How Innovation and Technology are Shaping the Future of Fashion
Last weekend, fashion professionals gathered at the Graduate Center CUNY for the 18th Annual New York Fashion Conference hosted by Initiatives in Art and Culture. The purpose was to focus on pioneers in innovation, but an unintentional, yet significant theme of dissatisfaction surrounded most discussions.
The design and business sectors of the industry have conflicting motives, holding one another back from progressing. This disconnect is magnified by e-commerce, social media, eco-consciousness and new-age manufacturing.
Designers feel creatively stifled by retailers who are only concerned with the bottom line. Retailers watch their brick-and-mortar sales plummet and scramble to pinpoint what consumers really want. Consumers want genuine products and transparent brands that discuss their diverse needs. Brands want to engage consumers with a story beyond “made in China” and rayon fabrics.
Luxury Online
Editor-in-chief of Luxury Daily, Mickey Alan Khan moderated a panel on how retailers are migrating customers to an “omni-channel experience” and what that means for luxury brand integrity.
Customers expect a lot in one shopping experience. “They want convenience and they want immediacy and transparency,” said Chris Del Gatto, CEO of The Del Gatto Luxury Group and DELGATTO.
While we’ve seen e-commerce takeover sales, Mary Saunders, co-founder of CERCI, believes there’s still potential for a path to an in-store experience.
“Technology has democratized luxury,” said Del Gatto. “I don’t think shopping online is a luxury experience.”
Some products are just easier to sell online, as Khan mentioned Cartier has seen a “tremendous uptick of watches [sold] online.”
“Watches translate really well online,” said Del Gatto.
Rie Yano, co-founder of MATERIAL WRLD, took a different approach to the luxury market through re-sale. “Our service is to continue connecting the dots,” said Yano. “A lot of brands want to separate themselves from the secondary market.”
Luxury has long been established in exclusivity, only granting access to privileged individuals. When e-commerce stepped onto the scene, suddenly consumers wanted a personal connection rather than aspirational branding.
Ultimately, consumer demand defines luxury. “The luxury market has many more diversified customers than they used to,” said Yano.
Customer base can be separated by generations, as millennials want instant gratification while baby boomers want a human touch. “We need generational marketing,” said Khan.
“A brand needs to consider where their consumers are,” said Del Gatto. “Your values need to be in line with theirs…sincerity is incredibly important.”
Retail Now
Gary A. Wassner, CEO of Hilldun Corporation, moderated a panel on current retail trends evolving brand power and marketing, especially as we continue to see the blogger/influencer trend dictate the fashion industry.
Many brands are losing control to department stores that favor big companies, insist on high markdowns and use bland visual merchandising. “Department stores have become more and more difficult to work with,” said Robert Burke, CEO of Robert Burke Associates.
Sometimes sales associates will only direct customers to brands that pay them incentives. “They’ll walk you to the brands they’re working for,” said Wassner.
When journalist and author, Teri Agins bought an umbrella at a department store, she couldn’t find a cashier who would take her money because each had their own loyalty to specific brands.
“Retailers need to work with brands,” said Wassner, “but they aren’t right now and that’s the issue.”
As designer of her namesake label, Nili Lotan keeps much of her business in-house. Her sales are 70 percent wholesale, 20 percent retail and ten percent online. But while wholesale and retail grow 60 percent a year, online is up 300 percent a year.
“I don’t want to oversaturate my brand,” said Lotan who has several wholesale accounts, but only one with a major department store. This gives her a marketing edge, but allows her more control. Customers may see her clothes in Barney’s, but ultimately decide to buy them online, bringing more revenue directly to her company.
“She has some control of her destiny,” said Burke.
“Without this young designer community the industry won’t continue to grow,” said Wassner.
Many diffusion brands like Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply and Marc by Marc Jacobs shut down when they were no longer benefitting their parent companies. “Diffusion is a bad word,” said Wassner. “Sister brand,” he said, is the new way to differentiate. “You’re not cannibalizing your brand.”
The idea of a sister brand isn’t to sell cheaper versions of the same products, as diffusion brands have done in the past. Ultimately, the brand should offer something completely different, just like two sisters who have different styles.
Agins mentioned T by Alexander Wang is one successful model that uses the same label recognition, but offers a different aesthetic to broaden consumer appeal.
“TJX is not having any problem selling clothes,” said Agins, citing the company that often manufactures its own clothes and buys cheaper versions of the same pieces brands sell in department stores. “They don’t even want your leftovers, they just want your name.”
“I think there’s a mistake in saying the younger generation is not loyal,” said Lotan. “I think they’re very loyal, it’s just not about status like it was in the 80s.”
“It’s not these big, bold brands in your face,” said Wassner.
“There are so many people who want to buy my clothes but don’t know about it,” said Lotan. So her goal through social media is to reach out to women who aren’t already following her and establish what she calls her “tribe.”
Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid recently wore Lotan’s pieces and posted their looks on Instagram. While most brands have to pay celebrities millions to endorse their products, Lotan wasn’t expecting them to discover her brand. “I did not pay a penny for them to wear my clothes,” said Lotan.
“To me it’s very clear bloggers are driving the business,” said Lotan.
But Burke warned of the blogger and influencer backlash. “We know the power of it. We don’t know how to control it,” he said.
“It all comes down to money,” said Wassner.
Blueprints for Innovation
In this panel, CFDA director of educational and professional development, Sara Kozlowski spoke with young designers on the ways they’re bringing more empathy into fashion, from healthcare to sustainability.
Joshua Katcher is an adjunct professor at Parsons and founder of vegan menswear brand Brave GentleMan. He’s seen many Parsons students disappointed with the lack of progression in fashion.
“The fashion industry has this illusion that it’s edgy, but it’s actually really slow to change,” said Katcher.
Lucy Jones, was one of those students who started school hoping to be the next Alexander McQueen, but graduated with a completely different direction in mind. “I am really sick of seeing the same things,” she said.
Inspired by her cousin whose left side of his body is paralyzed, she designed a pair of pants that are easy to put on with one hand. In 2015, she won the Womenswear Designer of the Year award at Parsons for her senior thesis collection, Seated Design, which provided design solutions for wearers in wheelchairs. “I don’t see why technology and human touch cannot go hand-in-hand,” said Jones.
Erin Isakov founded her own active-wear label, Erin Snow, to explore sustainable, animal-free materials, testing plant-based fibers and how they react on human skin. “We’re bringing humanity back to fashion,” said Isakov. “In order to survive, everyone has to innovate.”
Isakov hopes fashion will soon have an organic movement like the food industry, when consumers demand to know what their clothes are made from. “I’m just excited that everyone is starting to care,” she said.
After graduating from Parsons this year, Margo Isadora went straight to work for Donna Karen’s non-profit textile and home product label, Urban Zen. She makes frequent trips to Haiti to collaborate and train artisans with the latest technologies so they can earn a living off their craft.
Isadora believes more people want to know who is making their clothes and where the money is going. “That storytelling is what these retailers want these days,” she said.
“It really is about people,” said Jones.
