Retail stories Worth telling
"We've all got too much stuff," Sue Evans announces; a somewhat surprising opener for a presentation on global retail. The "we" in question refers of course to affluent consumers, who arguably could benefit from a lot less "stuff" in their lives.
In reality though, the senior fashion editor of London-based trend analyst Worth Global Style Network (WGSN) knows better than to remonstrate against consumerism to a hall full of fashion retailers, designers and marketers.
The point Evans is making (her provocative statement opens the retail component WGSN's autumn/winter 2007/08 trends seminar, which aired in Melbourne and Sydney last month) is that today's retail is of necessity more about storytelling than products. Why? Because overloaded consumers need strong narratives to ensure they connect with brands in a meaningful way. While this will be a no-brainer for many retailers, Evans's presentation did demonstrate how some of the world's leading retail lights are rising to the challenge. One is British label Paul Smith, whose recently opened boutique in Paris is light years away from retail norms.
"It's highly personal and there's a strong narrative at play which makes the connection between Smith's own design inspiration and the finished garments. The store has the feel of an exotic emporium, with one room's walls decorated entirely with copper pennies," she explains, adding that in London Paul Smith has gone a step further, with a sculpture resembling a 3D line drawing of a car parked outside the Mayfair store.
"Passers-by to do a double take when they see it, although one wonders how Paul Smith avoids the parking fines."
Meanwhile in New York, Spanish footwear retailer Te Casan's spacious concept store has the sole - pun intended - purpose of showcasing high end shoe designers, each with their own personalised display area.
"Te Casan's mission is very simple; to launch new designers and be the biggest shoe store in New York, and they've made this statement very eloquently," Evans says.
No retail presentation would be complete without a nod to celebrity collaborations, which arguably peaked with the UK launch on May 1 of Kate Moss's range for Top Shop. Kicking off with a shop window appearance from Moss herself, the range took £3 million ($A7.1 million) in the first week in London alone.
"Customers were given a wristband and allowed 20 minutes buying time and five items only from Kate Moss for Top Shop, which was set up as a store within a store, complete with chandeliers, leopard skin and everything that Kate believed was unique to her style."
Other recent collaborations include Jovovich-Hawk for MNG - which also launched in Australia last month - while M by Madonna for H&M was "not overly successful" in the UK, its "glamourous and grown up black and white co-ordinates" falling shy of H&M's ty"H&M recently launched Cos, aimed at a higher end female customer in the 25 to 45-year-old market and with its own retail concept. Built around the idea of putting the 'haute' or 'high' back into high street, the design of Cos stores is very clean and Scandinavian in feel, and the clothes are ultra stylish without being overly trend-led."
Other recent expansions have included US brand American Eagle's Aerie for teen and young girls and Martin & Osa for older customers, while also in the US J. Crew has expanded into younger sub brand Madewell and kids brand Crewcuts.
Another growth area is in under-serviced niches including menswear, which has found memorable expression in French label BHV Homme.
BHV used to be a DIY store but the lathes, nails, step ladders and tape measures have turned into a one stop shop department store for men, complete with a share index style price display.
Perhaps the most significant new overseas trend however is the flourishing of "greentailing". British designer Anya Hindmarch's re-usable "I'm not a plastic bag" bag has become highly desirable and re-sells on eBay at grossly inflated prices, while Adidas has created collectable graphic paper bags and footwear store Timberland plants a tree on behalf of every customer who buys a pair of its boots.
"Greentailing is not about tokenism any more. Consumers are increasingly wanting and expecting their products to be both worthy and fashionable," Evans concludes. Australian brands take note.