February’s New York Fashion week saw renowned designers like Betsey Johnson and Vera Wang ditching the runway for low profile displays on mannequins. Some others went the web cast and video route like Marc Bouwer. Many opted for low cost venues and scaled back collections. Even the usually extravagant Marc Jacobs cut his viewing down to 500 guests. Some saved their pennies like Frank Tell who reused his Swarovski crystals from last year. The inimitable Kimora Lee Simmons reportedly claimed she “skimped a bit on the material in their butts”. I’m still trying to figure out if she was serious-with her you can never tell…
With crumbling retail sales after a brutal holiday season, the Fashion world had to resort to restructuring with big retail giants like Saks announcing 1100 layoffs to Macy’s 7000. Many Design Houses and Suppliers including Shoe and clothing maker Kenneth Cole posted a wider fourth-quarter loss, forecasting a bleak first quarter. Kenneth suspended its quarterly dividend and cut 10 percent of its total headcount in February in addition to the 10 percent in January. Customers have benefitted in the process due to sample sales galore and massive price reductions on several designer pieces.
In the mean time, while our President is doling out serious cash to Banks and Automakers, Italy, known for its iconic Fashion labels like Armani, Versace, Fendi and Dolce and Gabanna is planning on bailing out its ailing Clothing and Textile Industry that is crippled by job losses, bankruptcies and increased cheaper competition from Asia. So what else is new?
The term “recession chic” has been coined with several blogs and articles surfacing giving tips and pointers galore on how to look beautiful on a budget. Topics ranging from “How to look a million bucks in a recession” to “The recession is killing my vagina” have made the circuit every single day.
The silver lining in the cloud has been Fashion and Beauty’s emphatic shift towards eco-friendliness. Eviana Hartman and Samantha Pleet started the year on the right note by winning the Ecco Domani’s 2009 Fashion Foundation award for 2009. Chanel’s senior vice president of purchasing and product development, Michel Dupuis told CosmeticsDesign.com about his company’s efforts to take cost-friendly green measures. “One way to get out of this (economic) crisis is to go with the sustainability concept.” he said. Many mainstream brands like Victoria Secret, Payless and Pantene have embraced the same idea, launching eco-friendly lines in a bid to attract the recession ridden consumer who has become increasingly concerned about the environment.
Perhaps the most interesting news in this fashion recession saga has been reports that an increasing number of British women have taken to coloring their hair blonde to lift their sagging spirits in these gloomy times. Celebrity Hairdresser Andrew Barton reported a 67% increase in the sales of his blonde hair products compared to last year this time and attributes it to recession blues. ”The lipstick effect” has been widely discussed as the makeup sales especially that of lipstick has soared in the eye of the crisis. Experts opine that people turn away from extravagant splurges they can no longer afford and turn to little pleasures instead. L'Oréal, Beiersdorf and Shiseido have all attested to this phenomenon. Interestingly, many analysts have compared the situation to the Great Depression of the 1930s when the industrial production in the US halved, but sales of cosmetics rose.
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