Saks profits fall again - still don't want to hire Faust as head menswear buyer.

[Magician]

I kind of want to defend Armani, at least the Collezione stuff. I find it simple and well-made and you can get it pretty cheap at the Saks outlet if your timing's good.

I have a charcoal cashmere/silk blend sweater that I really like; it's a good brand for basics.

(though I'm sure it's a terrible value at full retail)

[Faust]

Well, like John said above - we are not precluding them making nice pieces here and there - it's guilty-by-association :-)

[Magician]

Well, like John said above - we are not precluding them making nice pieces here and there - it's guilty-by-association :-)

Fair enough - also let me strongly support that Boss is massive douchebag wear.

(Since my dad's sportscar-buying midlife crisis it's been his favorite brand)

[Fade to Black]

anything Armani makes these days other than his made to measure and tailored black label stuff is junk and definitely perpetuates the guilty by association thing...Emporio Armani/Armani Jeans is shockingly bad. Even a lot of the black label stuff is really stuffy clothing for people over the age of 50 who attend balls and socialize at the horseracing club, is what i get from looking at it.

[Fuuma]

"His suit; Hugo Boss,
his shirt; Hugo Boss,
his tie ; Hugo Boss,
his perfume; Hugo Boss,
his favourite poet; Hugo Boss."

Said about a cretinous marketing VP in some comedy (99 francs) about ad agencies. I laughed a lot...

[rach2jlc]

^LOL at the above.

When I was in college, the lamest, most narcissistic guy in our dorm had an HB suit that he wore to one of our dressier functions and I'll never forget how proud he was to tell people it cost "like... $700." People were just SO impressed and he just ate it up. Ugh!

Sadly, though, when HB does something right, it gets overshadowed in my mind. I have a jacket that is in a gorgeous cashmere/wool fabric made by Columbo (one of the best fabric mills on the planet) and yet I can rarely... if ever... bring myself to wear it.

[Avantster]

Who da boss.

[Faust]

Jesus, they are huge.

[rach2jlc]

Yeah, I didn't realize they made mink coats in size 74L.

[reborn]

FYI

"Eric Jennings, the brand director of the younger-skewed offering from Hickey Freeman, was last week named vice-president and fashion director of men’s, home, food and gifts for (Saks Fifth Avenue)."

I personally do not see the appeal of the hickey brand...if that is the aesthetic that Jennings will bring to the table, then I think there will be more "edgy" preppy crap on the sales floor.

[Faust]

It already is that aesthetic - Saks is simply prostituting its name. It's more of the same - they just don't get it.

[Real Real]

It already is that aesthetic - Saks is simply prostituting its name. It's more of the same - they just don't get it.

Saks has no cohesive aesthetic - it's the worst of all of the department stores in that area. I think it makes a lot of sense for Saks to dial back its euro offerings and do more with the american-edgy-preppy stuff...more Bastian, Band of Outsiders, Hickey, etc...than to keep going with whatever it is that they're doing right now.

[rach2jlc]

It definitely is an interesting issue. While there is definitely an economic downturn that can't be overlooked, there is also an incredible explosion of menswear options that simply weren't there five or six years ago (I mean, some of you from the TFS old days remember talking about Lang and Diesel jeans being priced at the "absurd" retail of $150!!!)

Saks, like the other major stores, will sink or swim as they try to find a niche with the "growing pains" of an expanded men's market.

At the end of the day, I think that the customers will win out, simply because they aren't FORCED to go to the major department stores to get what they want. They can go online; they can go to smaller, private boutiques, etc. The "big guys" will have to adapt... or give up.

Unfortunately for us, now, though... we're forced to contend with a lot of lackluster "prostituting," as Faust so eloquently notes. ;)

[Faust]

Saks has no cohesive aesthetic - it's the worst of all of the department stores in that area. I think it makes a lot of sense for Saks to dial back its euro offerings and do more with the american-edgy-preppy stuff...more Bastian, Band of Outsiders, Hickey, etc...than to keep going with whatever it is that they're doing right now.

I think it's fine to have these bread-and-butter offerings, but that won't give you a cool image, the way Barneys has. You need something to get the customer in the store. Besides a Saks shopping bag, the average consumer has no incentive to go and buy the same cookie cutter shit they can buy not only in competing stores, but also in the myriad of discount stores and outlets for much cheaper.

[Real Real]

I think it's fine to have these bread-and-butter offerings, but that won't give you a cool image, the way Barneys has. You need something to get the customer in the store. Besides a Saks shopping bag, the average consumer has no incentive to go and buy the same cookie cutter shit they can buy not only in competing stores, but also in the myriad of discount stores and outlets for much cheaper.

Saks' advantage is its size - they're the store probably best suited to the idea I was going on about on the first page, because they have so much space. They have the ability to make high-end/fashion-level clothing less threatening than it can come across in Barneys/Bergdorf, if they do it correctly.