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.

 

[Creative]

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.

You think the quiet luxury trend is really quiet? I think it’s the opposite tbh. To me it’s everything but quiet. Loro Piana for instance… it’s loud. Everything is expensive just for the sake of people wanting to brag about how much money they are putting into things… Prices have skyrocketed and the only reason is because there are people who need this kind of validation…

If you are taking about boring fashion we might agree.

I do think there’s no coming back. And I don’t believe fashion evolves in circles… trends maybe, but they are never the same.

The context has changed a lot for it to be like it was before 2010.

In fact, I think we won’t probably see much fashion in the future… it will be like the watches industry or the cars industry. Big icons readapted, extremely strong marketing about the values of the brand, very little change… Small brands will have it harder and harder, unless a miracle a la Jacquemus happens.

We are in the moment when fashion brands change creative direction every 3 years and that’s not sustainable. This model is dying.

 

[Creative]

Also, fashion didn’t peak in the 90s because in the 90s there the culture of the creative director was kind of “new” (don’t get me wrong)… Yes, Tom Ford at Gucci and Karl at Chanel and Fendi, but it was not the same as in the 00s. Many houses like Lanvin had CDs, but they really peaked in the 00s with Alber, Ghesquière, Stefano at YSL, Prada was more important in the 00s, Dior with Galliano, all the magazines, the blogs, the TV talking about the shows, Devil wears Prada, Anna Wintour, the Voguettes, Carine, Chloé… idk

 

[blueorchid]

I can't take people who say "diversity" ruined fashion seriously lol... they wouldn't have been in this mess if they had incrementally been more "diverse" in the first place. Now it just feels like a giant over-correction "We were ALWAYS diverse 😤"

 

[Creative]

I can't take people who say "diversity" ruined fashion seriously lol... they wouldn't have been in this mess if they had incrementally been more "diverse" in the first place. Now it just feels like a giant over-correction "We were ALWAYS diverse 😤"

I think she meant it in the “woke” sense of the word… Like being too politically correct. I feel like brands are ultra cautious when doing certain things to not get cancelled , so let’s say everything is very calculated and kind of looses the charm…

I remember being at a fitting and people proposed using like a strap for a dress… and somebody said that could potentially relate to a LGTBQ and get a controversy. Things like that… thank god they didnt use it because it was horrible, but what lies behind is kind of sad.

I must live in my ivory tower but i think fashion is (or was) one of the most diverse industries before the woke movement. Woke and political correctness kind of killed it all… because now eveeybody is washed out and even less diverse.

 

[blueorchid]

I must live in my ivory tower but i think fashion is (or was) one of the most diverse industries before the woke movement.

In what way was it one of the most diverse industries in the world? I can't fathom...

Complaining about things being woke/politically correct is, again, kind of lame imo. Like... people act like it's either super sanitized/safe/boring OR actively offensive. I mean, there's a lot of ground between those two to play with without being ~*~WoKe*~*

 

[Creative]

In what way was it one of the most diverse industries in the world? I can't fathom...

Complaining about things being woke/politically correct is, again, kind of lame imo. Like... people act like it's either super sanitized/safe/boring OR actively offensive. I mean, there's a lot of ground between those two to play with without being ~*~WoKe*~*

Before you could be old, young, gay, straight or have any sexual orientation, be weird AF, dress how you wanted, be “wild”… you had characters like Galliano, McQueen, MJ, Isabella, Andre LT…

I feel like today everybody is too normal.

 

[blueorchid]

Those all seem like exception that proves the rule, though.

Alternatively, look at the lack of diversity with publishers, editors, and photographers, and how that was reflected in the pages of magazines for decades. Even if the "creative" side was allegedly diverse, were the other parts of the field?

 

[Creative]

Those all seem like exception that proves the rule, though.

Alternatively, look at the lack of diversity with publishers, editors, and photographers, and how that was reflected in the pages of magazines for decades. Even if the "creative" side was allegedly diverse, were the other parts of the field?

You think? Every designer was kind of a character… KL, Alber Elbaz, Donatella, Valentino, Saint Laurent… in terms of phographers, I think of Meisel, Newton, Bourdin… Very strong personalities with different backgrounds. Today it’s all sweet and correct… Like Jacquemus. Photographers are dull. There’s no flavor to anything and in part it has to do with the correctness there is at the moment.

 

[blueorchid]

I think there's a lot of selective memory when people recall the fashion industry of yore. For every (1) Karl there were (multiple) designers like Ted Lapidus or Jean-Louis Scherrer. For every (1) Meisel there are (multiple) bog standard boring photographers like Alexi Lubomirski.

Fashion photography is bad because the "craft" hasn't been passed on and they lack skill and vision, not because of "political correctness."

Tell me how the fashion industry was diverse and un-"PC" when Edmonde Charles-Roux was (allegedly) dismissed from Vogue Paris for wanting to put Donyale Luna on the cover in 1966? (Their first black cover model wasn't until 1988 with Naomi... alternatively Elle France DID put Donyale Luna on a cover in 1967) Why was it a big deal when Meryl Streep appeared on Vogue as their "oldest" cover star at 62 in 2011?

 

[LoveFashion25]

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.

Wow I never thought about it in that way. Makes sense!

 

[lookatme]

Those all seem like exception that proves the rule, though.

Alternatively, look at the lack of diversity with publishers, editors, and photographers, and how that was reflected in the pages of magazines for decades. Even if the "creative" side was allegedly diverse, were the other parts of the field?

I’m curious if you’re as concerned about the lack of diversity in say, the NBA? Or in the rap and hip hop industry? Or are you mostly bothered by a space that was largely white for a period of time?

 

[blueorchid]

I’m curious if you’re as concerned about the lack of diversity in say, the NBA? Or in the rap and hip hop industry? Or are you mostly bothered by a space that was largely white for a period of time?

Ah yes, my favourite thought-terminating cliché: whataboutism. We're not on an NBA or a rap forum discussing the hip hop industry, so it's not relevant to our discussion at the moment. Neither is the lack of women in the sciences or medicine, or the lack of men in pink-collar industries.