The Business of Fashion

New York Fashion Week | Celebrity is the new haute couture

Yesterday at Phillip Lim I heard a videographer complaining "There's no one here, and whenever someone does show up, they bring them out at the last minute so I can't shoot them."

Many fashion brands may have been built on the dreams created by out-of-this world haute couture collections, but today, for many brands, this desire is built on the image of celebrity, which can arguably reach more people than the Haute Couture shows ever will. Celebrity is the new Haute Couture. Or, better said, celebrity now plays the dream-weaving and marketing role that Haute Couture has played in the past.

However, in a week when the front rows were supposed to be dripping with celebrities, the paparazzi at New York's fashion shows were left wanting. Yes, pop star Rihanna made several appearances, as did Angie Harmon, but it seemed the biggest A-list stars had given New York Fashion Week a wide berth.

Until yesterday.

Valentino: Fashioning change from private equity

This week's Economist ominously warns of "The Trouble with Private Equity" at a time when many in the fashion world are wondering how the infusion of private capital will impact their industry. In the last month alone, La Perla, Samsonite and Valentino have all been snapped up by private equity funds. Just today, The Sunday Times broke the news that Prada has also been in talks with private investors. (Not surprisingly, Prada has denied these reports, but it is not hard to see why this would be a natural option for Patrizio Bertelli, especially given several failed attempts at taking Prada public.)

The recent investment exuberance around fashion brands is a dramatic departure from the stance that many professional investors took even just a few years ago. Back then, they said there was too much "fashion" risk and that without predictable and stable revenue streams, their highly-leveraged (heavy on debt, light on equity) investment strategies were untenable. Now, with more and more money fighting for fewer investment opportunities, it seems much of this wisdom has been thrown out the window. 

Haute Couture: A premature death?

Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini issued the 2007 edition of their annual World Wealth Report last week and the Financial Times and other media took notice, remarking on the dramatic growth of high-net worth individuals and the risky investment strategies that have helped make the world's rich even richer (subscription required). And then, today's WWD reported on the dramatic rise in Haute Couture sales experienced by houses from Dior to Chanel to Givenchy. Was Haute Couture's death knell premature?

Conventional wisdom says that the Haute Couture lines of famous Parisian fashion houses are more like publicity machines and creative R&D playgrounds. For the price of  a collection of  hand-made, intricately designed dresses, the maisons of Paris get millions of dollars worth of media coverage that helps build the mystique and exclusiveness of their brands. In this way, couture is the single most important method for communicating the individual persona of a luxury fashion brand.