The immediacy of eCommerce is changing how the fashion industry showcases its collections. Traditionally there have always been two seasons: Fall-Winter / Spring-Summer, combined with capsule and cruise collections (transitional pieces). But today, both in retail and online, Sales and New Collections appear at the same time, with no break before the season changes. So what’s the point of presenting collections on runways and at fashion shows if what’s shown, and supposedly sets the trends, won’t be available until 6 months later?
Traditionally, designers set the pace for what was wearable and what was out of style. Today, with influencers, predicting so far in advance what our future customers will (or won’t) like has become obsolete.
Fast fashion has swept in like a hurricane, and the debate about the sustainability of these fashion events is clear. Luxury brands like Burberry have decided to cut their shows from four to two a year and combine menswear and womenswear. Most importantly, the British brand has decided that all garments will be available in its stores, both retail and online, right after the show, so customers don’t have to wait to buy what they ALREADY like.
At the latest edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion, where Winter 2016-17 garments were shown, brands like Punto Blanco presented a capsule collection available from March 23, featuring pajamas, underwear and socks inspired by the characters of Warner Bros’ new film, “Batman vs Superman”. The pieces seen on the runway will be available online from the day the film premieres, so it won’t just be a collection available from September.
We don’t need to look far to see the changes happening in fashion. Mango made headlines days before 080 Barcelona Fashion opened by announcing its exit from the event, following a change in strategy similar to the one Inditex has already begun: presenting new collections every 15 days with different monthly campaigns that promote each new collection at launch parties with celebrities (in this case, the first is Kendall Jenner).
As a result, paper catalogs are being dropped to focus fully on the online channel. Designer Roberto Verino, who is leaving MBFWM (formerly Cibeles), said in an interview with RTVE that he wants to focus his efforts on the online channel, where sales are growing strongly, stating that “we are witnessing a major change in fashion, especially since the rise of social media, and this has changed the way we deal with consumers”.
2016 will be the year of change, when brands big and small must choose a new strategy to get to know their customers and decide the easiest way to reach them.
Given this changing landscape…
What are the new keys to the fashion business?
- Immediacy: there’s no point presenting next winter’s collections when scarves came out of the closet barely 5 days ago. Customers need what they want NOW and can’t wait through production and distribution times of up to 8 months to get that piece. See Now, Buy Now.
- Trends are made on the street: try as you might, if gold sneakers are in fashion, they’re in fashion now, and that was decided by the instagrammers wearing them. Designing gold sneakers for winter 2017 may be a waste of money if trends shift again. The product needs to be in production at the moment customers want it.
- Higher prices with hot sales: what’s trendy can command much higher prices because of the urgency of the moment. If products go live in the online store (and retail, where applicable) immediately after a collection is presented, they can sell at a better price because customers want them right away.
- Much more profitable outlet categories: if products become obsolete faster, there are more items in one of the most visited categories on most eCommerce sites: the OUTLET section. When users see products in a category associated with low prices, it can also help improve overall margins.
- Slow fashion: consumers who shun trends look for information on material origins, local production and brand sustainability, valuing exclusivity and originality over what’s fashionable. That’s why luxury will survive as long as it conveys values such as craftsmanship and the high quality of its products.
- See now, reserve now -> Trunk show: the latest runway trend is the trunk show, which lets customers reserve certain pieces before they go on sale. An online example is Moda Operandi , where you can order pieces from designers like Alexander Wang or Schouler two days after the show, with delivery times of 4-5 months.
For all these reasons, both small and large brands need to decide on their strategy. Clothing, accessories and sporting goods recorded 7,270,553 shoppers in Spain in 2014, making it the second-largest online sales sector after travel tickets.
So it seems there’s only one option left: change how collections are presented so trends aren’t set 6 months ahead, otherwise fast fashion brands will copy and sell online, before anyone else, the product someone else presented.
How do you think big brands will adapt to these changes?
