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Thursday, January 31, 2008: I'm excited to announce a new collaboration with (the) Manolo (for the) Men 'blog. I'll keep writing longer pieces for this site, with shorter, snippier bits there. ManoloMen's Izzy will continue his magnificent-ness there, and I will add some sparkle of my own. Thanks to The Manolo!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
voting with your dollars, part 1
I answered the phone during another busy day in the wholesale office where I was working. I didn't recognize the gentleman's voice, which usually meant one thing: an individual customer, usually a peculiar type, but always a true clothing enthusiast. There was an extreme eagerness in his voice as he asked me if Saks Fifth Avenue in Chicago was going to have any Kiton button-down collar shirts this season, because he hadn't seen any new ones yet. "Let me check," I said. But before I could look up the order he blurted, "are button-down collars out?"
Score one for the Fashion Machine! We got another one to listen to our every word without using an ounce of his brain. Trembling with every purchase. Seeking our approval at every turn. He was not in control of his own decisions, and felt certain that the greater force of Fashion was, or should be. Thus his slightly paranoid question.
I assured him that there was no way that button-down collars were out. "You are perfectly correct in still wearing them," I said. As far as new Kiton button-down collar shirts at Saks that season, in fact, no, I checked, there wouldn't be any. And then I told him: "It's actually your fault that Saks didn't buy any."
Well, sort of. He was obviously surprised by my accusation, but curious, so I explained this bit of inner workings. It sounds obvious but so many people miss this very important idea: retail is a business that offers a service, not a service organization that vainly hopes to turn a profit. They buy more of what sells more. Stores, especially larger ones, have incredible systems set up to label all colors, patterns, and styles by codes so at the end of the season they can very accurately report that check shirts, or perhaps "fancies," made up only 11% of their regular-price selling, stripes 38%, and solids 51%. In the short term, they will stick to what works. In this situation, don't expect many check shirts on the floor next season.
An important distinction should be made at this point: true Fashion companies, those that hold runway shows and employ teams of designers and convincingly release a "collection" every season, will not offer every combination of fabric/color/style to the stores, because they don't want their message, if you can call it that, to be diluted.
But the vast majority of clothing sold at men's stores, expensive or not, is not Fashion. It is from a manufacturer with one or two patternmakers or designers on staff. In no order, these are companies like Hickey Freeman, Oxxford, Zegna, Canali, Corneliani, Brioni, Lorenzini, Kiton, Robert Talbott, Hamilton, Charvet, Burberry and within limits, Ralph Lauren. They are usually willing to customize the clothing to however the store wants it, allowing the buyers to choose from a standard menu of options. On shirts this includes collar, cuff, and pocket details, perhaps more. On jackets and suits, choose single breasted or double, body fit, lapels, shoulder style, pocket style, and vent details. And so on.
To make these decisions well, buyers must combine solid sales history statistics (what you bought last season at regular price) with the addition of their instinct or gut feeling, or the directive of the manager in charge of merchandise. Some stores rely so heavily on the computer to tell them what to buy and so little on their own taste that the clothes in the stores are dull, with nothing different to excite us. A few others take the opposite approach, using mostly gut and only a smattering of statistics. These stores are exciting to shop in, but business may be riskier. Going by their selection and presentation of merchandise, I'd say in the latter category are Louis Boston, Wilkes Bashford, and even George Greene in Chicago. All three are nimble, and all three have excellent taste, if different. They know their customers well and they work very hard to keep their merchandise distinctive.
So if you love something, if you really love something, buy it in spades, and tell your friends to do the same. Tab collars could be back in no time if you really make your dollars heard!
"Voting with your dollars, part 2" will be about the types of companies and manufacturing you support with your purchases, and will follow in a few weeks.
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