trend-focused customers.

In times like today, brands must be strategic and wise in their decision making process. Even Uniqlo, the Japanese-based fast retailer, which had soaring sales this past year with more than 80 new shop openings since August, are facing financial difficulties. Due to poor product planning and supply chain management and marketing, the company has found itself in a downward slope.

The economy continues to affect the retail industry across all borders, leaving none unscathed. Although there is no bulletproof plan, creativity and smart decision making in a timely fashion proves to be only route for success.

Wild Things, you make our hearts sing

So everyone and their mother has been presenting their lines via film lately, as we've been covering... but promoting a film by creating fashion lines — that's a new one for us!

This month sees the premiere of Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book, Where the Wild Things Are. But with the film yet to hit theatres, at least two — count 'em, two — clothing lines inspired by the film have come out: perennial fave Opening Ceremony's collaboration with Jonze, above center, featuring shaggy jackets, dresses, and skirts that also capitalize on the current fake fur revival; and Urban Outfitters' collabo with Brooklyn designer Mary Meyer, a series of hip, slouchy printed knitwear pieces (above, left and right) that would be utterly wearable even without the movie tie-in.

Now to see what happens when Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie comes out next March!

Designers to watch: Rodarte

Many high-end designers seem to be on the same invisible wavelength, spontaneously creating nearly identical versions of a mutton-sleeve blazer or drape-front pants for the very same season's runway shows. Not so with Rodarte, designed by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, which marches to a beat all its own — inspired not by other designers, but by a fantasy world of fairies, Frankenstein, and Japanese cartoons.

Season after season, the sisters pull out yet another beautifully hued collection of dresses and tights patchworked from their usual repertoire of draped, diaphanous fabrics; spidery, irregular knits; and tough, shiny leather. And every time, the fashion world goes wild: most recently, the CFDA bestowed upon them its 2009 Womenswear Designer of the Year award; and at the end of this year, theirs will be the latest of Target's Go International designer collaborations, launching Dec. 20.

While the collabos have garnered plenty of column inches in the fashion media, it seems doubtful that Target's core shopper really appreciates the edgy young designers the budget department store chain has been featuring, including Luella, Jonathan Saunders, and Erin Fetherston. Previous collections have been marked down to almost nothing, and this spring's much-hyped Alexander McQueen for Target launch was a bust: even here in fashion-forward New York, the pop-up store was nearly empty after early shoppers picked off the best pieces, and we've seen a large quantity of apparently unsold collection pieces pop up in local thrift stores, albeit with their original tags removed. Rodarte-obsessed fashionistas will undoubtedly plunder the upcoming collection as it hits big-city stores, but can this ultra-luxury brand cross over to the mass market? We'll just have to wait and see.

Photos: A few of Rodarte's relatively marketable looks, via Style.com

Designers to Watch: Charlotte Ronson (New York)

Falling somewhere between Isabel Marant and Chloë Sevigny on the vintage-inspired-downtown-chic fashion spectrum, somewhat lesser known than her twin sister who famously dated Lindsay Lohan, designer Charlotte Ronson has nonetheless managed to carve out a significant niche for herself in the fashion world, and with a surprising business partner: J.C. Penney.

What could a New York scenester and a staid department store chain have in common? Well, teenage shoppers, apparently. Ronson's accessible, sweet-but-almost-grungy Liberty-print dresses and rompers, high-waisted shorts, and back-buttoned cardigans translate so fluently to the mass-market line that it's nearly impossible to tell which of the above photos are from the discount line and which from her runway line. (Answer: the J.C. Penney line, called I Heart Ronson, is on the left). WWD reports today that Penney's stock has been upgraded, largely on the strength of their direct sourcing and private-label lines – including I Heart Ronson, no doubt.

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Update 7/8/09: In a new survey, J.C. Penney ranked second, after Old Navy, among mall stores visited most by teens. Go, Charlotte, go!

News flash: High-end copycats?

And the copycat saga continues... In an especially egregious copycat case, CFDA president and prominent anti-copying advocate Diane von Furstenberg voluntarily settled out of court with under-the-radar Canadian label Mercy after a newspaper columnist accused her of copying a floral-print jacket, above right. Mercy co-designer Jennifer Halchuk explained to the National Post that the jacket pattern was entirely unique, having been custom-made to fit their idea of a vintage bed jacket, and pointed out that DVF's version (at left above, and worn by Jessica Alba on the cover of Elle) copied nearly every detail – the asymmetrical bias neck bow, an interior drawstring, elasticated sleeve cuffs – except the copyrighted fabric.

Meanwhile, at Balenciaga, influential designer Nicolas Ghesquière has been known to draw his inspiration from the house's archives as well as from other vintage sources. Most recently, a Resort 2009 leather jacket featured distinctive curved seams nearly identical to those on the Parrot jacket by defunct San Francisco label East West Musical Instruments. Given that the brand is no longer in operation, an homage seems reasonable, but it does beg the question: How close should a garment be to its inspiration, and where do we draw the line between inspiration and imitation?

Photo via National Post

News flash: The high/low trend reaches new heights, er, lows.

Okay, okay, we know there's a recession on and that everyone should be grateful for the jobs they have. But perhaps designer Max Azria is overdoing it a bit? On top of reviving the Hervé Leger line – and with it the slinky bandage dress trend – running his lovely eponymous line, and the throw-all-the-trends-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks BCBG line, he's announced a new collabo with… Miley Cyrus? Yes, that's right. And at Wal-mart, yet, taking the high-low collaboration to its lowest common denominator. According to WWD, BCBG Max Azria Group now has a whopping 22 brands in its portfolio, ranging from under $20 for the new Wal-mart line to $3000 for Hervé Leger dresses.

This means Azria has beaten out multi-taskers extraordinaire Marc Jacobs (Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc) and Karl Lagerfeld (Chanel, Fendi, K Karl Lagerfeld) for the title of Designer with the Most Lines. Meanwhile, it seems poor Olivier Theyskens is still looking for any job at all...

Miley Cyrus photo via WWD

News flash: Forever 21, copy on!

While the NYPD continues to do its part to support local designers by raiding Chinatown counterfeiters, higher-profile copycats keep sailing along: A mistrial was declared today in the potentially landmark Forever 21-Trovata trial after jurors claimed irreconcilable differences, reports WWD. The trial, which avoided earlier unsuccessful copyright arguments by claiming Forever 21 had copied "trade dress" -- signature nonfunctional details that mark a garment as part of Trovata's brand. The similarities are patently obvious, even to the untrained eye (photo: Forever 21's garments top, Trovata's below), but since design elements cannot be copyrighted, the legal arguments can become truly arcane. Evenly spaced 4-hole buttons, really? Regardless, the hoped-for ruling to clarify intellectual property law regarding fashion designs has still failed to materialize.

Photo via NY Mag

News flash: Menswear sales are up!

Yes, you read that right – UP. In this market. 

Tom Ford and Lanvin menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver declare in Saturday's Financial Times that this is because men shop for necessary things, whereas women shop for recreation. This from the purveyors of extremely necessary $10,000 fur boots and T-shirts "decorated with a bib of wooden beads", respectively…

Still, one can't entirely fault their logic. Let's face it, men have (for the most part) been keeping their closets pared to the essentials, which means that if something wears out, they have to buy a new one, no matter how gloomy the economic outlook. Women, on the other hand, all have giant closets like Sarah Jessica Parker's in the "Sex and the City" movie, and can always dig into their bottomless archives to find something to wear. 

Okay, not exactly; but for years, retailers have been encouraging women to buy, buy, buy for each of the year's 12 seasons, er, months, and for all of the current trends. And here's where that business strategy defeats itself: Women now have enough clothes, and are well able to opt out of shopping when the going gets tough. So they're staying home in droves, and organizing clothing swaps with their friends – bad news for the retailers who sold them too many clothes in the first place! Case in point: H&M, whose sales are currently down 5 percent, apparently due to consumers' developing distaste for fast, disposable fashion.

Via The Cut

News flash: Store openings, for better or for worse

Hipster T-shirt juggernaut American Apparel opened 81 stores last year, bringing its total to more than 260 doors worldwide. It seemed to be on its way to becoming the Starbucks of cotton jersey, but instead, the company may be on its last leg(ging)s, reports WWD today. Founder Dov Charney has loaned AA $6.5 million out of his own pocket since December, not nearly enough to pay off a $51 million loan that comes due next month. 

This should come as no discouragement to Adidas, which launched its new concept, SLVR, with a freestanding store in New York last month, with more to come in Paris and around the world: Miami, Bangkok, Los Angeles... The eco-conscious, reasonably-priced, highly designed line is based on the Y-3 concept, but at a more recession-friendly price point, with ingenious designs like the one-piece Zero Waste T-shirt and the 7-piece sneaker that waste less material. Rave reviews in the New York Times and across the blogosphere have sent customers packing to the new shop, which opened Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, the latest word has it that Topshop is finally opening in New York April 2, dipping its toe into the waters across the pond, while the ladylike contemporary line Milly just opened its very first store in Tokyo.

Primark (Dublin)

With no advertising and no real website, Primark sounds like a relic, yet the Ireland-based retailer rivals Topshop as one of the major fast fashion retailers serving the UK. Selling clothes for absurdly low prices, such as a dress for 4 pounds, the fashion giant has often drawn criticism for its manufacturing practices, namely its well-documented sweatshops in India and Bangladesh. Nonetheless, its new Oxford Street flagship store remains crowded with eager consumers.

Monsoon Fairtrade (London)

British fast-fashion chain Monsoon was founded with an international vision by Peter Simon, a regular traveler to India who started out in 1973 selling ethnic handicrafts on Portobello Road.  Building on their main line of bohemian, ethnic-inspired dresses, boleros and beachwear, their new collaboration with the organization Fairtrade is a small line of Fairtrade-certified cotton tees and jeans in muted tropical tones. Monsoon also sponsors Estethica, a loose group of green suppliers, and through its Accessorize brand, is supporting a workshop for Afghan female embroiderers, bringing their traditional embroidery to the British high street.