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How does a trend becomes a trend? Part 2, European Designers
With the textile groups defining the range of materials that will be in for the next season, all western design trends will then be marked on the catwalks of Europe.
Most major designer labels are not independent labels, conglomerates such as LVMH heads about 50 designer labels that includes Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Christian Dior, Fendi, Donna Karan, and Marc Jacob to name a few, and they have a firm grasp on the world of fashion as we know it.
With any large companies, it makes perfect sense for them to attempt to corner their industry, and they do this by controlling the ins and outs of trends.
If leopard print is the rage on the store windows of Gucci, you can be sure that Louis Vuitton has leopard print influence in its line as well. Aligning the influences of various design labels has many advantages, the first being the ability to stir up the public and direct them to a particular trend you created, which means more interest, and more sales. The second is the collapse of the management structure, which means you need less decision makers, and you will have more control over what comes out of your labels. Third, manufacturing your products becomes cheaper, as you can now negotiate better pricings for your leopard prints since you're buying much more of it.
At the end of the day, the process is not as romantic as a genius designer, sketching and contemplating over trends with an espresso at a Parisian cafe, it is instead, a systematic and controlled process of design. This is not to say however, the brilliance of each head designer at each major label do not have their inputs, but rather, they extend their creativity over a narrower range of focus and issues which surrounds their core company.
last modified Aug 14, 2006 at 17:12
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