Virginie Viard - Designer

[eugenius]

Whoever comes, just start by making sure that buttons don't fall, the glued on "jewels" on buttons don't fall off in a couple of weeks, stop gluing sequins on jackets. Can we at least start there? Please?

Huh? They used glue for their clothing? That’s what contestants on Drag Race do for their costumes. Do tell…

 

[Creative]

I have to say I also hate when people complain about price raises in luxury goods… I mean, it’s luxury, the price you are paying is already ridiculous and makes no sense whatsoever. Also, and sadly, luxury is not synonymous with quality. I do think it should be though, and I think no one should try to defend cost cuts that affect quality. Although, at the same time, most of the people who buy luxury couldn’t care less about quality, they just want the product, the brand and the dream.

I remember when I was working at a certain brand and they priced some dresses over 25K and the main material was… plastic! Yeah, it’s more durable, pleats are more resistant, easier to work with it… but please. The cost price was something like 3K. They multiplied it by 8.

It’s true that there are some aspirational customers that could eventually not buy a Chanel purse and go for something cheaper, but I don’t think there are that many. Rich people are eager to spend on the right things… and it seems the more expensive the better.

 

[Nimsay]

I assume theyre talking about the glue for the stones to hold into the setting that comprises the butron.

 

[Creative]

Although, at the same time, I feel Chanel (also Hermès) classic bags are too common now, and they’ve become super cheap. It’s like for Russian pr*stitutes (sorry).

Also, to me, if you have like 400million euros in your bank, why would you care if the Chanel bag is 6K or 10K. I do not care if a Zara shirt is 35 or 50, idk.

 

[Nimsay]

You must live in Miami 😭😭😭

 

[Creative]

You must live in Miami 😭😭😭

I live in Europe 😝

 

[Nimsay]

Hermes is like a nightclub for 35+ adults. If they make you buy stuff to get a Birkin or Kelly*, that is the equivalent of being forced to wait outside in a line.…

*youre still gonna need a relationship for colors outside of basics like etoupe etain ebene craie …

 

[chinsumo]

 

[MulletProof]

Most of the furniture bought vintage / selected and redesigned by Hedi has origin in Dutch Haagse school it's a movement connected to brutalism, it's not basic b*tch its just not your taste perhaps.

For such an ‘Hedimaniac’, I'm surprised the wording and credits are off. But then.. 'Dutch' Haagse School..🥴

At Rolls Royce, they say “If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.”

What’s the source for this quote? I know fashion’s mindset of consumerism can be quite vulgar and promotes the ignorant ‘don’t ask, just buy’ but working in fine art with clients that are in the 1% of the 1%, ALL costs are asked by the client, they will fight a $75 difference in shipping to the bitter end (after paying for a $25M work), especially when they’re experienced buyers, the more knowledgeable they are, they more they need to know what they’re being charged for. Fragility of the work and a breakdown of the cost go hand in hand, nothing unusual about it. This Snotty Sales Assistant stereotype of ‘if you have to ask, you can’t afford it’ that prevails in fashion so that its often deceitful products remain above scrutiny is not helping to preserve any fantasy on luxury or making it seem glossy and aspirational, it keeps consumers uneducated and on the same level of the compulsive nouveau rich, the oligarchs and cartel wives who just shop for logos.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

That quote has always annoyed the sh*t outta me and was probably just invented to get plebs to stay the mindset of like “😡 I’ll show you!! Once I get my available balance on my credit card back up to $4000 I’ll show you who ‘can’t afford it’!!”

 

[Creative]

In a way, I also find a little bit annoying luxury consumers who are too price-driven. In other fields, I could understand, but when you are paying thousands of euros for something ridiculous? I don’t know…

If you go to Chanel and start asking prices I think it’s a little bit wannabe.

About the @Lutz thing, well, people are too sensitive. Nobody forced her to become a public persona by accepting that role, and if she’s a terrible CD, she’s a terrible CD. Nobody is saying anything personal about her, it’s all about her lack of talent to be a CD. That’s it. It’s not a drama, seriously.

I wish I could have all the hate while putting millions in my bank account and living the life like nobody is able to. 🙄

 

[KoV]

If you go to Chanel and start asking prices I think it’s a little bit wannabe.

In my mind, being a little bit wannabe would be going to Chanel and being afraid to ask the price because you don't want to look like you can't afford it. And I'm sure that attitude is exactly what salespeople exploit.



I'm surprised anyone uses (or thinks other people use?) that phrase seriously. I've always thought it was just meant to be cheeky. Maybe I'm just too broke to "get it" but trust no one will find me buying anything superfluous without wanting to know the price. And in any event, some of the most serious bargain-hunters you'll ever meet are the ones with the most at their disposal.

 

[Creative]

Well, I work in luxury and ended up having billionaire “friends”, and they don’t care about the price if they are real rich. The real rich people I know don’t ask prices.

Then you also have middle class rich, and they do ask, of course. It all depends on their level of wealth I think.

I always do the Zara comparison. If you go ti Zara and like something you know you will be able to afford it. For luxury I think it’s the same.

 

[KoV]

It's not always about affordability. Some people are just tightwads. I'm sure your billionaire friends are happy to drop whatever on whatever, but wealthy people are not a monolith. Despite how obsessively people try to study them and learn their ways so they can emulate the same vibe and bask in the (perceived) proximity, there's no uniform set of habits and attitudes. Some billionaires, like your friends, perhaps wouldn't think twice about mindlessly getting anything that catches their eye. Others would never set foot in Chanel because they're not susceptible to the marketing tactics and know they'll be fleeced.

 

[MulletProof]

Well, I work in luxury and ended up having billionaire “friends”, and they don’t care about the price if they are real rich. The real rich people I know don’t ask prices.

It’s not whether someone is ‘real rich’ or ‘fake rich’, it’s the range, fashion tends to be low value (under $500k). It changes when it’s, say, real estate or blue-chip art. Tbh the only billionaires that are not interested in any breakdowns are the Saudis, everyone else (especially the French, the Swiss and Americans) always ask and want to fully understand what they’re paying for, it doesn’t mean they ‘can’t afford it’, they just want to know what they are paying for and immediately know when something in the process has changed. Maybe it’s a cultural thing, or maybe your ‘friends’ don’t do it too much there because fashion is hardly an investment and I guess the attitude does change if they’re buying, like you said, a ridiculous pair of $30k metallic trousers lol, you might as well be tasteless enough to demand details on the import cost of the onion at the fancy restaurant you willingly walked into, the point is that price inquiries and explanations on technicalities does not mean you are ‘undeserving’ of a certain brand and if you, as a brand, can’t explain the cost or provide a simple and concise explanation on the value of your product, then that’s a bigger problem.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

One time I (not rich) inadvertently did the not ask thing at Issey Miyake, I had bought a kimono knowing the price, and a month later the SA messaged me about one that came in in a new color and I just assumed it was the same price so I thought "ooo hmmm yolo I really like it I will buy that one too!" Receipt came in showed 2x the price as the other one. NEVER. AGAIN. It felt so sheisty.

 

[THD96]

Unlike menswear, womenswear has a TON of male observants with a wide range of reasons on why they're observing.. some more complex than others, from pretending to see fashion but only watching cause you're watching women (remember Trump in every front row back in the day? lol), to policing in some cultures (or socioeconomic sectors), to seeing it for its artistic value, as a case study, as a shelter from macho cultures, because it's fun and high speed, to more complex reasons like wishing you could wear all of it and wearing it, or abstaining and sometimes developing some some type of resentment on the people who have no choice but to wear womenswear because.. similar societies.

I do think this merits some academic research on fashion (some Vestoj contributor should dive into it).. because, I for one, as a female consumer, never been and never seen any woman obsessed with menswear, not online or in real life, down to the point of being combative or furious at, say, the new menswear designer at Dior, or affirming very confidently what men should be wearing and what the direction on menswear should be. I seriously could not care less, you might as well ask me about the new NASA uniforms lol, I don't care. So to me it is an interesting phenomenon (relatively new, late 20th century I'd say..?!).. it's not always been bad but I do notice it's gotten a bit odd in the past 10 years, as fashion became exclusively corporate.

Sometimes I think people seem to forget the title of Virginie (and MGC), they are womenswear designers, and they focus solely on design for women not "Passion for fashion, ride or die, hardcore" g@y men with IG accounts think they are the voice of fashion, and it an end all be all if they like or don't like something.
They are very honest in their approach, They design clothes that speak to their clients and that is why women keep buying their clothes.
Same with Phoebe in some way, you can clearly see that since her comeback she never care about all the big expectations surrounding her brand, she just designs what she and her clients wanted to wear.

Not every designers at big brands or even great designers need to change fashion.

In the end it just clothes, buy and wear what make you feel good. That's the only that matters, don't have to be so caught up by it.

 

[Nimsay]

I think generally rich people want to pay more to keep people out. I think depending on the sales reps relationship with the client it will drive the need for a breakdown…

 

[plentyofhorns]

THE CUT

I immediately regret reading the comments

 

[Deleted member 116957]

In the end it just clothes, buy and wear what make you feel good. That's the only that matters, don't have to be so caught up by it

You’re brave for writing this, you know someone is going to bring out that damn quote from The Devil Wears Prada.