NYFW

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Smaller Is Better
February 10, 2017
charles i. letbetter - smaller is better

Fashion powerhouse LVMH is on the prowl

 

charles i. letbetter - smaller is better

The Short Version

As the fashion industry spends the next month looking at new styles, some of those people sitting on the front row are more interested in a brand’s bottom line more than what’s coming down the runway. Fashion mega holding group LVMH has changed its strategy from buying large, successful brands to smaller, up-and-coming designers that have yet to make it big. The result is making a lot of designers nervous.

A Little More Detail

Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) is one of fashion’s largest conglomerates. It owns brands you know such as Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, Kenzo, Fendi, and Givenchy, among several others. They also own a number of high-end wine and spirit brands and a few other things in the luxury category. They’re big, they’re powerful, and they are extremely well financed. They have plenty of money to throw at most anything they want to purchase.

In the past, the LVMH strategy has been to purchase only known brands, fashion labels that were established, well recognized and profitable. The conglomerate would infuse their purchase with enough capital to fuel extensive growth in an effort to make them super brands. For the most part, that strategy has worked.

However, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault says that the company is changing its purchase strategy. Instead of going for the big brands, they’re looking for smaller labels that address a niche spot in the market. An example would be their purchase of German baggage label Rimowa late last year. Chance are, unless one travels to Europe frequently, one has never heard of Rimowa. Expect that to soon change. That’s exactly the strategy the group is taking toward fashion as well.

If they’re looking at anyone specific, though, they’re keeping their mouths shut about it and that silence has everyone on edge. There are several smaller brands, from Jason Wu to Adam Semalt, showing in New York this week that could be a good fit for the conglomerate’s new strategy. There are plenty of others in London, Milan, and Paris as well. The question is whether the label’s growth pattern is sufficient to warrant their purchase.

Smaller luxury brands have had it tough given the downturn in luxury sales over the past three years. Smaller labels don’t have as many flagship stores, if any, and are more dependent on department stores to fuel sales. Department stores have been sucking air of late with major chains such as Macy’s having to close hundreds of units. As a result, the attraction of big company money is very attractive to those trying to stay afloat.

Already this year, New York-based designer Bibhu Mohapatra has had to file for bankruptcy protection. Several other small brands could be looking at making similar moves if not closing altogether.

As a result, all eyes are on the front rows looking for any LVMH executive who might be checking out potential purchases. Almost everyone would like to be on LVMH’s list, but they typically make only two or three purchases a year when they’re in a buying mood. Still, several designers have their hopes set high. They’re putting in a little more effort to this week’s presentations, a little more pomp, a little more glamour, hoping to prove they are worthy of a significant investment.

Only time will tell whether the effort will pay off.

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When The Circus Comes To Town
September 8, 2016
charles i. letbetter - when the circus comes to town

Sometimes I think God wants there to be a circus so we can show there’s another way to respond. —Tony Dungy

 

charles i. letbetter - when the circus comes to town

The circus that is NYFW got off to a chaotic and often confusing start yesterday

We knew that this season of fashion weeks was going to be a bit of a circus. With everyone changing which season they were showing and how they were showing it was inevitable that there would be some confusion and chaos. What we couldn’t know was exactly how that confusion and chaos would take shape and who would end up being the clowns in this circus and who would be the lion tamers. While events don’t officially start until today, yesterday gave us a pretty good preview of what we can expect.

Is This A Fashion Show?

There is a lot of experimentation going on this season. Many people feel that the traditional runway setup just doesn’t connect the way it needs to. As a result, we found ourselves looking at some things that we weren’t quite sure were an improvement. At least with a traditional runway, there’s no question as to what is happening. Models + clothes + runway = fashion show. Taking away the runway doesn’t seem like it would be that big a different to the total equation, but it turns out that maybe we need that element a little more than we thought.

Two examples spring to mind. Rachel Comey presented her 15-year anniversary collection yesterday morning. She wanted to give us a back-to-my-roots kind of feeling, so she staged her show right out on the sidewalk. Not kidding. There was a FedEx van in the background of most the runway shots I saw. Guests were seated in white folding chairs perched between doorways and around scaffolding. This left models just enough room to walk carefully in front of them. The only problem is that Comey’s every-day-woman style left passers-by wondering what was going on. Was this a fashion show or just a rehearsal? It was also difficult to tell where the fashion show left off and normal well-dressed pedestrians began.

Another example would be Misha Nonoo‘s Snapchat-exclusive presentation. The show was presented through Refinery 29’s Snapchat account, which was probably chosen for its high number of followers. However, the pieces of Nonoo’s collection were posted separately and at various times throughout the day. I don’t normally keep Snapchat up and running all day. Every time I looked at a new segment I wondered if I was seeing everything or missing a snap. The drawings on top of the photos were distracting as well.

Poof, The Stream Is Gone

Labels that show before the official start of fashion week have to handle all the elements of that presentation themselves. This includes any live streaming they might wish to attempt. Recent changes in Facebook’s Live option led a couple of yesterday’s designers to give that a try rather than paying for real cameras and stuff. I can be rather sympathetic to some degree. Professional live streaming is incredibly expensive, especially when more than one camera is involved. Being able to eliminate that cost helps keep the budget a little bit lower.

However, it also makes the streaming much less predictable. None of the Facebook streams we were watching started on time. In fact, not all of them ever started. Twice we waited, and waited, and waited over an hour before finally giving up. The one we did see was very poor quality, broadcast from an intern’s phone we’re guessing, and then mysteriously disappeared in the middle of the presentation. Perhaps the phone ran out of battery.

Streaming has never been the most reliable technology. A lot can go wrong under the best of circumstances. Trying to short-cut the process doesn’t seem to generate positive results.

They’re Doing WHAT On Roosevelt Island?

I’m going to have to choose my words carefully here because I have a filter on my browser that blocks any mention of a certain pseudo-celebrity family that I find particularly annoying. Unfortunately, one of the loud-mouthed members of that family fancies himself a designer. He’s not, really. This is where the circus just gets ugly. It’s only the family’s disturbingly close relationship with Vogue’s Anna Wintour that continues to provide them with any major attention. Everyone else stays as far away from the cluster fuck as possible.  Nonetheless, he presented what he is calling Season 4 right smack out in the middle of Roosevelt Island.

Wait, Roosevelt Island? You mean that largely-forgotten strip of land in the middle of the East River? Yep, that Roosevelt Island. The one that was never meant to accommodate too terribly many people because it’s only 800 feet wide and its most broad point. The one that contains a tribute to FDR, for whom the island is named, at the South end. There’s barely room to stage a picnic on Roosevelt Island, let alone a fashion show.

They tried. It sucked. From models having to remove their shoes to walk to guests arriving after the presentation, the whole thing was one giant failure. Again. We keep hoping the so-called designer will stop. No one needs that many different shades of tan.

A Safe Place To Hide

We tend to think of a circus as being a spectacle that no one can miss. However, a circus can also be a good place to hide. While everyone else is watching the clowns, one can go off and do their own thing without anyone else noticing. Or, perhaps disappear without anyone noticing.

When Wednesday’s schedule first came out, Herve Leger by Max Azria was scheduled for that afternoon. Some time Wednesday morning, however, that entry disappeared. We checked both the brand’s Facebook page and their website and there’s no mention of the show’s cancellation. There’s no mention of  the show at all.

This made us curious so we started looking for Azria’s major label: BCBG. Nope, that’s not on the schedule for this season, either. Anywhere. Both are gone. This raises our suspicions a bit. While everyone knows that Max’s wife, Lubov, has done most the creative work the past several seasons, Azria has still kept his hands on the reigns. Could the 67-year-old designer be in ill health, or could all the chaos of this season have forced the labels to take a step back and wait? There are also reports of clothing orders placed on the website being cancelled without explanation.

Perhaps there’s a dark side to this circus.

Grab The Popcorn

No matter what the problems, a circus always manages to be entertaining and this one is no different. We’ve already posted our first review of last night’s Tom Ford presentation on Pattern. There is a lot more to come. Remember, Tommy Hilfiger is staging an actual carnival on Friday night. This may be the craziest circus we’ve ever seen. Grab your popcorn and enjoy the show.

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Looking At NYFW From Indiana
September 7, 2016

Indiana has had a great influence on fashion. People here care about style but they’re not too quick to adopt everything New York throws at them.

 

charles i. letbetter - looking at NYFW from Indiana

Designer Marlene Thomas with models Katherine Gulling (left) and Emily Miedema backstage prior to the 2012 IFT event. Her Marlene H Couture collection hits the NYFW runway Thursday at noon.

I was still sitting in front of the computer yesterday morning when something came across my Facebook newsfeed that made me smile. Not a meme nor a picture from the past, it was a status update from designer Marlene Thomas, leaving Fort Wayne for New York. For a brief moment, I almost wished that I was going to New York as well. Watching NYFW from Indiana has some challenges that are often frustrating, especially this season when the spectacle has ramped up a bit. If I don’t stop to think about the chaos and confusion that is hitting Manhattan this morning, I’m tempted to actually miss being there.

Then, I come to my senses. While being at NYFW and the other big four fashion weeks was exciting enough back when I was 30, today it would be exhausting and perhaps even a bit torturous. All the walking. All the security checks. You can take your camera here but you can’t take it there. Where’s my town car? Nevermind, I’ll take the subway. How am I supposed to get across town in 15 minutes? The pastries before that last show aren’t setting well with my stomach.

There are advantages to staying in Indiana and watching NYFW from here. The Internet makes a lot of things possible that we couldn’t have dreamed twenty-five years ago. Still, if you’re going to do this with me, there are some things you really need to know before we start. Pay attention.

Hashtags Are Everything

Want to know what’s really going on and what’s really hot? Watch the hashtags for changing trends. Almost every designer, at least those whose PR teams are on top of things, has their own hashtag for their show. When a hashtag takes off and starts trending we have our first clue that the brand has achieved a level of popularity and is worth watching. That’s not to say that less-popular brands with less-popular hashtags should be dismissed, but the power of the hashtag has become a dominant part of fashion PR.

Sitting here in Indiana, we don’t feel the power of the hashtag quite so much. In fact, there are still a lot of people in Indiana, especially those of us over 40, who don’t really understand the whole hashtag thing and how it works. For those whose minds still think old-school, a hashtag is like a brightly colored marker stuck in the middle of a card catalog. In a mind-numbing sea of excess information, hashtags not only allow us to find specific information faster, but to group information quickly on a given topic by searching for that hashtag. The more people use your hashtag, the more markers are placed in that sea of information.

Business of Fashion even ran an op-ed piece yesterday declaring that fashion has hashtag cults. Calling the obsession with hashtags a cult might be a bit over-the-top, but the basic premise of the article is correct: hashtags are everything in fashion and the only way to keep up-to-the-moment the next four weeks is to follow those hashtags religiously.

Start Your Social Media Engines

I am not sure how we ever surfed the Internet in the days before browsers allowed users to have multiple tabs open. I’m sitting here with 14 of them open now and I haven’t even started pulling up all the social media sites I know I’m going to need to get through the day. In addition to social media, there are a plethora of fashion magazines and blogs that are worth watching this week more than normal. I try to keep them sorted from left to right across my monitor in order of relevance. Sometimes that approach almost works.

Following the schedule on NYFW.com is the logical starting point. Be very much aware, however, that the listing there is incomplete and only contains the presentations showing at official NYFW venues. If you want a more complete listing, you’ll want to take a look at Fashion Week Online. Even that list doesn’t have everything, though, and times are definitely subject to change. For example, Marc Jacobs is still listed as showing at 6:00 PM, which is his traditional timeslot. He’s not. He’s moved his show up to  2:00 PM.  Be careful and double check the designer’s website and/or social media feeds.

Speaking of social media, you need them all. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are must-haves. If you don’t have accounts on all four, get busy. You’ll have to follow your favorite designers on every platform possible. There’s no way to know which designer is going to favor a specific platform. Set alerts for the designers you care about and keep everything open.

The Indiana Connection

Anyone can show in New York who has the money to pull off a show. Each season, I have someone contact me who is all excited about their show in New York. I go to check the official schedule, though, and they’re not present. Sorry, kids, if you’re not on the office NYFW schedule it doesn’t count.

This season is different, though. I was excited when I got the message from Indiana-based designer Marlene Thomas that her Marlene H Couture collection is on the schedule for Thursday at noon. Okay, so that puts her up against Creatures of the Wind which is a favorite of the fashion editors. Still, she’s actually there and she’s in a prime spot on the first day’s schedule! How incredibly awesome is that? Marlene is showing at 404 NYC, conveniently located at 404 10th Ave. The space is fantastic and I’ve no doubt she’ll fill it wonderfully.

In addition to Ms. Thomas’ presence in New York, Indianapolis-based LModelz is sending at least six models (possibly more) to walk in various shows. Of course, models don’t wear signs telling us where they’re from and by the time they get through hair and makeup it can be difficult to tell who’s who. Still, we should be proud that Indiana is so very well represented at NYFW this season!

All The Reviews

Watching all the shows is impossible. Catching all the streams and Instagram feeds is impossible. Even major magazines who can deploy multiple staff members don’t manage to cover everything. That’s why we write reviews. We cull through all the clutter and do our best to cover the shows that matter. For the sixth season, we’ll be posting all our reviews on Pattern at least twice a day, more if I can manage the time. No, it’s not real time, especially when we move away from New York and are trying to cover shows at 2:00 in the morning. We are expecting some incredible shows over the next four weeks and do our best to catch all the important moments.

Let’s be honest, Indiana is never going to be a fashion capital. Fashion doesn’t need nor want any more capitals. Indiana is a strong fashion participant, though, and there are a lot of people here who are eye-ball deep in the stuff. Therefore, it makes sense to give NYFW an Indiana perspective. We’ve made a lot of progress here in the past ten or so years. I think there are probably a half-dozen or so designers who have what it takes to follow Marlene’s lead and jump onto the official schedule. I see more people actually paying attention to what they’re wearing.

Watching NYFW from Indiana isn’t the same as being there in person, but it does have its perks. Grab a cup of coffee and a piece of sugar cream pie and follow along. Oh, and should you happen to want to send over a dozen donuts or so, I won’t complain.

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Can See-Now, Buy-Now Succeed?
September 6, 2016

If at first you don’t succeed… so much for skydiving. —Henny Youngman

 

charles i. letbetter - can see-now, buy-now succeed

See-now, buy-now sounds like a great idea, but can designers make the concept actually succeed?

My reading list is full. My to-do list is packed with confirming sources I’m going to need over the next month. There is shopping to be done. We’re low on chocolate and there’s no way we have enough coffee to last through the weekend. The September women’s ready-to-wear fashion season is upon us. While NYFW doesn’t officially start until Thursday, my work begins tomorrow. If I’m going to succeed in providing Pattern with the best possible reviews, I need to be on top of my game right from the beginning.

Why am I starting a day early? Because this season is different. Normally, I’m rather selective in choosing which shows to watch and review. That hasn’t exactly changed, I’ll ignore more than I watch, but the criteria is different. There are players making a shift in the fashion week agenda that could end up dramatically impacting the entire industry. Regardless of how I might feel about some of the styles, I have to pay attention.

What’s happening is that a significant number of designers are moving to a see-now, buy-now model. Instead of consumers having to wait six months before the clothes on the runway are available in stores, many labels are making their clothes available immediately. You see something you like on the runway, swipe your card, and it’s yours. While the concept sounds simple enough, the change is severe and there’s no guarantee it will succeed.

Something Had To Give

Not everyone is on board with this new concept. The Italian Fashion Council outright denied any support of see-now, buy-now and Italian labels have largely followed that philosophy. In New York and London, however, the idea has caught on and is getting a lot of attention. Luxury brands in both countries have been struggling to keep their heads above water the past few years. Everyone acknowledged that something had to be done, but no one was quite sure what.

When Rebecca Minkoff and others first announced that they were shifting to an immediate-purchase model, there was a collective gasp throughout the industry. How could designers source materials and change production schedules to meet the requirements of a current-season collection without risking millions of dollars? After all, everyone knows that not everything that makes its way down a runway is consumer ready. The six-month difference allows for revisions as buyers place their orders. Real-time runway sales eliminate that safety buffer.

Consumers, however, never really understood the reasons for delay, especially since fast-fashion shops such as H&M and Zara churn out whole new collections every few weeks. Demand for current-season shows has been growing the past few years. So, a significant group of designers are giving it a go. The big question on everyone’s mind, though, is  will it succeed or be a flaming disaster?

More Than One Path

While several designers are giving see-now, buy-now a try, almost none of them are taking the same approach. At 10:00 AM Wednesday morning, Misha Nonoo will be taking to the streets of New York to show her fall/winter collection. If you want to see it, you’ll need to be watching Refinery29’s Snapchat, though. The event is not streaming anywhere else and will only be available for 24 hours.

Tom Ford, who brought major attention to the movement when he announced in February that he would be waiting until this week to show his fall/winter collection, presents his runway tomorrow as well. However, you’ll be staying up late to watch it. Preshow starts streaming at 9:15 PM EDT. That likely means that the actual presentation won’t start until 10:00 or later. I know we’ll be making sure to get a nap in tomorrow afternoon so we can be alert. You can watch the show on Tom Ford’s website.

Another major US adapter is Tommy Hilfiger. I’m accustomed to Tommy’s show hitting mid-day, normally near the time I’m thinking about lunch. This season is different, though. The runway presentation moves to 7:00 PM EDT and is part of a two-day event that includes games and carnival rides. I don’t even want to think about the price tag on this one. How can this approach possibly succeed?

Tommy Hilfiger’s chief marketing and brand officer Avery Baker tells Business of Fashion:

It’s hard to say, because it’s not an apples to apples comparison. Because of the shopping elements and all of the interactive aspects that go way beyond just that moment of the show and relate to collections that will be for sale for the next several weeks, it’s not easy to make a direct comparison. Yes, it’s an increase from where we were, but in terms of exposure and partnerships and platforms, it actually will go significantly farther.

All We Can Do Now Is Watch

In many ways, consumers are getting what they’ve wanted. There’s more spectacle, fewer industry-only events, and more creative experimentation than we’ve seen around fashion weeks. In my memory, I can’t remember a season that was more eagerly anticipated by the public. There is a tremendous potential lurking in the next several days.

Still, despite all the effort and creativity, there is no guarantee that any of it will succeed. The danger of immediate availability is that if customers don’t like what they see, especially if shopper’s favorite fashion bloggers pan a collection, they won’t buy. There’s no six-month gap to help them forget how much we didn’t like the clothes. Inventories end up sitting in warehouses rather than making their way to retailers or online customers. Millions of dollars are at risk and the whole thing could end up going right down the toilet if customers don’t respond.

So, I’ll be on Snapchat at 10:00 in the morning. I’ll take a nap and be watching at whatever time Tom Ford decides to unleash his presentation. We’ll try to be judicious and fair in our reviews on Pattern. The rest is up to you. Buy. Don’t buy.  The entire fashion industry is watching.

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Fashion Is Changing Its Look. Again.
August 16, 2016

Fashion doesn’t look good only on models; it can look good on different people of different ages and different body shapes. —Alber Elbaz

 

charles i. letbetter - fashion is changing its look - again

The next round of fashion weeks is just around the corner and the whole system is changing its look

We are now less than a month away from New York Fashion Week. One of the most frequent statements made back in February was, “we’ll have to wait until September.” Many of the changes that were announced early in the year com into fruition with next month’s set of shows. Not only have designers swapped seats, attitudes about the shows themselves have changed. Even more, the economy surrounding fashion has changed. What we experience through the fashion shows this season is likely to be a very different look than what we saw this time last year.

Change is a given in fashion. We wouldn’t need to do these dog-and-pony shows twice a year if fashion wasn’t always changing. We complain if we see two collections in a row that look too terribly similar. What’s important this season is the degree of change. Major wheels were set in motion back in the spring that change not only what we see now, but how we see it. The very structure of the presentations is changing and that may influence our perspective of the shows as well as our buying habits.

As I type this, schedules for New York are being finalized. There are some names we’ve come to expect that we won’t see on the roster this year. London, Milan, and Paris are getting ready as well and it’s just not the same as it was back in the Spring (if you can call February  Spring). The whole attitude is different. Let’s consider some of the changes.

Designers Swapping Seats

The number one topic at the beginning of each season is always which designers have switched to different labels. We didn’t see a tremendous amount of significant movement back in February, but we’ve certainly had some major changes since then and now all that jostling around has to prove its worth. These are going to drive changes in look for a number of labels.

  • Raf Simons has moved to Calvin Klein. You had to be hiding under a rock to miss this announcement. Everyone knew Raf was moving almost from the moment the first phone call was placed. The timing could have perhaps been a bit better. Simons works fast but it would be out of the ordinary even for him to create a full set on his own by  September 15, which is when CK is likely to show. Still, he’ll  be anxious to demonstrate the direction in which he wants to take the line. Anxiety and anticipation are very high here.
  • Peter Copping left Oscar de la Renta. What the fuck? This one almost knocked me out of my chair when the announcement was made last month. It’s been less than two years since Oscar de la Renta named Copping as his successor and then promptly died. The match looked perfect. The past two season’s shows have been well received. What the fuck happened? No one on either side is talking. Copping promptly moved back to the UK. De la Renta will run with a design team for the time being. We are very confused and very sad.
  • Bouchra Jarrar makes her debut at Lanvin. This looks to be one of the most highly anticipated shows of the season. Jarrar brings a different look, a more feminine look, back to Lanvin. That being said, shareholders are watching for a collection that resonates with buyers and increases sales. Will it work? We’ll see.
  • Anthony Vaccarello takes over at Yves Saint Laurent. The whole attitude has changed at YSL. Vaccarello comes from Versus Versace and almost certainly is going to bring some of Donatella’s influence with him. Expect a sexier, more defined, and perhaps even a little edgier look than YSL saw under Hedi Slimane.
  •  Maria Grazia Chiuri changes things up at Dior. Following Raf Simons isn’t going to be easy. Dior took its sweet time replacing the famed designer and makes a bold statement in appointing the label’s first female creative director. Chiuri makes the leap from Valentino where she was co-creative director. Pierpaolo Piccioli now has sole authority over there.

Spending this season on the sidelines, still, are Alber Elbaz and Hedi Slimane. One really has to wonder why they’ve not been snatched up.

A Little Less Fur

Fur has long been a mainstay of luxury fashion and Angora has been the go-to fur for quite a while given the endangered status of wild sources. Then, Peta, the animal rights group, took aim at the Angora industry in 2013, claiming harvesting methods were cruel. Now, it seems Peta has won. Orders for the fur dropped dramatically for this season after more than 100 major labels suspended use of fabric. Other types of fur have seen dramatic declines as well. I have to admit that I’m curious as to whether Dennis Basso is reducing his use of fur at all. Historically, he’s been unapologetic about using fur and animal skin in general.

What’s next? Wool. A recent op-ed takes aim at the ubiquitous fabric, claiming that large-scale harvesting methods are just as cruel as those used on angora rabbits.  Will this movement catch hold? The atmosphere certainly seems to be ripe for it, but the global use of wool peaks for the fall/winter season. We’re not likely to see any change until February.

What Season Is This?

We talked back in February about designers skipping the fall shows to go real-time this September.  Well, September  is here and we get to find out whether that strategy is going to work. Be sure, all eyes are watching Burberry, Tom Ford, and Rebecca Minkoff, among others, to see how they handle the straight-to-stores approach. Critical to this new look is whether consumers are confused by seeing both fall/winter looks and spring/summer looks in the same season. The seasonal look has been muted the past few years, with coats in spring and shorts in the fall almost being normal.

This change may work well, though, as designers look for alternative presentation methods. Criticism of the traditional runway approach grew rather heated back in February, but we’re not hearing much talk about the alternatives leading up to this season’s shows. Will Gloria Vanderbilt return to a runway approach or will she go with another fashion event that confuses the hell out of everyone? Talk back in the spring held that we would see more such presentations this fall, but as budgets have been trimmed to match declining profits much of that talk has disappeared.

A Little More Security

For people in Paris and London, the world feels less safe than it did back in February. Organizers in Milan and New York aren’t taking any risks, either. Whereas some designers had been flirting with the idea of open-to-the-public presentations, more care is being taken this fall to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Invitation requests are vetted with increased scrutiny and press credentials are more difficult to obtain. Guests lucky enough to attend an event will find security lines longer than ever. Restrictions on what guests can bring with them, including nail files and hair spray, are taken seriously.

Paris saw dramatically increased security last season but it didn’t seem to interfere with the overall spirit and celebration of the events. This season, though, there is a palpable difference in the tone. Multiple attacks across Europe have everyone looking over their shoulder. Supplier lists are under greater scrutiny. Location accessibility is a concern. In some cases, labels who might have traditionally sought a larger audience are scaling back a bit to reduce the risk.

Everyone wants fashion week to be fun and exciting, but the shadow of terrorism is impossible to escape.

Side Glance To Retail.

Macy’s is closing 100 stores. The announcement wasn’t a surprise. In fact, the retail conglomerate said earlier this year that store closings were coming. Yet, the impact was still like dropping a ton of bricks across the fashion industry. At the same time, China’s luxury market, which had been the one strong point in the industry, has begun a decline. No one is sure yet how much a hit global fashion brands might take but the Chinese government is making it clear they want those Yen to stay at home.

Meanwhile, both H&M and Lululemon are anticipating continued growth. Low-priced fast fashion is eating away at the luxury sector and forcing major labels to  make changes to their corporate look. As much movement as there has been among designers, there’s been even more seat swapping among fashion’s corporate CEOs. Even Burberry’s Christopher Bailey had to take a back seat in the boardroom over the summer.  No one wants to make a knee-jerk move that spooks the fragile market, but if sales don’t improve we may see even bigger shifts in the look of fashion by next February.

We Can’t Stop Watching

All that being said, interest in fashion is as high as ever. Fashion schools are experiencing prime enrollment numbers. Fashion magazines have retooled their look and enjoying higher numbers than this time last year. Instagram and Snapchat are full of fashionista-wannabes taking selfies of their latest look. Interest in fashion hasn’t waned one bit.

Everyone is being cautious, though. With so many changes hitting at the same time, this could be a very exciting season. We are hoping for a very exciting season. Strong interest in shows next month could do wonders for a slumping retail market. Don’t expect anything that looks like last year, though. This fashion look has changed dramatically. You may need to clean out your closet and start all over.

Prep your credit cards now. NYFW begins September 9.

Photo credits:

Model: Presley Stewart (LModelz)
Makeup: Danelle French
Hair: Jenise Norgaard
Styling: Nativa (Allyson Brooks and Lila Palomares)

Photography: charles i. letbetter

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That CFDA Report on NYFW Isn’t Helping
March 10, 2016
charles i. letbetter - cfda report on nyfw

Why, a four-year-old child could understand this report. Run out and find me a four-year-old child. I can’t make head nor tail out of it. —Groucho Marx

 

charles i. letbetter - CFDA report

What good is a report that spends ten pages talking and still says nothing?

Everyone in and out of fashion has known for the past couple of years that the whole construct of fashion weeks need to change. The most recent season is a perfect example of why. Some shows are customer-centric and are heavy on spectacle. Some shows are buyer-focused and try to totally block out consumers from attending their events. Other designers try to merge traditional runway presentations with various social-media tie-ins using apps such as Instagram and Periscope. There was little feeling of cohesion at any of the four major cities but, at least, the governing bodies in Milan and Paris both made statements that they’re not planning on changing from the traditional format. While that decision may yet come back to haunt them, they deserve some credit for making a definitive statement on which labels, designers, buyers, and editors can all depend.

For New York Fashion Week, the Council of Fashion Designers in America (CFDA) is responsible for the NYFW schedule. However, they do not have any logistical control nor any authority in telling designers and labels what they can or cannot do. Without anyone to tell designers no, NYFW has become the largest fashion week in the world. This past season saw more than 275 designers making some form of presentation during an eight-day period. This does not include events such as the Saint Laurent ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles just before NYFW kicked off. This is great news for the city of New York. NYFW generates more revenue than the Olympics or the Super Bowl. However, the environment makes it difficult for designers who have little or no name recognition to draw the attention of buyers and editors who are already swamped.

Just how difficult is it to get noticed at NYFW? Consider that, at my peak in 2014, I struggled, and often failed, to make it through eight shows a day, and that was when the tents at Lincoln Center still provided a central location for the majority of major shows. I topped out at 67 shows that week. That means I missed roughly 75% of the shows! I only made it through 23 this season, which means more than 200 presentations escaped our view. There simply is not enough time in a day to cover everything.

Getting noticed isn’t the only problem designers have at NYFW, though. As technology has changed, the current schedule of showing a collection, taking orders, then delivering on those orders in 4-5 months has deteriorated. The causes are obvious. Smaller ateliers with only an online presence may seem a small threat when viewed one at a time, but together they take millions of dollars out of the retail flow. Fast fashion houses such as H&M and Zara completely turn over their inventory every eight weeks, with new items arriving almost daily. Consignment and resale shopping has also grown dramatically the past five years. All this together, along with others such as online-only discounters, represent billions of dollars coming out of traditional retail, severely impacting fashion’s traditional flow.

Oh, but there’s still more. Now that a large number of fashion shows are streamed live on the Internet and/or mobile apps, in addition to live or nearly live pictures on Instagram, NowFashion, and Vogue, among others, consumers see the new styles, and want the new styles when they see them, but those same styles are old news by the time they actually hit stores 4-5 months later. By the time clothes are on store shelves, fast fashion retailers and online discounters have already produced and sold enough knock-offs that the “new” stuff feels old when it arrives.

Then, there’s the added fact that many designers are flat out exhausted by the current schedule. With many brands supporting spring/summer, resort, pre-fall, fall/winter, homme spring/summer, and homme fall/winter, there is a new deadline for designers every other month, or it would be every other month if the calendar made any sense. Dates actually overlap so designers are often working on four different collections at any given time.

We’ve seen these problems building for the past five years; they are neither secret nor surprise. With the loss of major sponsorship for NYFW after Mercedes-Benz exited last year, there was little question that something needs to be done. The question is: what? To that end, the CFDA hired big-five firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to help study the problem. Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? Bring is someone objective and let them help.

Yeahhhhhh, about that …

Last week, the CFDA released BCG’s report. You can read the whole thing here if you wish; it doesn’t take all that long. There are a lot of pictures. What was the final conclusion after all this time and money was spent? Look for yourself:

While the CFDA will not promote only one specific idea at this time, it was imperative to bring out all the issues. It will encourage designers to try and experiment with new concepts and will foster continued conversations on the topic through stakeholder meetings, panel conversations, and workshops throughout the year. The CFDA owns the New York Fashion Calendar and will accommodate all types of shows and events and continue to support all designers regardless of how and when they show

For those of you not versed in consultant-speak, please allow me to translate for you: “Do whatever the fuck you want and we’ll stand here with our thumbs up our butts holding the calendar. You have our best wishes.”

This sorry excuse for a statement ultimately amounts to no statement at all and renders the whole report pointless. Void of any guidelines, and with a decree that they’ll support whatever a designer/label chooses to do, CFDA essentially gives up NYFW to complete anarchy with the door wide open for mayhem. While the report recognizes all the pertinent issues and accurately assesses the options, what was needed was for the CFDA to make a choice. Choose a method, perhaps a partnership between two methods, and say, “Hey, this is what NYFW can support, anything else and you’re own your own.” Instead, get nothing.

I can understand how the CFDA and BCG came to this conclusion. Read between the lines and the consultant speak and it seems rather obvious there is a preference for an in-season hybrid that uses capsule collections for sale at show times with the remainder of the stock arriving later. However, given they interviewed such a very small number of people (50 total), all it takes is one or two people voicing opposition to raise concern. Acting as a rule-setting authority is new ground for the CFDA, which still suffers from a lot of who-died-and-left-you-in-charge attitudes among its rank and file. Rather than risk upsetting any one group of designers, they punted, tossed everything on the table, and are waiting to see what happens next.

NYFW needs strong, authoritative leadership. Diane von Furstenberg has done well as the board’s chair, but the rest of the CFDA board of directors is a mish-mesh designers with such a disparate set of needs and interests that I doubt they can be unanimous on anything. Theirs is a society in which even one person not on board with the plan gets noticed by the press, and ultimately consumers. Designers are, inherently, under obligation to put the interests of their own labels ahead of those of the group. Such an organization has no business being in authority over a set of events that require definitive guidelines and objectivity.

What am I saying? The CFDA needs to let someone else handle New York Fashion Week, its calendar, its structure, and its management. NYFW needs an owner who can be objective, who understands the changing dynamics, and more than anything, understands that if you’re trying to please everyone you end up pleasing no one. For designers to manage NYFW is a severe conflict of interest and this CFDA report is evidence of how powerless the agency is to create any real and valuable change to NYFW.

Please, Ms. von Furstenberg, start looking for a managing third party now. While it’s not likely one can be found in time to save the trainwreck in September, perhaps next February won’t hold the chaos that this one did. Without strong leadership, and soon, NYFW as we know it may totally disappear. And this report? It does no one any good at all.

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Fashion Review
NYFW Gets Off To A Rough Start
February 11, 2016

Don’t learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world.—Samuel Butler

 

charles i. letbetter - NYFW gets off to a rough start

With the way this NYFW has started, one might think the CFDA had never managed a fashion week before

The first day of New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is behind us and it has already been unusual in that this may well be the roughest start to the week that I’ve ever experienced. Had we had some of these problems last season, when the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) first took hold of the management from BMG, I might have understood. Last season, however, was a cakewalk compared to what we saw today.

Let’s start with the home base, nyfw.com. For those who are not CFDA members, this is where you go to find the official schedule for all the shows conducted at any of the three official sites. Designers pay a tremendous amount of money to show at these sites, and given that there are a limited number of times at which one can show, establishing a space early is requisite. Most experienced designers keep their space from one season to another. For example, Nicholas K has been the first show at 9:00 AM on Thursday for the past several years, followed by BCBGMAXAZRIA. Once you have your time slot secured, then you can begin planning the show.

This season, however, the first day’s schedule was rear-ended by a bully of a rapper who thinks that all his money and media pull means that he doesn’t have to play by anyone else’s rules. So, when he decided, at the last possible minute, that he wanted to do a fashion show today, he just chose a time and a place and began selling tickets. He didn’t consider who else he might be trampling in his wake. This jackass doesn’t care who he tramples. He cares for no one nor nothing but his own over-sized and obnoxious ego. I never have understood his appeal in the first place and one can be damn sure that were I in charge of a major publication I would issue a moratorium on even mentioning his name, nor that of his extended family, who are also glory-seeking jackasses with no shred of talent.

When the Jackass scheduled his show, he forced two others, Marissa Webb and Adam Selman, both experienced and respected designers, to move from their timeslots. Marissa moved her show to an earlier timeslot, 3PM, while Adam opted for later, at 6 PM. Adam was not showing in one of the official spaces, though, so the impact for him was somewhat less. For Marissa, it created a logistical nightmare. The CFDA tries to not have two shows streaming at the same time from their facilities, but when Marissa moved her show to 3, that put it at the same time as Desigual, which is a very different style and very different audience from Marissa’s. The end result was chaos. Photographers didn’t know where to go. Ticket holders were confused. And then, even the streaming feed messed up. Anyone thinking they would stream Ms. Webb’s show got the Desigual show instead.

This isn’t the only problem going on with the website. Previous seasons, shows have streamed directly on the website itself, which works for a majority of people. This season, however, someone decided that they needed to push greater use of the NYFW app, so live streams only happen on the app. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, I suppose, if my phone had the same 36-inch diagonal screen my PC does. It doesn’t, and neither does anyone else’s. The best one can hope for is a decent sized tablet, which isn’t going to be more than 13-inches diagonal. Good luck getting a feel for the environment or picking up on any level of detail.

Another issue with the website is that some brilliant person decided to post multiple shows, set for autoplay, in a slider at the top of the page. End result: all the videos start at the same time, creating a cacophony that ensures a headache in a matter of seconds. One can’t stand to watch one of the delayed shows because of the sound from another playing over it.

The shifting schedules seemed to play especially hard on contract photographers, several of whom were covering NYFW for the first time. Those whose instructions hadn’t been updated in the past week, and there were several that weren’t, were showing up late or not at all to some shows, early and bewildered for others.

Finally, the bully’s show lets out right smack in the middle of rush hour. The official NYFW schedule actually skips the 5PM time slot because trying to get people back and forth during rush hour puts a strain on an already impossible traffic system. Of course, the jackass with the ego doesn’t care, does he? He only thinks about himself, not the danger he’s creating for everyone else in the vicinity.

CFDA could have stopped this. They could have, and should have, grown a spine and told the bully no. If he doesn’t get on the schedule on time, he doesn’t belong on it at all. And no, he doesn’t belong on the fashion week schedule BECAUSE HE’S NOT A FUCKING DESIGNER! Everyone knows he’s not a designer. He’s simply a rich son-of-a-bitch who bullies his way into situations where he’s not needed nor welcome.

I know there were some hiccups getting started last season, but good grief, this rough start is among the worst I’ve seen. Hopefully, someone gets their act together overnight and we see a return of calm tomorrow. Otherwise, designers are going to start looking for other alternatives to NYFW and I can’t blame them one bit if they leave.

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PotD
What Are You Doing For NYFW
February 10, 2016

Playing dress-up begins at age five and never truly ends.—Kate Spade

 

charles i. letbetter - what are you doing for NYFW

With so many shows to watch, deciding where to spend one’s time is a difficult decision

New York Fashion Week, aka: NYFW, starts in less than 24 hours. I think I’m ready. There’s coffee. There’s chocolate. My phone is charged. There are pain relievers in my pocket. My comfy pseudo-dress shoes are ready. Everything is ready on Pattern for our reviews. Reading glasses, ink pens, photo editing … yeah, we’ve got this. I think.

Last year this season, we took it really easy, rarely doing more than two reviews a day. This season, we might be a little more aggressive, depending on the weather and exactly what we see from the different shows. There are a lot of new names on the official schedule this  season, so we’re setting our sights on shows that are dependable and saving the rookies as possible additions if they manage to really impress. If there’s someone you just really, really want to make sure we cover, then let me know ASAP.

No schedule is ever as firm as we might like. Marissa Webb has already had to move her show to avoid conflict with a loud-mouthed, attention-seeking, ego-driven rap star. The weather forecast for New York isn’t exactly friendly, either, which could impact shows scheduled for the Dock venue. So, what we’re highlighting on our schedule below are the shows we know we’ll cover regardless of circumstances. We’ll try to be as timely with our reviews as the process allows. Follow along and let’s make this fun!

What we’re doing for NYFW:

Thursday, 11 February

We’ll start our day with BCBG Max Azria. Lubov Azria is firmly in control of the brand now and as such we’re hoping to see some changes in the direction she goes for fall. Creatures of the Wind hits at noon and will likely be the highlight of the day. We can’t miss Marissa Webb early in the evening, especially since she’s changed her show time. We’re totally ignoring the big mouth showing at Madison Square Garden. Show off.

Friday, 12 February

Jason Wu is the big show to watch today. We were disappointed last season and are really hoping he steps up his game this year. Tadashi Shoji, Kate Spade, and Nicole Miller are also worth watching. Zoolander 2 hits theatres today, though, so cross-marketing surprises could show up anywhere.

Saturday, 13 February

Dion Lee has our attention in the morning. Then, Alexander Wang shows at 5:00 PM and that never fails to, at least, be entertaining. Altuzarra will keep us up late. There could really be some surprises in today’s schedule, though, so we’re trying to stay as flexible as possible.

Sunday, 14 February

Will we fall in love with anything we see on the runway? We certainly hope so! There are SO many choices here, and a lot may depend on weather and timing. Victoria Beckham, Public School, and Derik Lam all show in the first part of the day. Hood by Air,  Diane von Furstenberg, and Prabal Gurung show later. We may need an extra heart-shaped box of chocolates to get through this one. Public School is really going to be under a microscope.

Monday, 15 February

Another very busy day as Carolina Herrera and Tommy Hilfiger dominate the morning. I’m especially eager to see how Tommy implements his Instagram photographer’s pit. Real photographers are upset, so this could get messy. Zac Posen and Rag & Bone finish the day with a few new faces tossed in between. I wouldn’t mind seeing someone really break out of today’s pack.

Tuesday, 16 February

There’s a lot of activity during the day, and one newcomer to NYFW we’ll be watching closely is Ohne Titel at 1PM. However, the heavy hitters are much later, with Oscar de la Renta at 6:30 and Narciso Rodriguez at 8.

Wednesday, 17 February

Here’s where things could get really boring. Can Michael Kors show us anything that is really worth discussing? Jason Wu usually does better with BOSS than he does with his eponymous label but will he really show us any creativity? The guys at DKNY have a lot to prove this season if they’re given the chance, and Marchesa tends to like this season. However, they’ve all stumbled in recent seasons and left us yawning. We’ll see how it goes.

Thursday, 18 February

Only the big boys are allowed to play here. Ralph Lauren, J. Mendel, Calvin Klein, and Marc Jacobs. Of the group, though, only Marc Jacobs is likely to do anything really astonishing.

All the reviews will be on Pattern, so bookmark it now if you haven’t already. Follow us on Twitter (@charlesletbette) and Instagram (@charlesletbetter) to be alerted when new reviews are posted. It’s going to be an interesting month, NYFW is finally here, so buckle in and hang on!

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PotD  /  Social Commentary
Snapchat Is A Portal To Hell
February 10, 2016
charles i. letbetter - snapchat is a portal to hell

The information you get from social media is not a substitute for academic discipline at all.—Bill Nye

 

charles i. letbetter - snapchat is the portal to hell

The fact that we cannot be separated from our phones is disturbing enough, but to not use them the way we want is criminal

Look at the string of icons at the top of this page and one should understand that I am not shy to using social media. I have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Skype, and Instagram all set up and at the ready anytime I feel their use to be justified. As with many websites, Facebook is responsible for most of the visitors coming to this page, with Twitter coming in second on most days. I have other apps just for social media on my phone, including Vine and Periscope and Yelp. Perhaps most importantly at this particular moment, I have the NYFW app that allows me to view fashion shows even when I’m stuck in traffic. Yay me, I  am so connected [insert eye roll here].

Yesterday, I received an email (you remember those, don’t you?) from my favorite editor at Pattern asking, “I’d love to figure out a way to use the reviews and the photos cross-platform…like on snapchat…do you know anything about creating graphics and uploading text to snapchat?”

Snapchat. There’s an app I wasn’t expecting to need. Instagram, sure. I know exactly how to work that one cross-platform. Pinterest? Not a problem; we can do that. But Snapchat? I don’t have a freaking clue, and with good reason: Snapchat is for teenagers.

Okay, so there’s no age filter on Snapchat that limits who can use it. Still, there are several apps on the market that are primarily the domain of teens and/or college students and I feel no compulsion to pretend I’m part of that group by downloading an app I’ll likely never use. Still, I told the editor I’d take a look. Having done so this morning, I can only come to one possible conclusion:

Snapchat is a portal directly to hell.

I should have known this app was going to be trouble when I first saw its logo. What is that thing? Is it a ghost? The soul of lost Snapchat users? A depiction of what your brain becomes after hours of Snapchatting? An unidentifiable GOP Presidential candidate? I should know better than to download an app whose logo I can’t dissect.

Next, as I go to download the app, a window pops up on my phone telling me all the things this app is going to access. My friends lists. My contacts. My location. My current physical position. The last five songs I’ve listened to on Spotify. My blood pressure (which is suddenly very high). My last doctor’s appointment. The list was so long I had to scroll. This can’t be good, can it? I have a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I promised I would take a look at the app and the only way to do that is to install it. Fortunately, my firstborn is already spoken for.

Upon completing the installation, one has to create an account. Immediately, I see another red flag: it won’t accept my full name. I’m still mad at Twitter for having dropped the final “r” from my name. I don’t like apps that won’t let me use my whole name because it’s dehumanizing. Not giving me space for my full name tells me they had lazy developers who didn’t want to create a database cell of sufficient size.  I feel as though a portion of my soul is being stripped away from me as I create my new account name: c.letbetter. Sigh. Do you realize how many c.letbetters there are in this world?

Once my account is set up, with both email and phone confirmation, Snapchat then asks me to create a profile picture. Now, normally, this isn’t a problem. I have a set of images sized specifically for social media profiles. After all, I’ve done this enough we should be experienced, right? No. This is Snapchat. There’s no warning what is about to happen. There’s no option to upload your own picture. No, you press a button, the app counts down from three and then this happens (warning: those with weak stomachs  or heart conditions may want to scroll down very rapidly):

charles i. letbetter - snapchat is a portal to hell

The most frightening thing I’ve seen in a long time.

Mind you, there is no option for editing out the bags under my eyes. There is no filter available. No, you just get a picture of me at 4:00 AM. At least, it should keep small children from accidentally adding me. We can only hope.

Next, they tell you that everything you do on Snapchat is in the moment. There’s no saving it for later. There’s no keeping it as a reference for what someone said or did. You create the Snapchat, someone sees it, and it’s gone. Hellooooooo trouble. This is probably why only teenagers use this damn thing; they’re not old enough yet to understand the need to save correspondence, even when it seems trivial at the moment. Snapchat opens the door to he-said-she-said arguments that are unsolvable because the whole record of the exchange is deleted. Sure, someone could always take a screenshot, but then faking a screenshot is rather easy.

Without evidence of any content, the door is open for all manner of malfeasance. One might share top secret information. An Apple employee in Ireland could let a hacker see their login info (for which hackers are paying a reported $10K). Vermin could run for President (oops, that one already happened). Your girlfriend could accidentally send nude pics to your mother. Just think of the horrors that could ensue!

Of course, all that is assuming that people add you. One cannot send a Snapchat to those who have not added them. Still, the more I’m reading about Snapchat hacking, the more I question just how insecure the whole platform may be.

There’s no question in my mind now that Snapchat is a portal to hell. And I still don’t have a clue how to cross-promote with it. NYFW starts tomorrow. Contact me the old fashioned way if you know how to solve this problem.

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Fashion
Runway Or No Runway
February 5, 2016

I don’t even think when I’m walking down the runway. I don’t really breathe either.—Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

 

charles i. letbetter - runway or no runway

Has the usefulness of the fashion runway gone away or is it simply changing?

Pass out the brown paper bags. There are dozens of people in the fashion world who are currently hyperventilating. First came the news early this morning from Christopher Bailey that Burberry is cancelling its men’s presentation after this season. Instead, they will combine both men’s and women’s ready-to-wear into two seasonless shows per year, which will be called September and February, rather than Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. Then, around 10:00 EST this morning, Tom Ford cancelled his NYFW show for this season. Instead, he will come back in September and show his fall/winter line then, in the fall, when people actually need it.

What both designers are doing is something that has been discussed heavily in fashion circles for the past six years or more: aligning the runway with retail. Both brands say they will offer runway items for sale immediately after the runway presentation. Rather than waiting six months for their favorite garments to hit the stores, customers will be able to purchase their favorite ensembles while they’re still fresh on their minds through the brand’s website.

Of course, this means some serious changes behind the scenes, starting with the supply chain. Traditionally, a designer creates the design, shows the design, waits for buyers to order the design (and request changes), and then send the design pattern to manufacturers. Obviously, that system cannot possibly work with an order-on-demand concept. Instead, designers and suppliers have to work together from the moment a design is sketched out. Decisions about fabrics and detailing have to be made further in advance and, once committed, are not easily changed. By the time the runway show comes around, what models are wearing is not a one-of-a-kind designer sample, but a finished product ready to be sold. Expect some challenges and delays as both the Burberry and Ford teams struggle to make this work. At the very least, I would expect some delays the first few seasons.

A second big difference is that this change dramatically changes the role of the department store buyer. Whereas the buyers have traditionally been able to request (or demand) changes in a garment before it hits the store shelves, this new off-the-runway concept does away with that option if stores want what is selling right now, and we know they all do. Stores that insist on holding out for changes will be behind the curve in offering designs that have already been available elsewhere. Does this mean buyers will be included in design conversations earlier in the process? That’s certainly possible, but then a designer has to made the decision which buyers to include and which to leave out. Too many cooks spoil the broth and too many opinions ruin a good design.

All of this comes as fast fashion has blurred seasonal lines and forced many designers into year-round designing with as many as eight different collections coming from major brands each year. Designers have been showing increasing signs of fatigue and the hectic schedule undoubtedly plays a role in why fashion has become increasingly boring. Who has time to think and be creative when there’s always another line that needs to go out NOW! By doing away with the antiquated season schedule, this puts designers back in control of what clothing is available when.

At the same time, the move acknowledges that modern runway shows are not the insider-only events they once were. Most major designers now stream their shows live, which allows potential customers to see what’s coming down the runway, fueling desires. Live-streamed shows are fantastic advertisements for the brands, but then shoppers forget what they liked by the time clothes actually hit stores, and often what they liked off the runway no longer exists in the same form. Buying off the runway is great for consumers and is likely to help bolster what have been some depressing sales numbers, especially for Burberry.

This is not so great, however, for department stores who may be beginning to feel a bit left out of the loop as the whole retail concept is beginning to feel more and more antiquated. Exactly how they will respond and how labels plan to address the issue remains to be seen.

Again, there are going to be plenty of bugs needing to be worked out, but should this experiment prove profitable for Ford and Burberry, be sure that many more designers are likely to follow suit. Department stores might do well to be concerned, but customers should be ready to celebrate.

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Fashion
NYFW: One Week To Go
February 4, 2016
charles i. letbetter - NYFW one week out

“I can handle crazy, but this is like a whole new batch of crazy.”—Overheard at NYFW

 

charles i. letbetter- NYFW ONE WEEK OUT

NYFW is only one week away!!

One week from today, the madness better known as #NYFW starts at The Dock with Nicholas K at 9:00 AM. From that point forward, we will spend the next four weeks carefully watching fashion show after fashion show after fashion show. Those that impress us the most we will review for Pattern. Those that don’t impress (which will be the majority) we’ll likely ignore. Those that are truly horrible, and that does occasionally happen, we’ll trash in the hopes that, like Mark & Estel, they don’t return next season (actually, we are beginning to wonder if Mark & Estel are going out of business. Their website hasn’t been updated since immediately after NYFW last year and no new collections have been added.).

With only a week left to prepare, we’re anxiously watching for any major announcements, especially should someone such as Hedi Slimane announce that they’re leaving their current label. For many designers, contract negotiations come down to the wire about now and it’s not at all unusual to see some of those fail right before a designer’s final show. So, here’s a quick look at the major topics we’re looking at for the moment, all of which are subject to change should something bigger come along.

Diversity is still an issue. We’ve talking about the lack of diversity the past two seasons, and last season (shown in September) was better than the one before it. Still, the early word from agents and casting directors is that very little is going to change from last season. That means we’ll still have an overabundance of runway presentations where two or three models of color appear only as tokens. What will it really take to change the status quo? Major editors and buyers staying away, which they’re not inclined to do. No one wants to accidentally miss a breakout line, so they put up with horrible behavior on the part of designers and fail to hold them accountable. When so much of fashion’s core demographic is any color but white, you’d think designers would do a better job of playing to a multi-ethnic audience. Unfortunately, this doesn’t look to be the season we see significant change.

How old is that model? Russian model Kristina Pimenova has done an editorial for Vogue Italia and campaigns for Armani, Gap, and DSquared² juniors lines. Her career is so hot at the moment that she just moved to LA. She’s ten years old. Yes, you read that correctly. Ten. While child labor and child modeling laws in Europe limit the age of runway models, there are no such restrictions at NYFW. While the CFDA strongly discourages the use of models under the age of 15, they have little recourse should a designer decide to not follow those rules. With the current editorial trend being toward young and younger models, there is more than a little concern that some may attempt to slip younger girls into the mix. This can be very  difficult to catch, though, so we may not know until it’s too late to do anything about the situation.

Challenges in the contemporary market. If you’re not sure which labels classify as contemporary, think Theory, Alexander Wang, 3.1 Philip Lim, and Public School. Those and other brands rely less on traditional silhouettes and focus more on styles and designs that are more modern, and often more urban, than what we get from older houses. We tend to think of contemporary brands as more cutting-edge and trend-setting, but that doesn’t always translate well when it comes time to fill store shelves. Shoppers want clothes that are distinct, but at the same time they want looks with which they are comfortable. They’re also wanting deeper discounts, such as the pricing they get from fast fashion. Supply is currently outstripping demand and same-store sales have declined dramatically. We’re expecting contemporary labels to step up the high-end game a bit more this season in an effort to woo those more traditional designer shoppers.

Zoolander references everywhere you look. It is no mistake the movie Zoolander2 opens next Friday, the day after NYFW begins. Cross-marketing between the movie and the fashion world is excessively strong and multiple designers cooperated in the making of the movie, including cameo appearances by more than a few. As a result, catching the direct and indirect Zoolander references is likely to become something of a game. The only problem is, with the NYFW schedule so very, very full, who has time to stop and go see a movie?

Who are all these new people? Looking through the NYFW schedule, there are new names on almost every day. While there are always some major designers, such as Marc Jacobs, who show off-site and off-schedule, there are more than a few recognizable names missing from this season’s lineup. In their place are not only a larger-than-usual collection of new designers, we’re seeing more group and retail shows signing up for presentations as well. Kids Rock! hits the catwalk Thursday night, Fashion Hong Kong shows Friday afternoon, Asian Fashion Collection hits Sunday at noon, and the much anticipated JD.com show is next Wednesday at 7. For those not familiar, JD.com is China’s largest online retailer and their presence at NYFW is notable. We’ll be watching the newcomers very carefully and won’t hesitate to lavish praise on those who do especially well. Who knows, we may even find a new favorite!

Still being a week out means there’s plenty of time for additional issues and concerns to pop up as well. We’re trying to find reasons to get excited for what has recently been the most boring month imaginable. Let’s cross our fingers and hope this season is an exciting one!

 

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Fashion  /  pop culture  /  PotD
Wearing Pants
September 10, 2015
charles i. letbetter - wearing pants

charles i. letbetter - wearing pants

Wearing Pants

I am a strong woman with or without this other person, with or without this job, and with or without these tight pants.—Queen Latifah

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Full disclosure: I’m not wearing any pants. While I fully support the #freethenipple campaign, I’m personally not all that comfortable sitting around the house without a shirt. Pants, though, are a different matter. I’m more than willing to let them stay in the closet, or on the bedroom floor, until right before the children wake up. Then, once the kids are off to school, being very thankful for bus service, the pants come off again. One of the perks of being my own boss and working from home is that it is largely up to me to decide whether any given moment is going to involve pants, and if it’s just Kat and me, there’s really no point in bothering.

Not wearing pants does not necessarily mean one is naked below the waist. While I’m not generally opposed to that scenario, there are times when naked doesn’t work well, such as when one has leather furniture. Wearing a kilt or a skirt or a dress doesn’t count as wearing pants, either. My mother never wore pants when I was little. Instead, she wore dresses and skirts even around the house. She didn’t feel that pants were sufficiently feminine until one particularly cold winter in Kansas when she finally broke down and bought her first pantsuit. Over time, she became more relaxed with pants, but she always still preferred dresses, especially in the summer.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]The problem with pants is that they tend to be restrictive, especially around the waist. I honestly don’t see how people wear the current crop of skinny jeans and still manage to eat enough food to keep themselves alive. Those of us who enjoy eating understand that the waist is going to expand and contract at various times throughout the day and pants don’t allow for that, unless you’re shopping in the old men’s section of Sears.

The upside to pants, I’m told, is that one doesn’t have to shave one’s legs as often. Being male and not involved in a sport where aerodynamics is a factor, I can’t really speak to this issue. I know plenty of women with fair hair who can get by without shaving too often. I’ve also known others who almost needed to do so twice a day. Nature can be cruel like that.

Today is the start of New York Fashion Week (NYFW) and designers will be showing their Spring/Summer 2016 collections. Don’t expect a lot of pants. Skirts, yes. Dresses, definitely. Shorts, let’s hope so. Sure, there will be a few with pants in their collections, but the best designers know that pants are limiting. To be really cool and comfortable in warm weather, one needs to be without pants every moment possible.[/one_half_last]

 

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this week’s photographs are strictly those of the author: charles i. letbetter, and do not necessarily reflect the attitudes or opinions of the models involved in the pictures. If you don’t like what you see, don’t blame the model. Thank you.

 

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