International Fashion

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
The Global Nature of Fashion
Four cities have emerged as major fashion capitals:
Paris
Milan
London
New York
Licensing gives manufacturers permission to use brand or designer names and help fashion empires grow.
Top designers also have astute business managers to handle finances, operations and marketing.
Another trend is fewer and bigger conglomerates controlling more and more of the fashion business.

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
France
Paris, long the capital of fashion, has great resources in addition to strong government backing.
Couture, the most exclusive clothing made, is the flagship of French fashion.
Enormous expenses associated with the semi annual couture shows are both subsidized by the government and offset by the huge publicity for the event.
The publicity helps drive the sales of ready to wear, perfume and licensing businesses
Ultimately, couture’s creativity drives the entire business.

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
France
Some important Parisian couturiers are:
Lagerfeld for Chanel
Galliano for Dior
Gaultier
Lacroix
The Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne dictates rules about workrooms and collections.
All couturiers have prêt a porter, or ready to wear collections.
Mass production makes this much less expensive and more profitable.

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Italy
Their international status is built on creativity, beautiful fabrics, knitwear, leather goods, tailoring and quality production.
Primarily devoted to ready to wear and accessories, it is Italy’s second largest industry, preceeded only by tourism.
Milan, the ready to wear capital, is close to fabric sources in:
Como
Biella
Torino

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Italy
Florence is a fashion center as well
Some important designers are:
Armani
Cavalli
Dolce and Gabbana
Ferre
Gucci
Prada
Valentino
Versace

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
England, United Kingdom
London enjoys a reputation for fine men’s wear, woolens, and innovative young fashion.
Young designers of the 1960s, Mary Quant, Jean Muir and Zandra Rhodes made London a fashion capital.
Some important designers today are:
MacDonald
McCartney
McQueen
Smith

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Germany and Canada
Germany has a decentralized industry and designer names like Boss, Escada and Joop.
Canadian fashion, although diversified, is known primarily for exports of men’s clothing, outerwear, furs, leather goods, women’s, and children’s clothing.
30% of all production is exported, primarily to the United States.
Quebec is the largest producer, with 62% of production, followed by Ottawa, with 28%.

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
The United States
American design blossomed during World War II, when communications to Paris were cut off.
The American style, especially for sportswear developed and is now a worldwide phenomenon.
New York’s Seventh Avenue garment district is the center of U.S. fashion.

Fashion From Concept to Consumer, 8/e © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Gini Frings Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
The United States
New York trained, or based designers include:
Vollbracht for Blass and Costa for Klein
Ford
Hilfiger
Jacobs
Karan
Kors
Lauren
De la Renta
Rodriguez
Rucci
Wang