Are designer brands becoming irrelevant?
A few years ago, designer brands were at the forefront of the fashion industry. There was something that made these particular brands special and unique that other brands simply could not attain. But over the years, the amount of power that high-end brands have held in the fashion industry has been significantly reduced as more people have started paying attention to less luxurious fashion brands such as Urban Outfitters or Zara. A while ago, designer clothing was something that everyone wanted to get their hands on. But now, as these high-end labels continue to increase their prices and create abstract clothes that oppose current fashion trends just because they can, people are becoming less and less interested in designer labels. And as a result of this, designer brands are risking becoming irrelevant in the fashion world. But then again, designer brands won’t give up their name and their prestige easily, so let’s get into why they are on the verge of becoming irrelevant and what they are doing to prevent that from happening.
Designer brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Chanel were previously the main dictators of fashion. Trends travelled from the runways of these high-end fashion brands straight to their shop windows and catalogues. Not only did these brands establish their own fashion trends, but they also influenced what other brands created. Nowadays, though, these major brands have lost some of their influence; there are fewer gatekeepers in the fashion world and trends can be set in motion from a much wider range of sources. Take the streetwear style trend: you don’t regularly see baggy jeans and oversized t-shirts styled with chains and sneakers coming from the runways of Valentino or Gucci, yet many people are currently cashing in on this trend. That’s just one of the many indicators that luxury fashion brands are no longer alone in dictating fashion trends.
The internet and modern technology has allowed many things including fashion and trends to move and develop in a much more efficient manner. Majority of high-end fashion brands had about two new collections per year, which is not an exceptionally large amount for the span of twelve months. However, once the internet and social media was introduced to the fashion industry, there were many more opportunities for other brands to rise to power. These brands were able to respond more quickly to consumer demands for newer trends and styles and add them to the clothing racks before you could even say the word Gucci. An example of this is Zara, which released up to 20 new collections per year, therefore making consumers much more eager for new clothes and trends to come out. This type of fashion is called fast-fashion, and brands like these soon became new contestants in the competitive environment that is the fashion industry.
Luxury fashion stores have always used their brand name as a staple for their collections. They can slap their logo on a plain shirt and put an overpriced tag on it and people will want to buy it regardless of how much they actually like the clothing item. Today, it’s the logo that attracts more attention from consumers rather than the clothes themselves. “More often today it’s the brand that attracts customers, which means luxury brands can sell non-luxurious products with less harm to their cachet” (Vogue Business). The ownership of clothing items from designer stores is a symbol for wealth and indicates that the wearer can afford such items. Customers wear luxury clothing just for show, therefore it doesn’t really matter if they don’t like the clothes. High end fashion items represent luxury and grandeur, and that’s one of the reasons people will never fully stop buying their clothes, but it also proves that designer labels don’t deserve as much hype for the clothes they produce, because the brand name will carry the most significance. So even though these brands certainly do influence fashion trends to some extent, it is more because of their brand name rather than the actual clothes themselves.
Consumers want to show off the brand names, but they have come to the conclusion that luxury brands are not worth the money. This was an issue for customers that wanted to wear designer labels — , that was, until counterfeit versions of luxury brand items — also known as dupes — started to gain popularity. Buyers are desperate to show off luxury brand names while at the same time are unwilling or unable to pay for such highly expensive items, therefore dupes were the perfect solution. “Counterfeits may also appeal to those people who want to demonstrate their status, but don’t have the funds to do so with genuine products” (BBC). While an original designer item could cost you around 300 dollars, it is possible to find faux versions that are half or even a third of that price. While this is a great solution for customers, it is not so great for the original businesses themselves. Real brands have lost an enormous amount of money because of how much the counterfeit industry has blown up. According to Fashion Network; “Counterfeiting was estimated to have been responsible for losses of $98 billion in the high-end consumer goods sector, with online counterfeiting making up $30.3 billion of the total.” This was in 2017, and since then the quality of fake designer products has only improved. You can find counterfeit products that are great quality and identically resemble the real version of the item. The internet provides many ways for counterfeit businesses to sell their products including small instagram businesses, amazon, ali express and much more. “The shadowy business of counterfeits has taken over the globe to become a more than $500 billion industry” (The Fashion Law). And this so-called shadowy industry is also pushing the original designer brands to change their ways when it comes to the pricing of their products. One of the ways that the authentic luxury brands could eliminate a large sum of the counterfeit industry is by lowering their prices to either match or go below what these fake designer sellers are selling for. But it’s highly unlikely that they’re willing to do that as it could potentially tarnish their reputation for being luxurious and only being affordable for the upper-class.
Younger generations look up to celebrities such as Gigi Hadid or Kendall Jenner for fashion inspiration. With every instagram post, these influencers impact and even create new fashion trends that their followers try to emulate. A lot of these influencers posts also consist of brand deals or advertisements for all kinds of things including high-end fashion items, which is one of the common strategies that luxury brands use to remain relevant. But often the clothes that celebrities show off on their social media platforms are highly expensive and unaffordable for their followers who aren’t also celebrities. This was previously an issue for those who tried to mimic the style of these influencers, but the counterfeit fashion industry really changed the game for many. Although not all dupes are good quality and obviously fake, there are some counterfeit businesses that have gotten so good that even professionals can’t tell the difference between the real and the faux. Dupes are revolutionizing the luxury fashion industry and making it a possibility for everyone.
One important way that luxury brands are avoiding becoming irrelevant is by collaborating with brands that are currently very popular and influential. Some examples of this are Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with Supreme, or Karl Lagerfeld’s collaboration with H&M. It would generally seem completely out of character for designer brands to associate themselves with fast fashion or streetwear brands, but as previously mentioned, these more casual brands are gaining an increasing amount of influence and are contributing to the dictation of trends and style. Therefore, when luxury brands participate in these collaborations they remain relevant because the collaborations enable luxury brands to “attract new prospects” (Medium). Designer brands collaborating with other fashion brands outside the range of the luxury industry captivates newer audiences and helps them stay relevant. Even if these new audiences find their prices unreasonable, luxury brands are still gaining attention and are potentially making investments in the future in case people’s finances change. The only issue with trying to gain the attention of people who can’t afford luxury brand items is that they could resort to counterfeit products, which is the exact opposite of what these brands want.
The fashion industry has had many changes over the years, one of them being that the line between luxury and fashion is becoming more blurry by the second. Some people see designer brands as overrated and tacky while others like the idea of being able to wear clothes that show off prestige and wealth. Every individual has their own style and taste and certain brands resonate with those preferences while others might not. There are quite a few circumstances that have put designer brands at the risk of becoming irrelevant, however, they won’t go easily. There are almost as many solutions that allow these brands to swerve becoming irrelevant as there are reasons for them to be seen as having lost their touch. But nothing can be avoided forever, and sooner or later there will come a day where luxury brands are going to start losing their status in the fashion world. There’s no denying that other brands are beginning to catch up to high end fashion, and the ever-changing fashion trends and demanding customers will determine who the real winners in the race are.