Friday, January 20, 2012

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

Finally, I ordered my must-read books via Amazon.com! I wish I've done it a lot sooner, because boy, the book I'm reading right now blows my mind! It is the best fashion-related book I've ever read!


Deluxe reveals how the milti-billion dollar industry works and why they do what they do: why brands set up outlet stores,  why they display their it-bags at flagship store entrances, why some of them move their production to China, and why others don't...

I always thought that - as a 'communication scientist', who had more than a few marketing courses and studied some aspects of the fashion business up close - I knew pretty much all the essentials on the fashion business. Clearly, I didn't. This book is amazing. I can't put it down. Just two more chapters to go!

Up next: The End of Fashion - How Marketing Changed The Clothing Business Forever

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Don't take this personally ...


No offense, but I couldn't help but laughing when I passed the Abercrombie & Fitch-store in Brussels yesterday. This picture was taken around noon. At 10 AM, when I arrived at Chaussee de Waterloo*, the line was twice as long, running all in front of the BMW-garage.

Okay, I must admit, the brand has a very clever marketing strategy, especially if you can make people (read: 14-year olds with their mums) wait in line for an hour just to get some simple, everyday non-limited edition-H&M-meets-designer-brand style of clothes. But I think the clothes look terrible (aside from the fact that A&F is being printed on every single item) and are very, very, yes, very over-priced.

A friend of mine told me a few years ago that if I ever got the chance I should go check out the A&F-concept at he thought it was ridiculous. And so, one early morning**, when I was near their Fifth Ave.-store, I noticed that for once there wasn't a single soul waiting in line. I went inside, and I literally immediately walk out again. We were inside 3 min. tops! Most of the clothes (not my style) are inside the glass counters, the store was extremely dark and the music was so damn loud that I couldn't even stand the idea that I would actually take a walk around the store and even give this brand a fair chance. So, let it be said: A&F, thumbs up for your marketing team, but you'll never get me to enter your store again***! But don't let me stop you ...

NB: Why A&F doesn't work in Japan. #funny


*There goes the neighborhood
**NYC equals jetlags equals getting up way too early to go shopping
***Online shopping isn't an option either