Fashion

GLOBAL INVESTOR 1.16 — 29
fashion makers and consumers in shaping
fashion?
ROGER TREDRE Consumers are now
in a more powerful position than ever before
because of the power of the Internet and
the ability to like and dislike. And also the
extent to which they are using the old-fashioned
retail environment as a showroom
experience where they can wander around,
try on things, take a few pics, share them
with friends and then go home and buy the
items cheaper online. At the same time,
despite the best efforts of NET-A-PORTER
or ASOS in the UK market, nothing quite
matches the thrill of going into a beautiful
shop. Consequently, retail is adding cafés,
adding drama and building bigger flagships.
How is the evolution of the mass market
affecting the luxury segment?
ROGER TREDRE If you’re in the business
of luxury, you’ve got a problem in
competition from the high street who are
now able to use better-quality fabrics,
are creating more fashion-forward designs
and are even able to add in elements of
handiwork that were previously only associated
with the luxury sector. Nonetheless,
luxury brands are also lifestyle brands and
well aware of it. And they want to capture
a share of the mid-market. “Masstige” –
“mass market” plus “prestige” – is a phrase
that’s been used quite a lot in recent years.
In 1992, you wrote that uncertainty in the
industry internationally had dampened
many wilder spirits. What was going on?
ROGER TREDRE Japan, which had been
a key export market at the luxury end,
was no longer growing at the same pace.
The question was where growth would
come from, and the answer was China. It
took a good decade, though, before China
began to deliver in the way people hoped.
What challenges is the industry facing?
ROGER TREDRE One of the biggest
talking points for the industry at the moment
is whether we need to change the timetable
of fashion. In the late 1990s, the emergence
of Inditex – the Spanish company
that owns Zara – introduced the concept of
fast fashion, the idea of stores injecting
new product into shops on almost a weekly
basis. This presented a major challenge
for everyone in the industry: companies,
designers and producers would have to leap
on it immediately and make it happen.
And now?
ROGER TREDRE It’s reached the stage
where some high-end companies, including
Roger Tredre
is currently pathway leader in fashion
journalism (MA Fashion Communication)
at Central Saint Martins, University
of the Arts London. He is also a senior
consultant for the Beijing Academy
of Creative Arts. From 1999 to 2007,
he was editor in chief of Worth Global
Style Network (wgsn.com), the international
fashion industry online trends
and research service.
Burberry (most notably at London Fashion
Week), are proposing a see-now, buy-now
approach to the concept of a fashion show,
where the consumer will be able to watch
the fashion show on the Internet and place
an order and get the clothes almost instantly.
How likely is that to happen?
ROGER TREDRE If it is adopted across
the industry, it will need a complete rethink
in terms of the production process. I don’t
think it will happen. A lot of the bigger
players in continental Europe have already
suggested it’s a bit of a gimmick and
“Consumers are
now in a more powerful
position than
ever before because
of the power of the
Internet and the ability
to like and dislike.”
that part of the mystique and allure of
selling dreams is the idea that you see these
clothes in the fashion show and then you
have to wait.
Is the distinction between fashion and
apparel worth making?
ROGER TREDRE Apparel needs an
injection of fashion. I mean, what’s apparel?
It’s essentially basics. Take the case of
Uniqlo – a Japanese retailer with huge ambitions
that has enjoyed a meteoric rise in
recent years. When it first came to the UK,
it was purely apparel-focused. But once
you’d bought an item, you didn’t need to go
back to the shop again for a very long
time. The company realized that apparel
without any fashion sprinkled into the mix
was dullsville. Uniqlo has since had a
whole series of collaborations working with
designers to inject a fashion element in
what is still quite a basic range of clothing.
How is fashion understood and
misunderstood in society?
ROGER TREDRE If you believe the
Zoolander movies, fashion is full of ludicrous
figures who drink a lot of champagne,
do drugs and behave generally outrageously.
And it’s true that, from the outside, the
fashion runway season is super- glamorous.
But inside it are a lot of people who
work very, very hard. I’m always amazed at
the commitment and the length to which
people will go in the fashion industry.