STATE OF PLAY – ARE YOU READY FOR TODAY’S MARKET?

06-07-2011

Fashion Group International partnered with WGSN to discuss the important issues faced by designers, retailers and wholesalers in today’s market.

The seminar was held at Whitehouse Institute of Design in Melbourne and was a proven success with a turn out of over 100 guests.

Hiedi Dyt, Regional Director of Australia and New Zealand at WGSN discussed the dominance of the economy worldwide and the rise in cost for raw materials such as cotton and Cashmere. Dyt also goes through the increase in manufactures cost, greater competition with international brands coming into Australia, the effects of online stores and the slump in consumer’s confidence.

“We can blame the hike in interest rates, the imiate carbon tax and the increase cost of living in general and all of these things are contributing to our population hanging onto their money.”

With these increases it seems unlikely that brands will be able to maintain those low commodity prices

Dyt answers the question on the minds of all designers, retailers and wholesalers – How do we get cheaper, faster and more effective sourcing?

WGSN recommended optimising relationships with suppliers before choosing to move to another supplier along with planning well and planning ahead.

Dyt mentions four points to review when planning;

1. Impact of factory efficiency on profits
2. Speed, according to Stephan Forte “speed will eliminate markdowns as a profit planning tool.”
3. Focusing on buying narrow and deep &
4. Branded buying

Recent market shows a slow down in terms of adopting fashion trends in the past year. “Consumers are buying in need not on trends,” explains Dyt.

The industry needs to keep consumers interested by product updates through tweaks, creating hybrid garments or morphed garments from top to bottom such as Alexander Wang. The other option for designers to update their garments is through colour. Dyt states “ when trends are slow, getting the colour right becomes much more important.”

Lastly Dyt goes through on of their top retail trends – White space.

White space stores are about organising minimalism and story telling to your consumers.

“Brand and retailers are under increased pressure to offer more.” Retailers need to go back to basics.

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For more information on upcoming events contact Tina Rigoli, Regional Director, rd@fgi.org.au or click here.

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