You Wanna Sell That or What?!
Look don’t touch.
I’m as unfashionable as they come.
I thought the aim of fashion parades was to sell clothes.
This appears not to be the case.
Perhaps you can decode this unusual business practice.
Perfect Setting
It was a balmy night.
The parade was in a restored, century-old pier warehouse.
Outside, beautiful people were thick as flies; possibly thicker.
But with 30 girls for every guy, it was fun to take notes.
Object of the Game
We were there to witness six new designer ranges.
This wasn’t the insane haute couture you see on TV. Fonnie assured me there’d be items she could actually buy and wear.
Her excitement was infectious as we entered the twinkling interior.
This lost its potency when I found the bar closed, our seats tiny and the temperature raised.
We perspired among the preened as the show didn’t start.
Slow Time
Twenty minutes later, it did. Quite well, with a phalanx of golden beams rendering every face in detail.
Spotting two DJs and a pleasing array of bass bins, I looked forward to an uplifting anthem to put everyone in a buying mood.
What we got was …
Downer
I’d always associated this song with suicide.
So, apparently, had the set designers.
And the models.
Cold, harsh beams replaced lambent lights.
The models slouched into view, thin as World Vision brochures and with an attitude of utter ennui.
I looked to the wall screens, but they simply relayed what was happening in black and white!
I asked Fonnie what was going on.
She postulated that the down music, sad models and cold lighting were designed to make you look at the clothes.
As my restless eye settled back on the outfits, I realised this was working.
But it sure wasn’t fun.
Upper
At length, a couple of really nice sparkly outfits appeared.
Fonnie thought so too and jabbed my ribs.
‘Cool!’ I thought. ‘Not a total loss.’
I pictured clients snapping these up online via jewel-studded iPhones.
But this wasn’t the case at all.
When we got home, neither of the nice outfits was for sale on the designer’s website … or anywhere else!
Summary Execution
No grog. Crap music. Cold lights. Miserable waifs.
And items not available for purchase.
I’d do the exact opposite. Hell, I’d flog frocks in the foyer.
A fashion show seems a very odd way to do business.
Can you please explain it to me?
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
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The world of fashion never ceases to amaze me Paul. Retail sales for fashion are down. What are they doing to attract us? Give me a break! My experience is that people DO have money to spend on the items they really want and need. How they spend that money is another matter. When I am shopping with clients, it’s about the quality, service and fitting with their lifestyle and career goals. We see the purchase as a career investment and take a ‘cost per wear’ attitude. When you can see that a garment will work hard for you, you’ll pay the price.
It’s time the world of fashion woke up and got real. The fashion parade you mentioned does nothing to attract the average woman who has money to spend. I’ve just done a blog post on really bad service in women’s retail fashion. So not only do they need to get real, they need a service culture. Women (and men!) are looking for service and garments to fit their life.
What we do as service providers must be about the client, not our bloody brand!
I’m so pleased to have your view on this, Helen, given your expertise in this field
I’m glad I’m not the only one bewildered by this scene.
I really dug your blog post, as I’m sure others will too:
http://helenrobinett.blogspot.com/2011/03/first-impressions-and-why-service.html?spref=tw
You’re a great storyteller and a generous commenter. Thank you!
HA. It sounds awful.
But – snobbish, grungy, exclusive, hard to buy are all valid brand positioning IF that is what appeals to your customers.
In fact I would argue that there is a certain segment of folk who like the difficult to find,see, come by or come buy; stuff that they can feel that they have uncovered or discovered; that they were clever enough to find…that they won’t see anywhere (or on anyone)else.
Maybe that was the positioning that this event was trying to reinforce for this fashion brand?
Though it sounds more like poor event management by fashion folk wearing their own heads way too far up bum, much too busy thinking about Their Craft – Their Art – Their Vision – to think about the customer experience.
Hi, Bambi. I’ve thought of many theories, but none quite matches the data. As usual, I’m hoping folk like you will tell me what this funny old world actually means!
Paul, I think they call it atmosphere – and it certainly provoked a reaction from you.
Fashion loves being jaded, forlorn and altogether meh.
Hi, GB (or do you prefer HVH?)
You raise an excellent point; I’m certainly talking about them.
If only I were naming the designers concerned in rapturous praise.
I’ve told Fonnie I want to go back next year. It’s certainly a fascinating scene. At least, anthropologically speaking.
Don’t even get me started! I am SO over businesses screaming how business is bad, ARA and the major fashion “Guru’s” are just as bad they are not helping and educating businesses on how to evolve, market and set a foundation that will ensure longivity in retail all they are doing is focusing on the negative which is a crock because I have retailers turning over 7 figures a year. Drives me coco banana’s. Just last week I read a heading “SMALL BUSINESSES SUFFER FROM EFTPOS RATE RISE” then you read the article and it said how the banks have incurred the fee and WILL NOT be passing it on to Small Business.
On another note I was talking toa friend and she she said “I have SUCH AN ODD body, I’m small up top and have BIG hips (probably around a size 10 maybe 12 max)and I have a flabby tummy (She’s has just had 2 kids) now I am sorry but does she not represent MOST women…give me a back.
Great post
Renee xx
Yep, Renee the average woman in Australia is size 14 – 16 with boobs! serious boobs. Lisa Baron designs for them, so does George Gross and Harry Who. http://www.wesson.com.au have a great range for women with curvy shapes. Hoorah!
Wow, Renee; what a find YOU are! I LOVE your intro video. You’re giving Barry a run for his money!
Thanks very much for your ace comment. We get a great kick out of getting people started, so please don’t stop on our account. Best regards, P.
I laughed out loud, and had to look up ‘lambent’. So a good day x 2 for me! Great post, Paul. Perhaps this event is what is meant by ‘tragically hip’? It sure is a funny old world. In the sky. Bye, bye. Life goes on.
You send me to the dictionary so often, Ad, I thought it only fair.
I pinched ‘lambent’ from DHL’s Sons and Lovers. You’ll know it when you see it.
The lambents. They were … they were screaming.
I’ll help you catch him, Clarice.
I like liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti myself. Now, where were we? … oh … fashion … I cannot explain him.
Oop bop.
Do do do,
Do do do,
Fa. Fa. Fa. Fa.
Fava beans.
La. La. La. La. etc.
(Sauce: http://bit.ly/4ookxb )
What Bambi said…
Thanks Paul, Glad you liked it
Ha, OK just mention Gerry or the retail doom and gloom and I’m off 
Rx
Did someone say retail doom and gloom? On your marks ….
http://mybrc.myobnet.com/2011/01/27/no-longer-a-fan/
Don’t ask me I just don’t get the entire fashion thing. Is it cool to look bored, undernourished and walk with the gait of a drunken peg legged pirate?
Ar.
Thanks, Mate.
G’Day Paul,
Reminds me of that old joke: I don’t read “Playboy” for the same reason I don’t read “National Geographic.” They’re both full of pretty pictures of places I’m never likely to get to.
Fashion parades are like car shows. They exist so that designers and manufacturers can show off in front of other designers and manufacturers. “No grog . Crap music” and all the rest. These are stingy buggers too.
Don’t go back. It only encourages them. And remember; if Centrelink found girls as thin as those waifs in a foster home, they’d charge the carers with neglect.
I recently asked one of my daughters what would happen If Sophia Loren tried for work as a model these days. “They’d tell her to lose 10 kilos” came the reply.
All that and no grog; disgraceful, even ugly. What’s got into these youngsters of today? When I was rheir age I fell to my knees after I’d had too much to drink. They get on their knees to inhale.
Just goes to show that, as some guru once said. “All development is self-development.”
Regards
Leon
Hiya, Leon. I hear you on the weight thing. I think ‘plus size’ is a huge whack in the face (with a giant, frozen tuna) to womankind.
I can’t understand why women don’t invade and destroy every publishing house that prints it.
It’s a rare comment of yours that I get to add:
‘Make sure you have fun!’
Thank you for your contribution.
I can’t wait until Ms Saintly @DebraTemplar gets involved in this chat when she lands later tonight. Oh My!
You and I both, Bambi!
Just to really put it out there when you speak of women reacting to “Plus Size” in my experience most men don’t care about size and whether you’re a size 8 or 28 women will appeal to men on different levels and vice verse. Women are often our own worst enemies we can be very judgemental. Personally I think it’s about changing the way women view each other and themselves. At the end of the day we the consumer decide what is acceptable.
Trouble is businesses play it safe and safe can mediocre and mediocre has no longevity or growth and you’re just like everybody else.
TIP: Always work from your heartspace.
Should I step off my throne
Rx
Renee, please stay on your throne. I’m right there with you lady. women have some serious stuff going on in their heads about the number on the label. Who cares? no one checks out your size anyway. Sexy is an attitude that a woman wears. It is not a garment!
I would have to agree with one of the other comments that these artie scenes certainly aren’t for everyone, and probably aren’t about selling clothes immediately either. Maybe a fashion parade at MYER or DJs might be better suited to that.
I used to work side by side with a qualified but non practising lawyer who was also a frustrated artist in the evening and weekends and his lifestyle and ideas regarding promotion and sales where at times very out there.
Not sure what the lack of refreshments was meant to achieve but it certainly has you interested to understand more about how the industry works (or doesn’t).
Egads! (just to grab your attention for a minute Paul)
Call me mad, call me off-the-mark, but I suspect (and I only suspect, mind you) that you (and fellas like you) were not and are not their target market. I suspect retailers were the number 1 target – future stockists…
A bit like Supre really – a tweens to young things shop – with mirror balls, dim lighting, LOUD music and staff who seem indifferent at best. And yet it works for that age group! They love it. You’d hate it. In fact most people over 24 hate it. We’re not their market.
Fashion parades are about theatre, show time, flash – to create publicity and gain media exposure and, hopefully, to showcase a designer’s latest range. We (consumers) think its about showing us new clothes that we can immediately buy so that we, too, can be coooool. We’re wrong. It’s not. That comes later in the chain of events…
You’ll probably find the sparkly numbers will turn up in the weeks ahead… they could have been a bit of a ‘taster’ – let’s test the market at the fashion parade, take the orders from the retailers, see what generates ‘buzz’ and then start manufacturing for the market.
Meanwhile, we mere mortals will dissect the shows, buy the magazines, watch the shops and put together our own ensembles which in all likelihood will look nothing like what was presented on the catwalks.
And, as long as the fashion stores, websites and stylists can answer this one question so dear to us Melburnites, “does it come in black?” there’ll be a semblance of catwalk on the streets…
Are you sure you want to go back next year?
LOVE THAT HELEN! Well said xxx Just pimped it out there for quote of the day/week/thinking-big-year *laughs*
Golly! I should help my dad with his lawns more often. This debate seems absolutely fine in my absence!
Thank you, Debra, for joining us after your big day yesterday. Your voice reeks with authority and I’d vote for you in a heartbeat.
Renee, Helen and MCB, I could happily watch you debate this issue forever. Thank you for your continued contributions.
So great to see the ad industry is modernising:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/rivers-ad-campaign-a-deadly-deal-for-women-20110323-1c5yo.html