Fashion’s New Front
Locked Down & Boarded Up
When orders for non-essential businesses to close started taking effect in cities nationwide, luxury stores became an obvious victim. Sales specialists notified their clients, managers made the last of their stores’ deposits, and famous shopping corridors like NYC’s Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive became all but deserted. However, luxury stores still had one major task at hand – protecting their high-ticket merchandise. More and more brands became aware that simply locking their doors wasn’t going to be enough due to the amount of visibility from the outside. What was once the most effective tool for brand visibility on the street—window-based store design—had soon become a huge liability.
This meant that brand employees who were still lucky enough to earn a paycheck (early/mid March was the official start of America’s Fashion Industry Hunger Games) became tasked with removing all merchandise from store selling floors. With reports of (and in my case, seeing firsthand) attempted thefts happening on now-barren, little-patrolled streets, stores simply had no choice but to make their storefronts look as unappetizing as possible. No merchandise left out meant no quick opportunities for a window-smashing grab-and-go. Many brands also began the unfortunate task of not only emptying their selling floors, but boarding up their storefronts entirely. This created a level of bleakness that we’ve really never seen before. As designer Marc Bouwer exclusively told PROVOKR, “When I look at all the boarded up storefronts in NYC, I get a feeling that I’m the last human on Earth.”
While this may present a jarringly post-apocalyptic picture, it also presents a vast sea of potentially effective, yet entirely unused new billboard space. A chance for beautification, per se. Rather than simply boarding up windows (which, yes, is probably necessary), wouldn’t it only help stores to get creative with what are essentially blank canvases? Although the larger brands can obviously afford to do more if they choose this route (as Dior did in NYC with that amazing giant handbag storefront during their renovation in 2010), it probably wouldn’t cost companies that much to commission local artists to convert their plywood-covered windows into a more inspiring, brand-specific work of art. Demand for artists’ work has undoubtedly decreased over the past few months, and companies could in turn use the added benefit of a storefront that isn’t completely destitute (not to mention the added PR boost of working with local artists).
Moving forward, a necessary (if maybe unwelcome) question we need to ask ourselves is what exactly the fashion landscape will look like moving forward. Stores will eventually reopen, but that won’t mean anything if clients aren’t willing to enter them. Even though Bouwer is a designer and essentially makes his living selling his creations, his view is rather refreshingly honest and blunt: “I get the feeling that fashion is the last thing I need right now. The number one thing I need now is my health.” This mirrors most of the collective opinions right now regarding any and all things unnecessary, and when it comes to what we think of as “non-essential businesses,” luxury retail is pretty much exactly that. It’s just interesting to hear that from someone actually in the luxury sector, and especially someone with as well-known a name as Bouwer’s.
“We’re dressing for comfort right now,” Bouwer went on to say. “Clothes are necessary, fashion is not.”
While this may be 100% true, what does this mean for all of the fashion houses looking to generate much-needed business once the plywood is removed and the doors are once again open? Nick Browne, a private stylist based in NYC and top sales specialist for Louis Vuitton, predicts an inevitable shift in his clients’ shopping behavior. “The people that have money will still want to shop and keep things afloat, but more will shop online due to fear. The sad part is the human connection will be lost.”
One well-known, yet oddly under-utilized tool that luxury stores will need to embrace is consignment. In short, the sales specialist prepares a selection of items specifically tailored to the client’s preferences and sends them to the client’s home. This affords the client the privilege of trying the pieces in the privacy of his/her own home, and simply sending the unwanted pieces back to the store. In other words, consignment is tailor-made (pun intended) for the post-Covid luxury client. If high-fashion houses are going to survive, they’ll need to become even more client-focused than they already are. Right now, the vast majority of us are spending our tightly-gripped money on necessity, and luxury fashion is by definition the opposite of necessary. If they want to have any chance at staying relevant and viable, high-fashion houses will have to quickly adapt to a completely new shopping climate. That means drastically less ostentatious branding/logos, function over fashion (loungewear is having its best spring season EVER), and “forever” pieces – those that transcend seasonal trends enough to become a permanent wardrobe fixture. If brands do want to hold on to a little bit of logo mania, there’s one hugely in-demand item currently screaming for branding: the face mask.
“Until a vaccine is created, we will all be wearing masks,” Browne said. “Designers are going to want to be on everyone’s mouth – literally! Masks are going to be the next big accessory. Just look at what people are making on Instagram.”
With enough time and effort, all of the deserted streets and empty stores will return to life, and store windows will once again be free of their plywood prisons. What this will actually look like, and how the stores go about returning to life, remains to be seen. For the foreseeable future, consumer focus will undoubtedly remain far from the luxury sector, but there will eventually come a time when clients return for a nice handbag, and then later, ready-to-wear. It all depends on how safe we feel – both out in the world and inside of our wallets.
Marc Bouwer, for one, couldn’t agree more. “When we have places where we can socialize again, we can then choose to dress for success, or to tantalize and provoke.”
And the day when we’re once again faced with that dilemma can’t come soon enough.
