FASHION WEEK - NOT FASHION WEAK!

TENTS AT BRYANT PARK - FEBRUARTY 2009

NY Fashion week is almost wrapped for fall 2009.   I know, you hardly noticed - right?   Nothing like a global recession to knock the wind out of luxury RTW collections.   Models falling off their platforms rebound faster than this retail migraine being felt around the world.  How can cashmere compare with cash poor?   It can't - but somehow it should.   We all know we are in a serious economic slowdown - but lets call it a re-adjustment and admit that at least part of the situation is emotional and psychological.  After- all is it shocking to anyone that suddenly those McMansions in the middle of nowhere, U.S. are now worth half their value?   They weren't worth anything to begin with!  just because you call it a gated community doesn't make it Bellaire people!  

I'm going to stay positive but be honest.   I was not excited for this show season.  New York never has the ooh -ahh factor that Paris has.   Maybe its in the water - you know when you try to buy a bagel in L.A. and its just not the same?   There is just something about French designers that make you swoon.   Is it the fabric?  no, many are the same used in NY collections as those in Paris.    Is it the venue?  Well, who could compete with the Grand Palais - but no.. most shows in the Bryant Park Tents are equivalent to those in the show spaces in Paris.   Of course it is the designers themselves and maybe the entire cultural approach to fashion.   In France - it is a national treasure.   In the U.S. its another thing that most people in the red states don't understand...and when they see it they say things like " who wears that?"

Remember when things were different?  NY shows used to follow London, Milan, and Paris.   NY designers used to be accused of being too "influenced" by the European shows by the time their designs hit the runway.   Mr. Helmet Lang changed all that a while back when he still had some fashion muscle to flex.   Mr. Lang  decided to show his collection in New York and before buyers and editors ran to Europe - and all the NY designers followed.   Like some rogue fashion terrorist Mr. Lang was able to upset the entire program -ruin labor day weekend for most in the biz and then disappear.  - but I digress.   Now American designers show their collections before European mega brands hit the runway... and hold their breath to see if they are still relevant after journalists and buyers take a trip to the Louvre.     Of course it shouldn't be a problem if you know what your doing - but if your collection looks like loving hands at home made it - your toast!

Of course there are American heavy weights who can carry a trend.   Marc Jacobs for example is a leader in the industry and his tenure at Louis Vuitton gives him the Teflon deflection for criticism that would destroy a newcomer or start up.   His days of fashion rebel or New York nerd are long over.   MARC JACOBS FALL 2009 Donna Karan stands out for the quality of her runway exits.  DONNA KAREN FALL 2009 While her name might not be synonymous with luxury - the designers of the runway collection are pure luxe!   They really headed back to the roots of the brand for Fall 2009 with wraps and folds and jersey all over.  Classic Donna Karan.

Proenza Schouler also continue to evolve each season.   There aren't many young collections that have the sophistication this collection has.  It is amazing how luxury can envelope creativity and produce something magical on the runway.   I can't wait to see where they are headed!PROENZA SCHOULER FALL 2009

I had to laugh reading some of the reported "in the know" fashion flock writing about  Ikram in Chicago as she emerged as Michelle Obama's fashion stylist.   It was written that Ikram Goldman has been "under the radar" and "elusive"- PLEASE.   Ms. Goldman has been doing an excellent job at editing and presenting her namesake boutique in Chicago for 10 years.   Anyone who has spent any time in a designer house should know her name and would have seen her at writing appointments.    I guess if you only sit in the front row at shows and scribble notes about frocks - but don't have any connection to the business - you might have missed Ikram.  But I think you should take a look behind you - or to the left or the right  once in a while.  Maybe now that we all woke up with a bling hangover from the Bush years - people will start to notice people again - not just Maybachs and mega rocks!JASON WU FALL 2009

Finally, all the talk about Jason Wu - also due to Mrs. Obama.   Rinse and repeat from my comments above.   Before January it was Jason who?   and now that we know him - I'm not so sure anyone is that excited by what he is showing.   But it is something new to write about...

DKNY Giving It Away - What about Brand Image?

I snapped this pic on Madison Avenue today.   While many of the designer boutiques are attempting to bring some normalcy back to the retail environment after those crazy holiday sales - DKNY is practically giving it all away.

When I saw this window - I couldn't help but cringe.   We all appreciate a bargain, but when you see this type of extreme mark down doesn't it make you think why is all this stock left?   I think your image of the company is diminished in the long run, and there is weakening of the brand.

 
It's hard to believe that a decade ago DKNY was as aspirational as any major label.   When advertising mastermind Peter Arnell first designed the company logo for Donna Karan and coined the DKNY nickname - the collection was hot!  

Now.... 90% off!!   At this point, why not dump the stock to off-price retailers?  The collection should just be sent down to Century 21.   Tourists expect huge deals there and the store could save face instead of having to sell the collection for 10%.

NY POST AD REVENUE SOARS....

Most stories you read lately about advertising revenues for Magazines, Television, and Newspapers have one thing in common - they are plummeting!   The economy has taken its toll on Madison avenue just like it has on consumer pocket books.   One notable exception who just a few years ago would have been a least likely suspect - the NY POST.  The  Post has seen its ad revenue and prestige factor sky rocket in the last six months.   Once a guilty pleasure tabloid that people would sneer at if you mentioned in public - The NY Post has risen to the top of the fashion advertising world.   One recent weekday, the paper had advertising pages in color running up to page 26!  That is a record.  

What started the trend of course was Page 6.   All credit belongs to Richard Johnson who made overheard gossip an art form.  Before there was Life & Style Magazine or TMZ on tv... there was Page 6.   Hollywood publicists caught on before advertisers and knew if they got their clients mentioned - it meant good things for a starlets career.

Always one step behind Hollywood, Madison Avenue retailers looking for new opportunities to showcase the designer duds have followed.  The store that anointed the Post as an acceptable vehicle?   BERGDORF GOODMAN.   That's right, not usually known for being ahead of the curve when it comes to trying new things - BG was the store that took a chance on the Post and ran a quarter page ad featuring a JIMMY CHOO handbag.    The store sold over a dozen of the 3k bag in two days... the deal was done.

BG now runs full page ads featuring everything from Chrome Hearts sunglasses to Judith Leiber Clutches - and the rest of the fashion world has followed.   Now you'll find everyone from Coach, Tiffany, Donna Karan,  Ferragamo & Bloomingdale's.  The move also makes good economic sense.   A page in the NY Post is a fraction of what the NY Times charges for their black and white ads.   Retailers made the realization - the same eyes are seeing the ads in the Post - for a third of the cost.  ( at least until now - prices are sure to jump!).

Now that the Post is rolling in the dough and readership has hit new record highs... lets hope they can permanently can Ivana Trump, just like they did Lydia Hearst from Page 6 Magazine on Sundays.  She definitely sucks the wind out of the cool factor in record speed.   Her recent blurb about her "new" discovery of Nikki Haskell's star caps made me laugh so hard I fell off my chair.   Star Caps have been around longer than the furniture in Ivana's Plaza decorated town house on the Upper East Side - YEARS!!

Sorry Daily News.. I guess you'll have to settle for 1-800 Mattress and Stanley Steamer ads again for 09!