Sleepless Travels Reloaded

Dolce & Gabbana Donna Fall Winter 2007 by Steven Meisel

Other thoughts on consumerist mentality:

• Are we going about this the wrong way? Should we really be demanding to fill our already overfilling wardrobes with new clothes each season in the neverending pressure that is consumerist society to stay current, trendy, fashionable? Do we have a right to stay trendy such that the moral, if not legal, sin of copying can be ignored?
• Why can’t we be satisfied with a few choice designer pieces that are timeless and can be worn again and again for decades? Surely your money can be put towards more worthwhile things than throw-away fashion that lasts for a season.
• Fashion is a business after all. Amongst all their lofty goals of creativity and art and all that, they still have to make money. They market to consumers.

  Look at the glossy gushing editorials in Vogue. How about product placements in movies and hip and sexy TV series (think Sex and the City). If we weren’t already pining for Birkins (starting price USD7000) or Manolo Blahniks it wouldn’t be any wonder why we would be now. Oh, gullible, lemming-like consumers we are!

  If demand cannot be met through inadequate supply (waiting lists for Birkins can last for several years. There is in fact a waiting list to get on the waiting list) or a price that a consumer is unwilling to pay, who steps in? Counterfeiters and high street shops. Is it any wonder?

• Designers and fashion houses create the demand and envy that is causing the copying. Then they complain about it. Hmm. Frankly, it reminds me of the RIAA (I understand there are marked differences between copying music and fashion though don’t email me about it)

So what can fill the gap?

• Alright so in this Nazi fashion market where no copying is allowed, you have retailers selling basics that are okay and doable and that no one is interested in, really. Then you have fashion houses that make fashion, make the trends, really innovate and push fashion forward. Gorgeous clothing of impeccable quality. That 99.99% of the world cannot or will not pay for.
• That’s because prices are really expensive. Why? Because:
  1. They are inflated because that creates demand and prestige. In fact their whole business model is based on getting people to spend large amounts because no one else has it.
  2. Value. The finest of materials. Impeccable craftsmanship. Lasts a century. The question is, does that add value to Joe Smith such that he is willing to pay such a high price? Maybe the average customer is satisfied with synthetic leather and something that won’t fall apart after a year. Would he pay $100 for a no-name briefcase or USD 1450 for a LV Laguito Taiga briefcase (which is extremely drool-worthy, I have to say.)
• And thus, I propose -drumroll-

fashion!Ikea

1. Designers create collections for each season with the average consumer in mind. No haute couture, no extremely exotic skins. They are prominently acknowledged so customers can easily follow and repurchase clothing from designers they like. Fashion!Ikea aims to attract young up-and-coming designers or old hands that are sick of fashion industry pretentiousness. Designers retain copyright over their designs and earn royalties which will be a percentage of sales.
2. Everything else including sales, marketing, manufacturing will be handled by fashion!Ikea who will have the market power to source good deals on materials and labour and so on to decrease actual costs of production.
3. ??
4. Profit!!

(See other posts in this series here)