Who would have ever thought that the fashion world would be on its head like this! The economic down turn that hit the wealthy first and where it hutrst the most; in their investments, has tipped the scales in the fashion worlds as well.
This is one turn of events that even I did not anticipate. In prior slow-downs, even when the economy was slow, the luxe brands were, for the most part, stable because the wealthy were, well, wealthy! However, this time the luxe brands were the very first in line and are continuing to stagnate.
Of course, the entire retail industry is suffering and no brand is exempt, however, brands like Zara, H&M, Fossil, etc who have lower price points, but strong brands with reasonable quality goods are faring relatively well, or in some cases, even expanding.
The question is, how long will this last. Should the luxe brands hold out for things to get back to "normal" or is this re-alignment a paradigm shift?
The answer lies in the US Economy. If the recession, digresses into a depression, then, this change will be a pretty long term change. If we can see even some moderate recovery in the US market, there is hope that, the high brands, will resume their place at the top.
2009 will be a nail biter. Hold on to your cash!
C!
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