The luxury lifestyle - is online the place to be?

Fashionista is, it goes without saying, a true devotee of online shopping - or should that be a dedicated follower of Net-A-Porter? But in the main luxury brands have been slow to embrace the wonders and the opportunities of the online space. Fashionista has often wondered why.

Luxury brands on-line was the subject of discussion earlier this week at the Internet Advertising Bureau. Fashionista learnt that 16% of the global population now has access to broadband and also represents 78% of global earnings. What is more 80% of high net worth individuals spend time on-line every day so surely the time must be right for luxury brands to embrace the opportunities offered by the internet?

Abby Carvosso, deputy MD of Grazia, Bauer is a passionate advocate of the benefits of being on-line having launched and nurtured Grazia Daily as a premium magazine online. Here are the 10 things she has learnt from this experience:

1. Be brave. To date luxury brands have been the slowest category to go on-line with only 1% of their media spend being spent online.

2. Understand your audience. Influence and involve them.

3. Premium audiences are online now. So be part of the conversation with them.

4. Deepen the consumer relationship with your brand. See what D&G have done with "Behind the Seams"

5. Give the consumer control. Don't be scared - allow consumers to become involved. Follow the example of Gucci and open a Facebook page for your brand - Gucci has over 400,000 followers on Facebook.

6. Test and learn. Don't be afraid to experiment. If it doesn't work, you can take it down!

7. Scale is not everything. Limited editions work well in the premium market - see 20ltd whose hand picked exclusive items appeal to the luxury consumer.

8. The experience and the service you provide must be the best. Here Net-A-Porter is the role model to emulate.

9. Don't miss the opportunity. If you are not there then someone else is and you will lose out.

10. Be the first to know. We are all intrinsically nosey - exploit this and use the online space to break news to your loyal customers first.

Fashionista is convinced. Are you?

Fashionista is thinking green . . . . .

Ever open to new initiatives, Fashionista has been inspired to consider going "green". And, of course, she is far from alone and certainly not the first to recognise that "green is the new black". Today's news that luxury giant LVMH is taking a minority stake in Edun, the ecological and ethical fashion label, has caught Fashionista's attention. Edun has a fascinating pedigree - launched in 2005 by Bono, the Irish lead singer of the rock band U2, and his wife and now partially owned by the world's biggest owner of luxury brands. Will the other luxury brand giants follow, Fashionista muses? Certainly there is an ever increasing list of ethical fashion labels to choose from and it seems that there is also an increasing consumer interest in the ethical stance of clothing manufacturers. So, Fashionista plans to investigate and report on green issues in the fashion world on a regular basis . . . . and will be interested to see if other fashion groups follow LVMH's lead.

Bling is dead . . . . .

Fashionista does not want to end the week on a down beat note but is saddened to learn that bling is no longer acceptable - or so says Karl Lagerfeld who has told us to embrace an era of "new modesty". The credit crunch spares no -one - and that includes the luxury brands. Hugo Boss this week reported growth in sales but decreased profits following one off management re-structuring charges. Hermès, PPR and LVMH have reported good results - but they are for last year and this year may be a very different story. Christian Blanckaert of Hermès International speaking at a conference in India this week said that the company was working on a month by month basis with "absolutely no visibility into 2009". And what makes the outlook bleaker still is that in this new era of modesty or even austerity luxury can be seen as provocative when so many people are so poor.

So, how will the luxury brands maintain their appeal during the economic downturn? Sustainability (as everywhere) is important. And Fashionista is pleased to hear that investment in a classic, timeless leather handbag may be justifiable on this basis - just one that is and she must make it last. As for those who still have money to spend, one answer may be to present the goods to them in such a way that the customer does not feel embarrassed to be seen going into an upmarket store. Fashionista predicts that a new trend for home shopping, not just on-line, is arriving. Tanner Krolle now sells from discreet offices in Mayfair so why not a personal home visit with a selection of must-have pieces for the valued luxury client? Fashionista is up for this but is not sure if her post code will make the grade.

Better deals for all tenants or just the luxury sector?

Landlords are starting to realise that if they want to achieve lettings and fill their high street or high end retail premises, they have to be more flexible on rents. While some of the big retailers are either closing stores or not in a position to expand, the smaller value retailers are being made offers and getting approached to take space they would not normally be considered for. Fashionista's view is that there are some bargains to be had.

In this credit crunch era landlords are becoming troubled tenants' largest creditors and can wield significant influence in particular at creditor meetings. As reported in Drapers, at the recent creditors meeting to save Stylo (the owner of Barretts and Priceless) the vote to accept the company voluntary arrangement is said to have been defeated by the group's landlords who voted against reduced turnover rents.

So, where does this leave the more up-market fashion retailers? Are they in a better position to negotiate favourable terms on new leases, especially where the available premises are considered 'high end'? Up market retailers may secure lower rents per square foot more easily than their more down-market contemporaries because of their strong brand values and clarity as to their target customer. They stand out in shaky economic times. Wouldn't a landlord of a higher end property want a better looking, more resilient, on-trend fashion tenant?

It appears so - the market is awash with the news that many luxury brands are seeking and securing prime retail space in London – Fred Perry has recently taken an assignment of a lease of space in James Street WC2 which has 6 years to run while Jack Wills, the self styled university outfitter, is taking over Diesel's Kings Road premises and a lease with 11-years to run. The bargaining position of landlords is not to be totally written off, as recent situations have attested. Jack Wills, for example, is paying a premium for its recently acquired Kings Road premises.