Why Is The Fashion Industry In The State That It's In Today?

[Sweet rus]

1) limitless greed,
2) lack of high standards/wrong priorities,
3) forced inclusivity

 

[lisarobbet]

Democratizing fashion is one of the main reasons the industry is in this dire state..
(Fashion is effected by politics and youth which support this democratizing) and I would go in a rant if I wasn’t so tired right now

exactly

 

[LoveFashion25]

I think the fashion industry peaked in the 90s.

 

[Creative]

Hard disagree.

Fashion has not been thst hard to get into. If you sew clothes finely you will be given an opportunity. The whole reason Marc Bohan even existed is because he made clothes finely - better than anyone else. The same thing now with MGC, Sabato etc. A Wang got shown the door quickly for his lack of skill…when I say sew clothes finely I mean much better than your local fashion week designer.

People these days just are too conformist to truly be original. this generation is full of people looking for an identity so of course they have no unique POV. Like John Galliano is an UberMensch.

Honestly if I were 17 and wanted to be a fashion designer. All I would do is focus on making the most perfect tuxedos. Then go and make crazy looking stuff assembled to perfection. That will guarantee a role at any fashion house.

Is this post a joke? Or you just live in another world ?

 

[Creative]

1) limitless greed,
2) lack of high standards/wrong priorities,
3) forced inclusivity

That’s it basically…

I would add social networks to the equation. People these days live to show other people they have money. Fashion has become more than ever a status symbol. Before people wanted to portray a certain look, these days is all about making people believe you are rich. That’s why Hermès bags are so famous.

And trends get so burned in a few months… Overexposure is terrible.

 

[Lola701]

I think the fashion industry peaked in the 90s.

For me it peaked in the 2000’s.
There’s an over romanization of fashion in the 90’s because a lot of those big figures of the fashion industry are aging and reflecting but fashion as an industry peaked in the 2000’s.

It wasn’t an industry for me simply because the world wasn’t that global.
The 2000’s offered a good balance between Art and Commerce, Mass and elitism, exposure and privacy.

I think things changed in 2011 when the economy of fashion recovered from the crisis and it became a circus.

 

[thismortalcoil]

I think to be exact, the peak was right before the financial crisis of 2008. Up until then, fashion was on an upwards trajectory with a mix of independents and conglomerate brands finding their own success within a vast market — the playing field was relatively equal. After 2008, the repercussions of the crisis was felt especially hard by smaller brands who struggled with new buying patterns from consumers worldwide as well as the arrival of the then unknown landscape of social media which as a marketing device has, in my opinion, f***ed up the industry.

Budgets that were maybe allocated to collection development were funnelled into marketing. The conglomerates who were able to rebound more easily from the crisis ate up the market with a more agressive mentality — "who can outdo who", for smaller brands, it became increasingly impossible to match the big brands, without necessarily there being an alternative route.

Like it or not, over the decade post 2008, data and algorithms have become a cornerstone of many big brands. Commercial teams were no longer prepared to take risks are more and more diluted designs or collection plans that are 'like' this brand or that brand became the norm(core). Multi-brand boutiques for example were more willing to stock Gucci on consignment than invest in an independent brand with a smaller following.

The nail in the coffin was Covid. We are living in an age where money talks and point of view and technique no longer hold as much value as it did before. The handful of new emerging designers that find success today are based on either a gimmick or strong marketing but in terms of creative evolution remain stagnant (Nensi Dojaka, LDSS, Coperni).

I do believe that fashion is like a pendulum, however I fear that the industry has gone past the point of no return.

 

[LadyJunon]

I think to be exact, the peak was right before the financial crisis of 2008. Up until then, fashion was on an upwards trajectory with a mix of independents and conglomerate brands finding their own success within a vast market — the playing field was relatively equal. After 2008, the repercussions of the crisis was felt especially hard by smaller brands who struggled with new buying patterns from consumers worldwide as well as the arrival of the then unknown landscape of social media which as a marketing device has, in my opinion, f***ed up the industry.

Budgets that were maybe allocated to collection development were funnelled into marketing. The conglomerates who were able to rebound more easily from the crisis ate up the market with a more agressive mentality — "who can outdo who", for smaller brands, it became increasingly impossible to match the big brands, without necessarily there being an alternative route.

Like it or not, over the decade post 2008, data and algorithms have become a cornerstone of many big brands. Commercial teams were no longer prepared to take risks are more and more diluted designs or collection plans that are 'like' this brand or that brand became the norm(core). Multi-brand boutiques for example were more willing to stock Gucci on consignment than invest in an independent brand with a smaller following.

The nail in the coffin was Covid. We are living in an age where money talks and point of view and technique no longer hold as much value as it did before. The handful of new emerging designers that find success today are based on either a gimmick or strong marketing but in terms of creative evolution remain stagnant (Nensi Dojaka, LDSS, Coperni).

I do believe that fashion is like a pendulum, however I fear that the industry has gone past the point of no return.

Absolutely. That said, I disagree on the last statement.

I think that the fashion industry works on a 30 to 50-year cycle and that we're at the end of that cycle. The current quiet-luxury era reminds me very much of the quiet conserative fashion of the 40s/50s, and later the 80s. The current model we have was built in the late 80s-90s with the rise of the new avant-garde (Galliano, Margiela, the Belgians, the Japanese) along with the arrival of the multi-brand conglomorates (Arnault and Richemont) and the dominance of Vogue.