Category — Fashion

Cosmetics companies are turning to e-commerce as a channel to sell certain discontinued items, reports Tatiana Boncompagni in the New York Times (5/3/12). The insight is that the first thing some shoppers do when a favorite perfume, shampoo or shade of lipstick is discontinued is to try to find it online. The beauty companies, meanwhile, can get a good idea which of their de-listed products are in demand by monitoring social-media sites as well as comments on their own websites. Charles Denton of Erno Laszlo actually found himself personally responding to some 200 emails a day from customers complaining about discontinued items, prompting him to reinstate a couple of them.

Bobbi Brown recently launched “Facebook campaigns … asking fans in various countries to vote on their favorite shades of discontinued products.” The winning choices will be available only via a Facebook link or on the Bobbi Brown website. Guillaume Jesel, svp global marketing for MAC, compares contests in which consumers vote on their favorite discontinued items to Dancing With the Stars. “It’s the same revolution you see in other industries,” he says. “You let the consumer take the steering wheel for a while.”

Hilary Jones of Lush, a UK beauty products company, says bringing back old items is mostly about fostering good will. “It’s not a hugely commercial thing for us,” she says. Others find the online line extensions to be welcome relief from the traditional “one in, one out policy” employed by brands and retailers alike. “At the shelf, you have to think about turnover,” says David Lonczak, a vp of ecommerce and digital marketing for Drugstore.com, Beauty.com and Walgreens.com. “That doesn’t make it possible to carry these tertiary products, but there is still a reasonable amount of business there,” he says.

Among other things, the late Vidal Sassoon “transformed hairdressing into fashion street theater,” reports Stephen Miller in the Wall Street Journal (5/10/12). His “bustling storefronts” featured “big windows” that let passersby witness the fashion revolution happening inside. Until Vidal came along, “women’s hair styles involved perms and sets, processing with bleach, curlers, bulbous dryers and hair spray.” Vidal instead envisioned “short, geometric cuts — quickly realized and set with hand-held dryers.” It was a vision he credited to Bauhaus architecture, according to Bruce Weber in a New York Times obituary (5/10/12).

“When I looked at the architecture, the structure of buildings that were going up worldwide, you saw a whole different look, and shape,” he once said. “My sense was that hairdressing definitely needed to be changing … To me, hair meant geometry, angles. Cutting uneven shapes, as long as it suited that face and that bone structure.” His “breakthrough came in 1963 when he cut the long hair of Hong Kong-born actress Nancy Kwan into a bob with sharp face-framing points.” Later, he created “a sensation” when Roman Polanski paid him $5,000 to cut Mia Farrow‘s hair incredibly short, as featured in Rosemary’s Baby. In the film she exclaims, “It’s Vidal Sassoon! It’s very in!”

Vidal went on to create a line of hair-care products that reached $100 million in sales annually, and his ad campaign made famous his tagline, “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.” He later sold the company to Richardson Vicks and it is now owned by Procter & Gamble. “This was somebody who changed our industry entirely, not just from the point of view of cutting hair but actually turning it into a business,” says John Barrett, who keeps his own salon at Bergdorf Goodman. “He was one of the first who had a product line bought out by a major corporation.” Vidal Sassoon died earlier this week at age 84, in Los Angeles.

A Tony Award-winning producer and real estate developer has created an apparel line for men under five foot eight, reports Austin Considine in the New York Times (3/29/12). “My pants always had to be shortened,” says Peter, who stands 5′ 8″. He figures he’s paid hundreds or even thousands of dollars in “tailor taxes” because of his relatively diminutive stature. He also noticed that while there are plenty of retailers catering to big and tall men, there’s nothing comparable for the small and short — even though “more than a quarter of American men age 20 and over are 5-foot-8 or shorter,” according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Peter thought it made no sense to “ignore a demographic that’s equally as large” as the “big and tall” category and so he’s introduced the Peter Manning line of men’s wear. “The look is classic American basics; straight-legged chinos, solid polo shirts, button-up shirts and crew-neck cotton sweaters. They are designed in part to make the wearer seem taller, like narrow-legged, low riding pants (nary a pleated pant in sight; shirts that, when untucked, hit shorter men just below the waist; and shorter-hemmed sweaters that don’t bunch at the waist.”

He also devised “a new size system, numbered 1 to 5, for top pieces like shirts and sweaters (a size 1, for example, fits men 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-5). Pants come in lengths as short as 27 inches.” Items are priced between $24 and $79.50 and currently are only available online. Peter hopes “to expand into department stores and offer more variety, like sportswear and accessories.” Mark-Evan Blackman, a 5-foot 7-inch assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology thinks Peter is onto something, so long as the styles are right. Peter himself says there’s not a whole lot of mystery to it: “At the end of the day, I’m just designing what I want to wear.”

Michael Goldberg is so hooked on his favorite haberdashery that he’s formed a committee and is raising money to save it, reports Sumathi Reddy in the Wall Street Journal (3/9/12). “This venerable enterprise, which has existed for so long, is kind of a little bit of a victim of the new world,” says Michael, who is the executive director of the National Basketball Coaches Association, and is known to favor bow-ties. “Old-fashioned haberdasheries are closing all over the country,” he adds. “People are shopping differently. But he thinks there’s a place for a haberdashery, especially in New York, “where there’s a small cadre of people that really want to dress well.”

H. Herzfeld was founded in Hanover, Germany, but re-located to New York’s Madison Avenue after Hermann Herzfeld fled his homeland. His son, Wolfgang, later took over and expanded the business five times before high rents forced a moved to its current location on East 57th. Its present owner, Jonathan Cline, says business has been in decline (pun intended) for the past ten years. He says that it used to be that his business was a leading indicator of the stock market, but now it’s a lagging indicator. “What was isn’t anymore,” he says.

Over the years, Jonathan has amassed a database of 15,000 customers “whose names, contact information, sizes and preferences are painstakingly typed out and fill eight rolodexes.” But even H. Herzfeld’s most loyal customers are doubtful. “It was just a nice way of shopping, which has been lost,” says Richard Parkoff, a customer for 44 years. “I don’t know how much of that clientele is left that can sustain a business like that,” he says. Michael Goldberg’s committee, meanwhile, is “in the process of raising $150,000 in short-term capital to tide the business over.” And H. Herzfeld is “planning special events and to introduce some new inventory, even possibly (gasp!) a women’s line.”

Armand Olivier Bell pairs neckties with wine on Saks Fifth Avenue’s sixth floor, reports Lettie Teague in the Wall Street Journal (3/16/12). Armand “developed a love for Brunello and Barolo in Italy and a passion for Bordeaux while he was living in France.” He says he moved to New York in 1995 because he loves jazz. “When he came to work at Saks, he said it seemed natural to invoke his favorite wines when talking about his favorite ties.”

“Charvet is one of my favorites,” says Armand, noting the necktie’s fine, heavy silk. “You wear a Charvet on a special occasion — or for your first job in finance.” He recommends pairing it with Haut Brion,” because, “It’s a classic wine.” When it comes to Ferragamo ties, which “tend to be brightly colored, with whimsical patterns of tiny horses or dogs or sailboats or cupcakes,” Armand suggests “Sauternes .. or perhaps a simpler wine like Monbazillac.”

Gold is the most difficult color to pair with wine — or a suit, says Armand. “Perhaps a Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio — something simple, to tone it down,” he offers. When it comes to an Armani tie, Armand suggests, “Maybe an inexpensive wine from the Medoc. Armani customers are conservative,” he says. The Saks store brand, meanwhile “goes with everything.” Why doesn’t Armand pair any neckties with American wines? “We don’t have anything made in China,” he replies.

Lululemon Athetica is rejecting "big data" and embracing scarcity to generate $1,800 in sales per square foot, reports Dana Mattioli in the Wall Street Journal (3/22/12). That’s "more than three times" what Neiman Marcus generates, and it has catapulted Lululemon, a Vancouver-based yoga-apparel retailer, to "a tech start-up’s valuation" of "$10.4 billion with sales of just $712 million last year … Over the past three years, the company has posted nine quarters in which sales rose 30 percent or more from the year before." Lululemon chief executive Christine Day, who previously spent 20 years overseeing retail operations for Starbucks, "doesn’t use focus groups, website visits" or "customer-relationship management software" to create such success.

"Big data gives you a false sense of security," she says. Instead, Christine simply spends more time in the stores, "observing how customers shop, listening to their complaints, and then using the feedback to tweak product and stores … Lulu also trains its workers to eavesdrop, placing the clothes-folding tables on the sales floor near the fitting rooms rather than in a back room so that workers can overhear complaints. Nearby, a large chalkboard lets customers write suggestions or complaints that are sent back to headquarters." The other major feature of Lulu’s merchandising strategy is to make sure that customers can’t always get what they want: "The goal is to sell gear at full price and to condition customers to buy when they see an item rather than wait."

The result, says Christine, is a limited supply that creates "these fanatical shoppers." Wall Street analysts aren’t totally convinced of this, though, and have grilled company executives about "Lulu’s inability to stock enough items." In response, "the company made logistical changes so it loses fewer sales from products being out of stock. For instance, it has focused on getting core products that don’t change from season to season, such as black yoga pants, into its stores, while keeping limited-time items scarce." Lulu never puts items on sale, either, and won’t accept any item after 14 days, nor anything that’s been washed or without tags. "We aren’t Nordstrom," says Christine. "We aren’t your personal shopper." Lululemon opened its first store in 2000 and went public in 2007.

Nike thinks it has changed the footwear game with a shoe that is constructed like a sock, reports Matt Townsend in Bloomberg Businessweek (3/16/12). Nike is introducing its concept with “a 5.6-ounce running shoe called the Flyknit, made from synthetic yarn ingeniously woven together by a knitting machine.” The entire upper — except for the tongue — is knitted in a single piece. This promises both comfort and perhaps fewer injuries to runners because it is lightweight, as well as greater profits to Nike. The process is so efficient that Nike can contemplate making the Flyknit in the US, and not depend as much on cheaper labor in Asia.

Indeed, the new approach requires 35 fewer pieces than does a conventional shoe, dramatically reducing production costs. It’s not that the shoes would be less expensive to make in the US (they will still cost more) “but the cost difference could be made up by spending less on shipping and being faster at filling demand or jumping on a hot trend … The Flyknit process also fits into Nike’s sustainability push because the amount of material wasted manufacturing each pair weighs only as much as a sheet of paper … Nike says the Flyknit produces 66 percent less waste than the Air Pegasus+28.”

Less shipping is greener too, of course. The flexibility of the more automated production process “also could lead to a day when a person can visit a Nike store and have their foot scanned for a customized fit … far more customized than allowed by NikeID,” which allows only customization by color or fabrics. Running is Nike’s “biggest category, generating $2.8 billion in annual global sales, about 50 percent more than basketball and soccer … Lightweight shoes accounted for 30 percent of the $6.5 billion US running shoe market last year and were responsible for all of its 14 percent growth, according to SportsOneSource. The Flyknit will hit stores in July and cost $150.

“More subtle and creative than a logo, prints are a way for designers to brand their creations without slapping initials on them,” reports Christina Binkley in the Wall Street Journal (2/25/12). In other words, the designer is identified more by the pattern of a print than the cut of the pattern. The print, in effect, becomes the logo. “It is probably the greatest innovation of 21st-century fashion — and one with great promise for further advancement as ancient methods of fabric printing are unearthed and new ones developed,” Christina writes. “There are few silhouettes that haven’t been explored by now … But prints are the Wild West, with plenty of untrodden space for experimentation.”

Among the experimenters is Erin Beatty, co-designer of Suno, “which leapt into fast fame two years ago for prints modeled after a jumble of African kangas and other textiles.” Her latest creation is bound to attract even more attention — “prints based on photographs of cancer cells. The look isn’t creepy — until you know what it is.” Her design partner, Max Osterweis, thought some women might recoil from this, but Erin says the design is for “intellectual” consumers. Other designers, such as Erdem Moralioglu, uses “dreamy watercolor-like flowers to create instant brand recognition.”

Lazaro Hernandez, co-founder of Proenza Schouler, creates “materials that vary from unconventional eel and rattan to lace and cotton,” says the fabric patterns are more important than the shape of the garment itself. “We’re making pretty simple clothes out of really complicated fabrics,” he says. “That’s to me what’s modern about fashion.” Many possibilities are enabled by “strides in inkjet technology” that “have allowed designers to create sharp edges and to use intricate color variations, as well as to base a print on almost any image.” Not to be outdone, designer Maria Cornejo has turned iPhone photos of graffiti into prints. “Nobody has that print,” she says. “It’s ours.”

Yoox founder Federico Marchetti compares the web to ancient monuments, reports Nicole Berrie in the Wall Street Journal (3/3/12). "It’s about form and function," says Federico. "Nothing has changed since the Greeks. You need balance. If you have too much form, people get lost. Fashion is about emotion — it can’t just be a catalog." Yoox was founded in 2000, and "was one of the world’s first successful e-shops." Today, it attracts "some six million monthly visitors seeking end-of-season stock, vintage goods and eco-friendly fashion." It pulls down more than "$388 million in revenues from over 100 countries," and the United States is its largest market.

So, pay attention: Federico is about to launch a new e-boutique called Shoescribe, "selling women’s footwear from 100 designers (along with shoehorns and chausseur-related photography books and jewelry). Big labels like Proenza Schouler and Alexander Wang will mingle with smaller cult brands including Swedish Hasbeens and Opening Ceremony … Shoescribe ships purchases in recyclable cartons and offers custom-made shoe boxes bearing Polaroid-like snapshots" (presumably of the contents). The goal, says Frederico, is to help women organize their closets.

"Above all, we are a service company," he says. His focus is on "visitor-centric amenities. Shoe experts dole out tips … and the site lists an international network of cobblers to fix temperamental stilettos." VIP customers, known as "shoescribers" pay a premium ($149 per year) to "get premium perks including complimentary repairs, customer care kits and free shipping — even 50% off their birthday purchases." Shoescribe will also have "guest curators, starting with "longtime Madonna stylist and Oscar-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips." But he doesn’t see a place for "celebrity ambassadors" ala Net-a-Porter. "We’re not about the big celebrity designer," he says. "It’s two different customers completely."

Faris Al-Shathir is pairing “fashion designers with architects to create stunning retail spaces,” reports Bee-Shyuan Chang in the New York Times (1/12/12). Faris is a former art student and sometime interior designer who, in 2008, co-founded a non-profit group called Boffo with Klaus Biesenbach, then a curator for the Museum of Modern Art. Their first project, in September 2009, involved taking over “a former Bible factory in Brooklyn” and inviting “150 artists to create at will.” (link)

The following year, Boffo partnered with Spilios Gianakopoulos, an architect, where they “organized a series of pop-up boutiques at HL23, a luxury condominium along the High Line that had a vacant trailer that was used as a sales office.” (images) Boffo put together “five teams of fashion designers and architects” to create “a series of temporary stores.”

During Fashion Week last fall, designer Nicola Formichetti and Gage/Clemenceau, created a retail space that “looked like the inside of a shattered kaleidoscope (images). Last September, a collaboration between Irene Neuwirth and architect Marc Fornes transformed “a former jewelry boutique into a phantasmagoric concept store, with terrarium displays and gold, coral-shaped sculptures (images) that looked like something out of Barbarella.”