The Titans of Fast Fashion

Fast Fashion is a vast kingdom ruled by the likes of Zara, H&M and Forever 21. With prior retail units such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale and American Eagle stepping down from its former glory, these moguls take their place in the fashion food chain, topping the trickle down competition by supplying collections that are “chic but trendy runway-inspired pieces.”. Other key contributors to fast fashion include the likes of Primark, Uniqlo and Mango.

Company Stratagem -

Offering their customers a piece of the luxury life at an affordable price serves as a source of attraction and is pivotal to these brands in their climb to commercial success. These companies each apply unique brand strategies to push themselves in the hold of the public eye. Zara produces around 36,000 designs a year and is known for being “fast and flexible” limiting their production output to 10- 15 days from design room to the sales floor. H & M is a fast fashion trend setter, known for its high profile partnerships, having their brand co-operating with A-list designers such as Lanvin, Versace and Karl Lagerfeld. Forever 21, keeping consumers close at heart, impart collections not only for fashionable teens but have widened their consumer range to older women and men as well.

Collaborations - The White Flag between Runway and Fast Fashion

A study based on H&M designer collaboration states “When a luxury brand or a celebrity designer is ready to develop styles for the masses the innovators and early adopters have already worn it and can feel at peace with handing the trend over to the followers. The Karl Lagerfeld collection, released in about 500 stores in 2004, was meant to last for several weeks, but most of the garments were sold out at the end of the day. The styles offered were at its trend peak, easy to sell, and the majority were eager to purchase them.”

Comparing Karl Lagerfeld's Design Sensibility between his collab with H&M (left) and his luxury label (right)

Later Lagerfeld claimed that he was disappointed despite the commercial success of the teaming up of high scale and low scale brands, due to the production of minimal number of designs and that H&M included larger sizes to accommodate their plus size customers, which was against what Lagerfeld had in mind.

Rough Waters between Luxury and Retail -

Luxury brands are beaten down in the race to reach the market. Customers, in question, are the sole purpose for fast fashion alone to be a source of relentless pressure on high end designers. As a result, forms the teaming of luxury brands with fast fashion retailers in an attempt to widen their consumer horizons and for the retail brands to increase their sales. Brands such as H&M are known for its transparent design process with its past collaborations and are quick to fix any design related problems, although brands such as Zara and Forever 21 are constantly under the spotlight for a variety of Intellectual Property infringement cases.

Zara has widely been known for its secretive design process and its “no collab” policy. The brand remains silent upon further questioning on the inspiration of their designs. Designers such as Tom Ford mentions in an interview with WWD, “—if I'm lucky and I did the right thing, they(his collections) will be at Zara way before I can get them in the store and I don't like that.”

Celine Spring 2014 Runway Collection (left) vs. Zara knock-off (right)

On the contrary, with celebrities such as the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton boosting the reputation of Zara as a loyal customer, designers face a difficult journey in preventing the "copycat" nature of these fast fashion brands. As long as these brands hold a loyal customer body, which is inevitable with cheap prices and runway similar looks, high end fashion must simply resort to the expression "Imitation is the highest form of Flattery".

SOURCES -

Feller, Jason. "Zara vs. H&M vs. Forever 21: Comparing Fast Fashion Retailers". 23 Sept 2015. Web. Accessed 30 Sept 2015. https://dealspotr.com/articles/zara-vs-h-m-vs-forever-21-comparing-fast-fashion-retailers

Bangaria, Amit. "Uniqlo vs Zara vs H&M vs the world of fashion retailing". 10 Feb 2014. Web. Accessed 30 Sept 2015. http://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/re-tales/Uniqlo-vs-Zara-vs-H-M-vs-the-world-of-fashion-retailing/91

n.a. "LAGERFELD'S HIGH STREET SPLIT". 18 Nov 2004. Vogue.com. Web. Accessed 30 Sept 2015. http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2004/11/18/lagerfelds-high-street-split

Wettergren, Josephine. "“The H&M Designer Collaborations Have Inspired Consumers and the Fashion Industry at Large in the Past, but Does the Phenomenon Have a Future as Well?”. 10 May 2010. PDF. Accessed 30 Sept 2015. http://kennisbank.hva.nl/document/220076

Bryant, Kenzie. "Tom Ford: My Clothes Will Be at Zara 'If I Did the Right Thing". 15 Apr 2013. Web. Accessed 30 Sept 2015http://www.racked.com/2013/4/15/7677081/tom-ford-my-clothes-will-be-at-zara-if-i-did-the-right-thing-1