Fashion Apparel & AccessoriesChapter 1

The Nature & Scope of the Industry•Fashion apparel and accessories is a multi-billion dollar industry

•Fashion industry employs 1 million workers:Women & Children’s 400,000 employeesMen & Boys 335,000 employeesHat Workers 16,000 employeesFurs 2,000 employees

Other accessories 41,000 employees

•Fashion apparel & accessories industry ranks 4th in manufacturing after steel, electronics and motor vehicles.

•Apparel & Accessory producers now use licensing to enhance their products.

Licensing- an arrangement where a well-known designer permits another company to use his or her name on products.

Ex. Liz Claiborne, Ralph Lauren

•Licensing increases customer awareness by offering a vast assortment of different merchandise at many price points.

• Before licensing, only the affluent could afford designer merchandise.

Fashion retailing continues to grow:Chain Operations

Department stores

Direct Marketing (catalogs)

Home Shopping Networks: Bargain items to upscale

The Language of Fashion

STYLE - the characteristics that distinguish one apparel or accessory from another.

Classic – a term used to describe a style that is always a fashion staple.

Collection – an expensive line

Couturier- a French term used to describe male designers. (only the most original creators are referred to as couturiers).

Couturiere- the female designer

The Language of Fashion

Haute couture (oat koo tour)- high fashion

Pret-a-porter (pre tah portay) – ready to wear apparel

The Language of Fashion

Pret-a- porterReady to wearPossible to Afford

Knock- off – a copy of a higher priced design

Custom Made – merchandise that is specifically tailored to fit a customer’s measurements.

The Language of Fashion

Resource – a term that is used by retailers to describe the manufacturers or wholesalers from whom they purchase.

The Language of Fashion

Fashion Cycle – the stages through which fashion passes from introduction to decline.

Trend – the direction in which fashion is moving

The Language of Fashion

• Introduction Stage – highest price point

•Growth Stage – Copies are made: knockoffs, line for line copies, adaptations.

•Maturity Stage – greatest sales volume, retailers and manufacturers need the ability to determine when the popularity will decrease.

•Decline Stage – drastic price reductions

The Fashion Cycle

Hot item (Ford)- a best selling item that is reordered again and again.

Trunk Show – a method of showing a collection of apparel by designers in stores.

The Language of Fashion

•Showroom – the place which vendors show their lines of merchandise to prospective buyers.

•Seventh Ave. – the entire garment center of New York.

The Language of Fashion

•Price point – a specific price at which a line is offered for sale.

•Off-price – a price that is lower than the original wholesale price.

•Jobber- a term that is synonymous with wholesaler.

•Off-shore production –when a manufacturer creates a line in one country and has it produced in another.

They do not offer anything to the "public“; jobbers do not sell to consumers and they only sell within the industry. A jobber is similar to a wholesaler. They purchase product from company "A" and then sell the product to company "B".

Due to increasing production expenses, many Seventh Avenue manufacturers are producing in less expensive cities.

Hong Kong produces much merchandise for designers such as Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein due to lower wages and expert tailoring.

•Market Week- the period of time when the store buyers come to the wholesale markets to place their orders for the next season.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New YorkThu Feb 12, 2015 - Thu Feb 19, 2015Lincoln CenterNew York, NY646-871-2400MBfashionweek.com

The World’s Fashion Capitals

New York CityParis Milan

LondonTokyo

Hong Kong

The greatest designers are members of the best known fashion trade association called the Chambre Syndicale de la Coutre Parisienne.

•Design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings.•Have a workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least fifteen staff members full-time.•Must have twenty, full-time technical people in at least one workshop (atelier).•Every season, present a collection of at least fifty original designs to the public, both day and evening garments, in January and July of each year

•ClassificationsThe women’s apparel market offers a great number of size ranges to accommodate the many different types of female figures.

Women’s Wear size ranges:

Misses JuniorsPetitesWomen’s Half SizesTall Sizes

Men’s Wear size ranges:

RegularShort/LongExtra LongPortlyStoutExtra Large

Children’s Wear Size Ranges:

InfantsToddlersChildren’s Girls’/ Boys’PreteenYouth

0-24 months

2T -5T

5-14

Apparel & Accessories of the 20th Century

Part 2

1900’s- Formal wear

• Floor- length, waist-fitted dresses

• Large hats with feathers and bows, gloves, laced up boots

•Children’s wardrobes mimicked those of their parents.

1910’s •straighter, simpler lines• hobble skirts, smaller hats, handbags, parasols

1920’s •Shorter dresses, (new flapper look)• long torso silhouette, long chains• shorter hair, cloches- close fitting hats, multi-layered fringes.

1930’s • bias cut gowns• heavily padded shouldered suits

1940’s • War time restrictions: nylon used for parachute production, straight & simple silhouettes

• End of war: Dior’s New Look-• full skirted longer skirts.

1950’s •Strapless dresses•pedal pushes• full skirts over petticoats• poodle skirts

Chanel’s introduction of the chemise – a dress silhouette that is tubular, is straight lined and void of a waistline.

1960’s •Beatles “mod” look• go-go boots• miniskirts by designer Mary Quant• pillbox hats•bold geometric shapes.

1970’s •pants – flares, minis, hot pants, denim• high platform shoes •Calvin Klein (designer jeans)•Leisure suits for men

1980’s •Pouf dresses popularized by LaCroix• designer labels•warm-up suits, sneakers •business suits for working women•faux pearl necklaces

1990’s • individuality •varying skirt lengths, flares, platform shoes