The Great Fashion Reset | The BoF Podcast

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Background:

After a post-pandemic high, the fashion industry is facing a hard crisis. Growth has cooled, prices have surged, quality is under scrutiny and aspirational shoppers feel shut out, all while macro uncertainty dents confidence.

The industry is focused on a slew of shows where new designers are set to debut their visions, but this will not be enough to break out its malaise. Over the summer, the BoF editorial team has been working hard on a series of articles breaking down the various challenges that are facing fashion, from macroeconomic challenges, to trust issues and yes, a creative slump.

This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed switches roles, inviting executive editor Brian Baskin to lead the conversation. Amed shares his views on one of the most consequential fashion seasons in years, with the luxury industry in a phase of deep reflection and potential transformation.

Drawing from months of reporting and industry insight, Amed and Baskin outline why inflated prices, diluted creativity and a lack of connection with next-gen customers have created a perfect storm — and how the debuts of new creative directors at major houses could be a beginning of fashion’s great reset.

Key Insights:

Amed traces the industry’s current struggles to a mix of forces that have built up over several years. “You had external and internal factors in the industry that conspired to create what is now a perfect storm – where customers feel like they’ve been completely duped. The industry is operating in a way that seems stuck in a different era,” he says , describing the post-pandemic state of luxury with declining quality and rising prices. At the same time, he cautions against silver bullets: “I wouldn’t position this fashion week season as the season that’s going to solve and change everything, because it’s not. There’s a lot more at work here.”

Brands must deliver top-tier quality while rebuilding accessible entry points, as relentless price hikes have made it nearly impossible for aspirational customers to buy in. “In a way, I think some brands have kind of poo-pooed the idea of that middle market customer,” says Amed. “There was a time when you could go into Bottega or Chanel and buy small leather goods at a price that was high, but not out of control. Now everyone’s completely priced out.
The glossy-magazine era of fashion marketing is over, and brands now compete for attention in one noisy stream to reach their customers. The winners practise “world building across and outside of fashion,” says Amed. “Fashion marketing should be about connection, engagement and real, genuine, authentic storytelling. That’s what’s really missing and very, very few people have found a way of mastering that.”
To grow and still feel luxurious, brands must hard-wire quality and sustain a clear creative pulse. Using Vuitton as an example, Amed notes “even though they’re producing in huge volumes, the quality of what they execute is still impeccable. ... That is a requirement for any brand operating at that scale, at those price points.” But product alone isn’t enough: “What you can scale is a point of view. And it’s the point of view at the very top that these designers are really responsible for. It’s like you’re creating an overall spirit and direction and energy.”
September’s slate of debuts could be an turning point for luxury fashion: “What I’m looking for is the energy. … You have three of the most creative designers in our industry — Matthieu Blazy, Demna and Jonathan Anderson — taking over three of the biggest, most important luxury houses in the world,” says Amed. “If that energy reflects the same kind of commitment, thoughtfulness, creativity, and taste that we’ve seen in those designers at their previous roles, then I think there is going to be a really meaningful inflection point this autumn.”