Brands

If you happen to work in fashion, you intend to work in fashion, or you just really love fashion, this post might make you just a little bit sad. Lately, there has been an avalanche of bad news when it comes to fashion and retail. As consumers or employees of these industries, we are in the odd position of being the sources, victims, and beneficiaries of these changes all at once.  Our relationship with the fashion industry? Well… the Facebook classification would be “It’s Complicated.” Brands themselves are trying hard to make sense of these tectonic movements, but I believe we as people must try to make sense of them too.

Here are some titles I came across just today:

How ‘Fashion’ Became a Bad Word
What’s Ailing America’s Fashion Darlings?
How Algorithms Are Threatening Fashion’s White-Collar Jobs
Influencer Ex Machina

Maybe reading just the titles alone won’t give you a full impression of what’s going on, so here’s a long (news) story short:

Fashion has fallen… well, out of fashion.

That’s it. Point blank. Fashion is no longer in vogue. How can I say that? Because evidence shows that we consumers are still spending money, but just not the way we used to. In the last year alone, the luxury market has experienced a 5% growth that has benefited not only them, but also digital upstart brands and direct-to-consumer companies. However, the cool kids of fashion from a couple of years back didn’t feel the same love. Brands like Narciso Rodrigues, Alexander Wang, Proenza Schouler, Rag and Bone, and Opening Ceremony, once encouraged by the enthusiastic response in their heyday, have hyper-expanded using the old-fashioned department store business model of distribution and are now struggling to understand the shift in the market. They’re scrambling to cut their losses and reposition themselves. Brands like Everlane that praise themselves for basic clothing and price transparency are the new cool kids.  Blame us, fickle consumers. It’s now trendier to spend money on wellness than on fashion.

Well-paying fashion and social media influencing jobs are filled more by AI and less by humans.

After years of education, internships, and endless efforts to make the right connections, you are finally ready. And then you read the news: more and more companies use artificial intelligence to design clothes, and to serve as buyers and merchandise planners. Some of us grew up dreaming to get a job in fashion and a few lucky ones have actually made that dream come true. But for those still dreaming, what shape do those dreams take now with these fewer options?  While the fashion industry was one of the first to export the manufacturing jobs overseas, it’s the first we hear of losing its white-color jobs to computers. So far it looks like machines are there only to “augment and automate tasks” and I understand companies’ efforts to be as efficient as possible, but I am not looking forward to a future where an algorithm decides what I buy, what I wear, and how I wear it. No matter my feelings about social media influencers (I’ve never been a fan, but that’s for another post), I still doubt that replacing them with computer-generated models will make me feel any better.

I keep telling you that there’s no other way to become an extraordinary bargain shopper without learning as much about the trade as possible.

I grew up with a tailor in the house, my beloved grandmother, who “created” most of the dresses I wore by following my sketches.  Both of my parents were engineers, so we were not poor. Still, my communist country did not believe in fashion any more than it believed in free markets, so I had to get creative.

Their disinterest in garments and accessories, forced me to learn about the style world on my own. For example, I now know what fabrics are made of just by looking at them and can also tell the difference between quality and non-quality leathers.

Bottega Veneta Starting at RueLaLa.com at 11 a.m.

Why?

Speaking of quality, you have to appreciate the workmanship and technique of Bottega Veneta, a brand famous for its intrecciato work (woven and interlaced fabric).

The Italian brand was born in the ’60s, in Venice, an area known at the time for  producing ready-to-wear garments. Because they couldn’t get the manufacturing equipment they were looking for locally, they adapted by using super fine leather that allowed them to use ready-to-wear equipment. And that’s how their most recognizable element of the brand was born.

Vintage Hermes Handbags Starting at Gilt.com at 12 p.m.

Why?

Another example of extraordinary craftsmanship comes from Hermes. The company continues to use one expert craftsperson to make a single handbag at a time. Hard to believe, but there are no assembly lines and no giant machines. It takes the craftsman 18 to 24 hours to hand stitch one bag. That’s why, my darlings, these bags cost what they cost. Enjoy, even if only to look at them. Why not? They are, after all, little pieces of art.