Fashion Express: Levels of Retailing

Quick & Easy Illustrations by Mai Manaloto

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Becoming a certified fashionista does not only entail knowing the latest trends or putting pieces together. It is also about understanding the commerce in fashion. In this discourse I am guided by Linda Welter’s best-selling textbook The Fashion Reader - her background includes an M.A. in textiles and clothing as well as a Ph.D. in design.

The industry has various business levels as fashion is sold to consumers through a variety of retail outlets. The first to be considered are department stores which are considered as the oldest retail category dating back to its development in the 19^th century.

Malls are also increasingly popular retail outlets, ever since their emergence after the Second World War. Shopping has become a form of entertainment with these large forms of concrete providing more than just opportunities to shop, but also to dine in nice restaurants and watch the latest movie flicks in theaters.

However designer labels established by top designers require something different such as a high profile retail space. The location in this case is crucial because it has to reflect the image of the designer. Usually, such stores can be found in areas of the city considered to be trendy. It is critical that the store itself becomes a destination to build great excitement for consumers, who are willing to travel and shop.

Moving to mass merchandisers, these sellers are normally described as vendors of inexpensive clothing. Before, only basic garments were sold in these types of retail outlets. Today, it has begun incorporating designer fashion into its product mix. Affordable labels are tying up with top-name designers in building “limited edition” garments or “one-time” collections as a tactic to boost sales.

But in today’s increasingly technologically advanced world, internet retailing or e-tailing has rapidly grown since the birth of the digital age that created new opportunities in fashion selling.  Purveyor of high-end to off-price/discounter fashion makes use of the internet as social networking is used by brands in fueling excitement for their products.

It is also worth noting that some fashion retailers are vertically integrated specialty chain stores. Meaning the brand handles everything from designing and manufacturing the merchandise to selling them in their own outlets. This type of supply chain streamline creates a quick lead time of bringing goods to consumers, thus explaining why it is often described as 'quick response' or 'lean retailing'. It also promotes a reasonable price for the end product as it removes all the cost of having a 'middle person'.

Each business’s levels of fashion has its own corresponding challenges as the pressure to surpass the previous year’s performance is constantly felt. The new age brings fast and easy means of distributing fashion information globally and this has created a fashion forward consumer, those inclined with the newest trends and expecting instant fashion to be provided to them.