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Brilliantly self-contradictory article by Suzy Menkes for IHT. What do you think?
Is fast fashion going out of fashion?
By Suzy Menkes
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Whooooah! Slow down! Rein in the galloping madness! No - it's not the economy or financial woes, although Intidex, the parent company of Zara did announce last week a fall in profits in the second quarter, slowing down its apparently unstoppable rise.
It is just time, after seven wild years, to say Basta! to fast fashion.
As a phenomenon, speedy style has given a shake up to the industry and brought the look of the moment to main street, with the collaboration of leading designers. It has proved that fashion does not have to be elitist and that big names are as capable of creating cheap chic as haute couture.
But, as with all things fashionable, from kitten-heel mules to girly frills, there is a moment when it is over. And for fast fashion, that is now - or perhaps in November, when Comme des Garçons and the cerebral Rei Kawakubo embrace H&M.
It all started with Karl Lagerfeld at H&M four years ago, kicking off a media phenomenon, marking a seismic cultural shift and creating lines of eager shoppers in capital cities across the globe.
Since then we have had the unpronounceable Proenza Schouler suddenly hitting billboards throughout America with their Target collaboration. H&M has ratcheted up a roster of designers, from Roberto Cavalli to Viktor & Rolf. Topshop of London has increased its long-term designer collaborations (Celia Birtwell, Zandra Rhodes, etc.) by presenting the super-cool model Kate Moss as design star. And just this month, the products that the Parisian boutique Colette produced with Gap sold like hot croissants in New York.
The concept of high fashion coming down to affordable levels is potentially good. That was the idea when couture houses first produced ready-to-wear back in the 1960s and when Giorgio Armani led the fashion world by starting a second, Emporio Armani line in 1984.
But as prices of designer clothes have crept ever upwards, fast fashion has plunged prices dramatically downward. Taking the cappuccino - arguably Italy's most successful global export - and France's croissant as benchmarks, fast fashion starts at that level. If you look at the price of a dress at Primark, in London's Oxford Street - and then cross the road to a Selfridges café - you pay the same £6.50, or $11.90, for breakfast and for the frock.
That leaves a feeling of unease at how the ultra-cheap clothes can be manufactured. As Michael Fink, president of women's fashion at Saks Fifth Avenue, puts it: "How cheap can you make it? If it is about being less expensive - who can make these clothes in a responsible manner?'
Adrian Joffe, who heads Comme des Garçons, says he has been surprised by the manufacturing supervision at H&M, who made the CDG collection in China and in Romania and the fragrance in France. Joffe says that, with the leather wallets he is making for them, "their control of my factory was unbelievable."
"But it has got to change - it has to step back," says Joffe. "Zara and H&M have their design teams. And they are making 10,000 pieces, where we make 10 to 50. But Primark is ridiculously cheap. It's got to be a little more expensive."
Significantly, although Joffe says the timing is coincidental, Comme's current much-heralded collaboration is with Louis Vuitton in Japan, proving that if you want to make a fashion splash now, it might be smarter to aim high, rather than low... (full article in the link above)
Is fast fashion going out of fashion?
By Suzy Menkes
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Whooooah! Slow down! Rein in the galloping madness! No - it's not the economy or financial woes, although Intidex, the parent company of Zara did announce last week a fall in profits in the second quarter, slowing down its apparently unstoppable rise.
It is just time, after seven wild years, to say Basta! to fast fashion.
As a phenomenon, speedy style has given a shake up to the industry and brought the look of the moment to main street, with the collaboration of leading designers. It has proved that fashion does not have to be elitist and that big names are as capable of creating cheap chic as haute couture.
But, as with all things fashionable, from kitten-heel mules to girly frills, there is a moment when it is over. And for fast fashion, that is now - or perhaps in November, when Comme des Garçons and the cerebral Rei Kawakubo embrace H&M.
It all started with Karl Lagerfeld at H&M four years ago, kicking off a media phenomenon, marking a seismic cultural shift and creating lines of eager shoppers in capital cities across the globe.
Since then we have had the unpronounceable Proenza Schouler suddenly hitting billboards throughout America with their Target collaboration. H&M has ratcheted up a roster of designers, from Roberto Cavalli to Viktor & Rolf. Topshop of London has increased its long-term designer collaborations (Celia Birtwell, Zandra Rhodes, etc.) by presenting the super-cool model Kate Moss as design star. And just this month, the products that the Parisian boutique Colette produced with Gap sold like hot croissants in New York.
The concept of high fashion coming down to affordable levels is potentially good. That was the idea when couture houses first produced ready-to-wear back in the 1960s and when Giorgio Armani led the fashion world by starting a second, Emporio Armani line in 1984.
But as prices of designer clothes have crept ever upwards, fast fashion has plunged prices dramatically downward. Taking the cappuccino - arguably Italy's most successful global export - and France's croissant as benchmarks, fast fashion starts at that level. If you look at the price of a dress at Primark, in London's Oxford Street - and then cross the road to a Selfridges café - you pay the same £6.50, or $11.90, for breakfast and for the frock.
That leaves a feeling of unease at how the ultra-cheap clothes can be manufactured. As Michael Fink, president of women's fashion at Saks Fifth Avenue, puts it: "How cheap can you make it? If it is about being less expensive - who can make these clothes in a responsible manner?'
Adrian Joffe, who heads Comme des Garçons, says he has been surprised by the manufacturing supervision at H&M, who made the CDG collection in China and in Romania and the fragrance in France. Joffe says that, with the leather wallets he is making for them, "their control of my factory was unbelievable."
"But it has got to change - it has to step back," says Joffe. "Zara and H&M have their design teams. And they are making 10,000 pieces, where we make 10 to 50. But Primark is ridiculously cheap. It's got to be a little more expensive."
Significantly, although Joffe says the timing is coincidental, Comme's current much-heralded collaboration is with Louis Vuitton in Japan, proving that if you want to make a fashion splash now, it might be smarter to aim high, rather than low... (full article in the link above)
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