06 July 2009

Brand dilution?


Designer collaborations with mass market retailers and fast fashion chains are nothing new. The latest brand to succumb to the trend is luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo. Is this a wise move? To bring the "luxury" to the masses - where luxury is defined by marketing and celebrity cult status ... hmm perhaps. Maybe more aspirational shoppers will be attracted to the mainline of Jimmy Choo and boost up their long term sales.

I know, this news is quite old by now. The shoes and handbags will be available starting November 14th, and I don't think I'll be queuing up for it (I doubt my boss will understand the merits of it...!). I am eager to find out about the quality of the items, since the promotional pictures look quite attractive.

The price points are a little high for H&M, but I suppose they are on par with their other designer collaboration price points. Supposedly flat shoes will run for approximately $60USD, with boots going for $130USD, and some handbags for $276USD. To be quite frank, I'm hoping that some of them will linger around for 50% off sales but I doubt that will happen. I'm not quite willing to pay full price for these items seeing as how I can buy a good quality sale shoe for the same prices (though of course without the Jimmy Choo label).

1 comment:

  1. I find this post to be full of intelligent insights regarding fashion. I, too, wonder about the long term effects of "fast fashion" collaborations. I remember in the 70s and 80s, every designer (and his mother :D ) "licensed" their name to anyone with some spare cash. THAT fiasco led to a "cheapening" of the brands' images that took decades to recover from. I guess, time will tell.

    --Carole
    (sasy.com)

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