Recent Blog Posts
-
Morning Hemlines: Mervyn's, Fred Leighton, Imitation of Christ, Holidays, Luxury Ads, Vintage
Nov 24 200810:19 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Steve & Barry's, Limited, Barneys, Marc Jacobs, Hicks, Pilati
Nov 20 20089:24 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Saks, Woolworths, Project Runay, Consumer Prices
Nov 19 200810:21 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Wintour, Saks, Burberry, Steve & Barry's, Carrefour, Claiborne, Wang
Nov 18 20089:58 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Penney, A&F. J. Crew, Tom Ford, Brioni, Luxury
Nov 17 20089:46 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Macy's, Benetton, Richemont, Nordstrom, John Lewis, Alexander
Nov 14 20089:36 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Tod's, Discounters, Urban Outfitters, Interview Suit
Nov 13 200810:50 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Macy's, Geen. General Growth, Beijing, Versace
Nov 12 200810:02 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Claiborne, SJP, Fortunoff, Boutiques
Nov 11 200811:00 am EDT -
Morning Hemlines: Asprey, Marc Jacobs, H&M
Nov 10 200810:21 am EDT
Links
- Fashion Wire Daily

- The Business of Fashion

- Fashion Week Daily

- Fashionista

- The Fug Girls

- Refinery 29

- Denimology

- Red Carpet Style Awards

- BuzzFeed on Style

- Dezeen

- New York Times Fashion and Style

- Decades

- Net-A-Porter

- Federation Francaise de la Couture

- Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana

- Fashionologie

- SheFinds

- Coutorture

- The Sartorialist

- Style.com

- Racked

Developing Markets: Russia's Anti-Bling Trend
The IHT has an article about how luxury is no longer loud in Russia. I'll say this for those new consumers -- they've caught up to the West fast. It jives with what I've been told. Apparently the Roberto Cavalli stores in Moscow are empty. Muscovites are afraid it is too flashy to be cool. Of course the irony is that now Cavalli is cool again in the West, but they'll catch on soon.
The evolution of the luxury consumer is meant to go something like this (categories are from a report distributed by American Express, descriptions are mine):
1. Acquisitive luxury (show off that new money with flashy logos. Key brand: Gucci)
2. Inquisitive luxury (show off how smart you are about fashion. Key brand: Prada)
3. Authoritative luxury (show off how smart you are about luxury. Key brand: Bottega Veneta)
4. Meditative luxury (show off how smart you are by not buying expensive stuff clothes. Key brand: Damien Hirst)
I wonder if we'll see the same sort of acceleration movement through the consumer cycles in Asia and India. If so, these markets may not be the long-term gold mine managers were hoping they'd be. Because, look, the IHT says the Russians are already onto phase four.






