Friday 17 July 2009

In with the old, in with the new?

Fashionista has been thinking about Jaeger's 125 ladieswear collection which features current designs heavily influenced by clothing from the brand's archives. The navy dress with white flower was based on a 1960s swimsuit featuring the same pattern. The success of the range has been such that Jaeger is now planning a seasonal capsule collection based on previous eras of fashion, drawing inspiration from its archives.

Fashionista applauds this highly lucrative business plan which, if marketed correctly, could become a brand's identifying characteristic.

We've heard the message almost daily for longer than Fashionista can remember. We're in a recession. Fashion houses will need to cut costs as much as possible without losing the quality, design and craftsmanship for which they have become known and on which they crucially depend to maintain their reputation. It's not rocket science that designs which are a "tried and tested" success carry less risk than an entirely new design.

Another plus: re-using past designs shows that the brand's designs (and by inference, the brand) are iconic. They stand the test of time and transcend eras in the ever changing world of fashion. And what's more: revamping archived designs will attract those who may have bought the original design when it was first launched and who then drifted away from the brand, but nostalgia will now draw them back; it will attract those who loved the clothes of a particular era which may now be hard to find; and it will attract new customers who simply like the look of a design.

If it was iconic before, there's every chance it can be iconic again. Fashionista wonders what her readers think of the concept of revamping archived designs?

1 comments:

Culturazzi-at-Law said...

All art is referential; much creative work is inspired and motivated by the achievements of others. Just think of Picasso revisiting the prior art of Delacroix, Velazquez, Poussin, Manet, David and so on. But nostalgia is a complex emotion - using the terminology of Plutchik it is a mixture of "sadness" and "acceptance". The job of the fashion designer in revisiting "old masters" must be to take use the mood of nostalgia but at the same time inject into it the joy of rediscovery. If it is done well, it succeeds. Done badly it looks tired.