Most Overpriced Designer? #3

[jeanclaude]

Now who's idea was it to take the zipper photo? Yes it shows the fastening, but at what cost! Frankly though, I'm baffled at how they managed to make an invisible zipper look so strained on a garment that looks so bulky and loose.

Funnily enough had they done the zipper along one of the straight seams rather than the curved hip seam, this could have been avoided. But that's expecting too much from Jacquemus. Its just too logical and obvious. Also would have cut down on resources (shorter zip, less labour, easier finishing...).

Add to this he should have chosen a sturdy all-purpose zipper instead of an invisible one (with such a heavy suede skin).

 

[tourbillions]

it is a fast fashion/disposable fashion brand... He is not gonna come up with heirloom fashion pieces anytime soon. He is an expensive h&m, i doubt the original cdg dress would cost 1200 if made from the runway today.

 

[Frederic01]

Interesting!


CNBC

 

[GivenchyHomme]

Back again in my favorite thread with a few highlights from Jacquemus "contemporary pricing" strategy.
First: The Vela Top coming in at only 1890€ (55% Cotton - 45% Polyester), you really get what you pay for with this piece = a triangle bikini top with one dart and a circle skirt from the first page of a "how to sew for beginners" book. The sequins might look badly sewn on but thankfully you don't have to worry about loosing them as there are already only about 20 on each cup. Making the biggest stress-point of this piece a single (!) bra hook at the back ensures that you get to keep this piece for at least a month before it rips apart. Great investment for any fashion lover.

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Yes sis! Go off! Drag him!

 

[tourbillions]

Interesting!


CNBC

just waiting for the hermes bubble to pop.... sooner or later some of the resellers will grow desperate to move the bags and will start selling them cheap.

 

[Lola701]

just waiting for the hermes bubble to pop.... sooner or later some of the resellers will grow desperate to move the bags and will start selling them cheap.

Can the bubble pop though? With Chanel, it was easy because they kept raising prices.
Hermes’s bags on retail are still cheaper than on resell and being so integrated can allow them to make bold moves to maintain the « bubble ».
If they declare for example that they are only producing 100 Birkin in 2025, the frenzy will be out of control.

And i have always wonder when are they going to do eyewear.

That being said, Hermes has that unfair advantage compared to their competitors by being a leather goods maker first. So, De Facto, compared to Dior who could have licensed the production of their bags years ago, Hermes has that legitimacy of having an integrated production chain for their accessories.

 

[mdmmxl]

Double the fun with this 1200€ caped denim top from ALAÏA: Not only has this to be the funnies product presentation I have seen, maybe ever (but what ought you to do with a big piece of fabric that has two darts at the back) but also the laziest, sudo-minimalist design (???) to come out of 2024. I know somewhere an influencer is crying: BuT iT iS alAÏa, iT iS mAdE sO weLl to JuStiFy tHe pRicE. Yeah, then why is the comically oversized snap button at the back not placed symmetrically as to no disturb the stitching? Also, maybe reduce the stitch-length a bit, you're not sewing a Carhartt jacket.

 

[jeanclaude]

Double the fun with this 1200€ caped denim top from ALAÏA: Not only has this to be the funnies product presentation I have seen, maybe ever (but what ought you to do with a big piece of fabric that has two darts at the back) but also the laziest, sudo-minimalist design (???) to come out of 2024. I know somewhere an influencer is crying: BuT iT iS alAÏa, iT iS mAdE sO weLl to JuStiFy tHe pRicE. Yeah, then why is the comically oversized snap button at the back not placed symmetrically as to no disturb the stitching? Also, maybe reduce the stitch-length a bit, you're not sewing a Carhartt jacket.

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Love your posts here! That snap and the crooked stitching looks so sloppy...not worthy of an Alaïa tag!

 

[youthinasia]

Double the fun with this 1200€ caped denim top from ALAÏA: Not only has this to be the funnies product presentation I have seen, maybe ever (but what ought you to do with a big piece of fabric that has two darts at the back) but also the laziest, sudo-minimalist design (???) to come out of 2024. I know somewhere an influencer is crying: BuT iT iS alAÏa, iT iS mAdE sO weLl to JuStiFy tHe pRicE. Yeah, then why is the comically oversized snap button at the back not placed symmetrically as to no disturb the stitching? Also, maybe reduce the stitch-length a bit, you're not sewing a Carhartt jacket.

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This is what I think they say to the team when they approve a design to go to production.

 

[tourbillions]

50 million people have stopped buying luxury brands like Dior and Burberry after ‘broken promises’ to customers​

“You need to constantly meet consumers at a new angle and surprise and delight them,” an equity analyst told Fortune. · Fortune · Mike Kemp - Getty Images
Jane Thier
Updated Wed, November 20, 2024 at 7:30 AM GMT+11 4 min read

Nothing gold can stay. Despite years of strong performance, the market for personal luxury goods is set to slow down this year for the first time since the 2009 Great Recession. Now, 50 million luxury consumers have either ditched buying designer bags, scarves, watches, and more—or have been priced out, Bain & Company’s new annual luxury report warns.

Only a third of luxury brands will end the year with positive growth, Bain posited, down from two-thirds last year.

Looking ahead, it said that to stay alive, brands need to reevaluate their value proposition—mainly for Gen Zers—and keep meeting their growing expectations.

As for how? Marie Driscoll, an equity analyst focused on luxury retail, told Fortune that reinvention is key.

“Get back to books, make products more inspirational, make the shopping experience marvelous,” Driscoll said. “You need to constantly meet consumers at a new angle and surprise and delight them.”

“A fabulous ice cream sundae is boring by the time you have it the fifth time,” Driscoll added.

Broken promises to shoppers​

On some level, brands have broken their promises to consumers, Driscoll said.

“Since 2019, there’s been a high price increase across luxury without a corresponding increase in innovation, service, quality, or appeal that a luxury brand should provide,” Driscoll added. “This year, that really hit consumers, and we felt the full impact.”

It perhaps explains why the luxury powerhouses, including LVMH (which owns Dior and Louis Vuitton), Burberry, and Kering (owner of YSL and Gucci), missed revenue targets this year. In fact, LVMH was dethroned as Europe’s most valuable company in September 2023 by Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic.

Customers—beyond being hamstrung by eye-popping prices with which their salaries rarely keep pace—are likely growing unimpressed by the products these high-end brands have to offer.

Some more than others. Michael Kors, founder of his namesake brand, said during New York Fashion Week in September that he’s struggling with “brand fatigue” in an effort to explain 14% year-over-year revenue drops, pointing his finger at fast fashion and social media influencers keeping up with trends much, much faster.

"The luxury consumer wants something that is rare, unique, bespoke, beautiful, and specifically theirs,” Hitha Herzog, a retail analyst, told Fortune. “While some luxury brands offer basic customization, almost all luxury brands have no way to make one-off pieces for their VIP clients, or create something so aspirational customers can strive to eventually own.”

One major exception: Hermès, which has skyrocketed in growth this year while its industry peers have struggled. Herzog said this is largely thanks to its Birkin bag, which amasses “long wait-lists and requirements and benchmarks of how much money a customer spends before they can talk to the store about purchasing a bag.” That exclusivity, Herzog said, “creates a mystique around owning something rare, and gives it a sense of worth when you look at the price tag."

The China effect​

China had been propelling luxury growth since 2000 all the way until the pandemic. “Luxury growth globally benefited from the growth of the Chinese middle class, the aspirational class, and the people that became millionaires,” Driscoll said.
LVMH, a bellwether for the larger luxury space, posted a 3% revenue drop last month, due in large part to the continued impacts of inflation on consumer behavior—especially in the crucial Chinese market. For its part, Kering reported a 15% year-over-year decline last month.

Bain said the sharp decrease in spending in China is due to “lackluster consumer confidence”—and they’re not alone.

Globally, the current economic environment has made many “aspirational” shoppers more conservative in their spending, Nicolas Llinas-Carrizosa, a BCG partner focused on luxury, told Fortune. “They’re prioritizing either financial investments or prioritizing spending in other categories they deem more important to them.”

All told, the entire luxury sector is set to drop by 2% over the 2024 full-year period, Bain said.

But that doesn’t mean consumers are pausing their spending altogether; the travel, fine wine and dining, and auto sectors both reported modest growth this year.

Plus a “gradual recovery” in late 2025 is nonetheless still likely in China, Europe, the U.S., and especially Japan—where shoppers are the lucky beneficiary of favorable currency exchange rates.

FORTUNE MAGAZINE

regarding this.. i was just thinking that it's not as exciting for me anymore to buy luxury brands... Because i see all the people carrying these paper bags and see the current demographic of who are into it. And i think, do i really want to be one of them?

It has all become so mainstream and cheap with all this tiktokers, you cannot find nice pieces that are conversation starters anymore. Everything being pushed are just merch.

Now I feel more excited finding nice clothes from contemporary brands that are actually doing fashion and with interesting materials. I feel more excited visiting COS than burberry or loewe for example.