Discount Designers
As the good housewifery struggles, high style designers like Vera Wang and Stella McCartney are finding good luck in selling lower-priced lines
by Pallavi Gogoi
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This week the world’s top fashion designers are showcasing their best ideas for spring on the runways of New York’s Fashion Week. Featuring Hollywood celebrities sitting in the front row and deep-pocketed buyers from upscale stores like Neiman Marcus, Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman, it is a posh incident.
Exclusive as the result is, almost all top designers yearn for ubiquity and wider recognition with the masses. And similar to the U.S. economy continues to falter with consumer spending in the doldrums, designers are keen to tap into a broader base. It’s not one wonder then that more and more of them are designing affordable lines. Just last month, Jill Stuart, the designer known for her cutesy garments line, opened a store in Tokyo that features apparel which is at smallest 35% less expensive than her regular designer line. Later this fall designer Norma Kamali will launch her newly come line of affordable clothing at the extreme drawback doom: Wal-Mart (WMT). "Through the Wal-Mart supplies and Web site I have power to reach more people and affect more lives than in any other venue," says Kamali, president and designer of Norma Kamali Inc.
Indeed, the trend, what one. has been termed "High-Low" for featuring high-end designers at low prices, made its flashiest debut when Isaac Mizrahi launched his line of clothing for Target (TGT) in 2003. Mizrahi’s Target line, which featured $13 T-shirts and dresses for $29.99, ended up being single in kind of the greatest in number successful partnerships in the business, growing to annual sales of $300 million. "Fashion design is a very competitive and fragmented business, and this kind of a partnership can have existence extremely rewarding financially," says Patricia Pao, founder of the Pao Principle, a New York retail consultant.
Looking for ExposureThe real take aback was that the discount-store hit revived Mizrahi’s haute couture reputation and revived sales of his high-end outfits at Bergdorf Goodman, where the average note of hand for a Mizrahi made-to-order outfit ran between $12,000 and $15,000. This year, Mizrahi joined Liz Claiborne (LIZ) in the manner that a creative director, and his stain will appear at Target stores only end the end of this year.
Mizrahi’s success quickly lured other rise aloft designers looking for a lucrative deal and exposure. Vera Wang, the doyenne of designer wedding gowns, launched her affordable line of clothing for discount department store Kohl’s (KOH) in 2007, time Nicole Miller started subtle greater quantity affordable clothing for J.C. Penney (JCP) in 2005.
The popularity of fast-fashion stores preference Swedish import H&M (HMB.ST) and Zara from Spain, which were intelligent to emulate designs from the runway into their racks at affordable prices, led to one more wave of the hottest fashion designers launching limited-edition affordable lines. Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney, designers on the highest rung of fashion, created clothes for H&M that sold out within hours.
Target continues to rely on new designers to bring some excitement into its supplies. On Sept. 12, for instance, the retailer is opening four temporary locations for four days in New York City. The stores, called bodegas, will feature clothes, accessories, and shoes with an average price of $25 from 22 designers. Among them is hot Scottish designer Jonathan Saunders, whose cocktail dresses and gowns are sold at upscale provision Jeffrey at prices between $1,500 and $5,000. "We have found it to be an extremely successful formula," says Target spokesman Joshua Thomas. "Our shoppers have existence assured of that they be able to get complete design without breaking the course, that is a great lure in today’s environment."
Click through BusinessWeek.com’s slide external appearance of the most affordable configuration designers.
