Harvey Nichols Spins Gold Leggings Into Great PR

What a fuss the Balenciaga gold leggings shown on the runway for the Spring/Summer 2007 collection caused. Mentioned in just about every review of the show, blogger fashionologie rang the New York store and was told they were special order only and would cost over $100,000. The internet's legion of fashion followers debated the pros and cons of the investment.

At lunch today Averyl Oates, the buying director for Harvey Nichols, told me she was pretty sure that she was the only retailer in the UK to actually order them. A newspaper stylist was dying to use them in a fashion shoot, but couldn't unless they were actually available to buy. (Editors can be so picky that way.) Distressed she pleaded her case to Oates who called Balenciaga and told them to send her a pair, any pair. She didn't care what size. The pair that will retail at 8815 pounds (or $17,321) hasn't arrived yet, but Oates has already capitalized on her investment. A carefully leaked item in the press pointed out the obvious: that an shipment of similar, but much cheaper, Balenciaga trousers was already in store. They sold out within days.

This, of course, is the point of fashion shows. Extreme looks in the runway collection generates excitement from the press and the buyers. But the commercial collection, the one the store buyers see when they visit the showroom before or after the show, is much more palatable and practical and that's what ends up on the shop floor. The article (in the UK weekly Grazia) merely pointed this out, but seeing it in black-and-white (and gold) was alluring enough to convince even me to rush down and try to pick up a "bargin" pair. Still, for a lucky someone somewhere, there's a pair of the real thing -- those much lauded gold trousers -- heading to Harvey Nichols now.