By Ryan Wallace
Let’s face it; the economy has hit the world hard. Everyone and every industry have been affected, yet the cost of living and price tags at your favorite stores still seem to soar. For the sake of fashion some sacrifices must be made… Don’t worry, thanks to some brilliant P.R. and amazing foresight you can still pay your mortgage and look good in designer deals.
Photo Courtesy of H&M *Couture looks like this Versace studded-leather jacket are selling on eBay for up to 500% markups. This piece which was set at a reasonable price for the masses is now being hocked for $545.
Trying to bring high-end haute couture to the main stream, companies like H&M have decided to get guest designers to bring their amazing unique pieces down to reasonable prices for a limited edition sale. Bringing together worldwide fashion trendsetters like footwear God Jimmy Choo, French fashion powerhouse Lanvin, Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, and most recently classic modernistic Italian designer Versace, H&M has brought undoubtedly a wealth of fashion to shoppers globally. These guest lines bring all of the fashion and flair, but with unbelievable price tags. With all of the hype that surrounds these lines, they sell out in minutes, but who is doing all of shopping? To wait in line for days to only have minutes to shop, many of the shoppers don’t get the sizes they need, which has led to a counteractive trend: wholesaling.
It started with fanatic fashionistas waiting days to get their hands on designer deals, but now eBay has changed that all. A shopper’s heaven or a wholesaler’s paradise? Unfortunately it has become both.
This past November H&M released a guest line by Versace that brought together an eclectic collection of prints and pieces that clearly had some Versace flair. Margareta van den Bosch, creative advisor at H&M, expressed H&M’s excitement over the line by saying, “Donatella Versace has taken us at H&M on an incredible journey. She has given us the essence of the Versace brand”, for which, was everything that shoppers could have hoped. Every piece with Versace style, but nothing that would break the wallet. Even Jessica Alba, a celebrity guest at the H&M fashion show in New York spoke of the amazing opportunity that this fashion line offered to the public. “I just think it’s amazing that every[one] gets to know what it feels like to wear Versace”, Alba said, noting that this was something that most people would otherwise never have the opportunity to do. And with Donatella Versace even bringing some of the prints out of her brother’s archives to fulfill the dreams of the inspired youth that flooded the stores, it was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. But unfortunately for most, the savings were too good to be true, and now if they want a piece of the fashion loot they’ll have to pay the price; steep ones at that.
Photos Courtesy of H&M *The Lanvin guest line offered classic European flair and brilliant pops of color. The accessories defined the line, and with all of the amazing pieces there is no question as to why the entire collection sold out worldwide in minutes.
Photo Courtesy of H&M *This past Winter stylish met sensible with the launch of the Versace guest line at H&M. The looks were everything fashionistas could have wished for, and offered all of the Versace flair for H&M’s reasonable prices.
With no limits or restrictions, it was easy for people to buy in bulk and turn them for a profit minutes later. After literally minutes, the Versace line was sold out everywhere, and thousands of pieces were on auction sites like eBay. The price for a Versace limited edition piece; nearly 500% markup from the retail the seller had just paid moments before. And worse is that only odd sizes were available, so unless you’re body looks like a reflection in a circus mirror, it was impossible to form a cohesive outfit from the eBay odds and ends.
So how can this be fixed for future shopping endeavors? Keep an eye out for these amazing opportunities. Staying informed means being the first to have a shot at some of the hottest fashion finds. And with the social media making designers so accessible, encourage your favorite designers to collaborate and make historic guest lines that would satisfy the masses. And by boycotting the style scalpers, the crooks and criminals that exploit couture for cash, we can hopefully end this wholesale madness and keep the racks full of finds for true fashionistas.
Photos Courtesy of H&M *The Jimmy Choo guest line took the heels off the runway and put them onto the sale racks. Designs that looked like a million bucks didn’t cost the pretty penny that they were worth.
Sources
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP0118SOuUw Uploaded Nov 28th, 2011
http://about.hm.com/us/press/pressreleases/__prfashion.nhtml?pressreleaseid=1564 Distributed: November 9th, 2011 Named: VERSACE AND H&M CELEBRATE THEIR COLLABORATION WITH A RUNWAY SHOW IN NEW YORK
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