USA: A slowing global economy changes the way big fashion houses do business

Record ID: 197305

  • Title: USA: A slowing global economy changes the way big fashion houses do business
  • Date: 19th July 2008
  • Summary: (L!1) NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA (JULY 16, 2008) (REUTERS) PAN DOWN: EXTERIOR OF LOUIS VUITTON STORE LOUIS VUITTON ACCESSORIES IN THE WINDOW
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Fashion,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA6WSQVPJDPD9AHEX630Z31ZG30
  • Story Text: The global economic slowdown is shaking up the way the fashion world does business.
    Global fashion brands like Gucci, Burberry and Louis Vuitton are taking a good look at what sells, relying more on tracking technology to focus on creating tried and tested products and styles.
    So if the fussy fashionista just a particular trend, fashion houses can tweak styles and give her what she wants, whether its more floral or less fur.
    Tyler Thoreson is the Executive Editor of Menstyle.com.
    "They are spending a lot of money and it gets more democratic but in the process, designers can sort of lose their influence and things become more democratic which is great. You want to give people want and top top designers have always had this power to define people what they want, and now they are just reflecting it and they have always had that influence. There is a big different between what reflecting people already want through their tastes and you can measure it versus defining what people want by just the fact that you have done it," he told Reuters.
    The global fashion houses are also looking at stronger markets from countries like Russia, China and India, where the demand from growing and increasingly wealthy populations are fuelling the need for new styles.
    "There are populations of people who can afford it and are looking to show off their new wealth, specifically in countries like Russia, China and to some degree India, is emerging and that is a big force in fashion. So its not just about tracking what people want to buy in America and Europe. So as these things get a little more democratic you can actually be able to say, 'I can see the Russian sensibility in that dress'," Thoreson said.
    With a little tweak and tuck in style and colour, the luxury fashion market, armed with new technology and a democratic take on fashion, appears all set to take on the current malaise that surrounds the otherwise gloomy retail market.
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