Decade List: Ten Moments In Fashion That Changed The Business

Like every industry, fashion suffered quite a bit in the Naughts, with enough shuttered labels and disgruntled consumers for an aspiring fashionista to throw in her Hermes towel. However, in my opinion, the triumphs outweighed the missteps.

While the democratization of fashion may have feathered some ruffles, it–in the end–helped to establish a stronger, more lucrative industry. Here, in the spirit of those top ten lists that I know you love reading, I’ve named the ten moments over the last ten years I that believe changed the business of fashion. Maybe not forever, but at least for now.

2000: H&M Opens in the US
In high school, I read a lot of British magazines. (Yes, I was a bit of an anglophile, watching Are You Being Served when I didn’t have lacrosse practice after school.) I soon understood that while British women were terribly obsessed with fashion, they were also obsessed with not paying exorbitant amounts of money for said fashion. In the pages of British Vogue I discovered H&M, a Swedish retailer that sold clothes rivaling Target in price and Prada in style. By the time I was interning in New York City at a downtown magazine, H&M had arrived on 5th Avenue.

After work I’d take the N up to Rockefeller Center and spend an hour rifling through racks of asymmetrical blouses, wide-leg trousers and colorful plastic baubles.  H&M went on to change American retail, heralding in the concept of fast fashion–clothing that is made cheaply, stylishly and above all, quickly. Soon enough, European favorites like Zara, Topshop and Mango were also infiltrating US shores, leaving All-American basic labels like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch in the dust.

2001: Vente Privee Launches
Remember life before Gilt Groupe? If you responded by saying “not really,” you’ve got to thank its predecessor, the France-based Vente Privee. You all know the story: Company launches exclusive online sample sales, reports $800 million in revenue in 2008. A decade later, the private sale is the hottest retail model around.

2001: PPR Wins Gucci
After an epic battle between billionaire Bernard Arnault of Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and billionaire Francois Pinnault of PPR, the latter finally gained control of the Gucci Group, which includes Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and more. As PPR moved from discount retail into the world of high luxury, it was obvious to designers that being a part of a big conglomerate like LVMH, PPR or Richemont was a way to build a brand without sacrificing design integrity. The corporate infrastructure of these companies helped brands like Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Edun to increase profits through fragrance, accessories and other well-thought-out licensing deals.

2003: Target Signs Isaac Mizrahi
When Target brought him on to design a women’s fashion collection in 2003, Isaac Mizrahi was nothing more than a 1990s flash in the pan, better known for his documentary Unzipped and a short-lived talk show than beautiful preppy-glam clothing. Yet women couldn’t get enough of what Mizrahi offered at Target: Shiny shift dresses, polka dot blouses and pointy flats. By 2005, the cheap-chic collection garnered $500 million in sales for Target. Mizrahi has since moved onto Liz Claiborne, but his work at Target made it okay for high-end designers to collaborate with low-end retailers.

2004: Rachel Zoe Becomes a Household Name
While celebrity stylists have been around for decades, it was the Naughts that made them rich and independently famous. When Rachel Zoe transformed train wreck Nicole Richie into a chic hippie, she also made big sunglasses, tiered prairie dresses and honey-highlighted hair the look du jour. Today, stylists command thousands of dollars per day for their services, and more and more young women are clamoring to follow in their footsteps.

2005: LVMH Sells Lacroix, Proving that Fashion is More About Commerce than Art
After standing by his money-sucking side for nearly 20 years, LVMH exec Arnault finally sold off Christian Lacroix’s failing fashion business to Florida-based investment company Fallic Group for a measly 2 million euros. We all know how the story ended: Fallic was unable to revive the brand, which made beautiful six-figure couture dresses but could not connect with a consumer at the fragrance, accessory and ready-to-wear levels. It was reduced to a licensing operation at the end of 2009. As sad as it is that Lacroix is not making his beautiful dresses, his struggles serve as an example for the rest of the fashion industry. The lesson: If you want to stay small, stay small, but if you want to make a lot of money, you’ve got to play by retail’s rules. Design may be an art, but fashion is a business.

Jil Sander and Others Lose the Rights to Their Own Names
Another indication that fashion is serious stuff: After disagreements with their corporate backers, designers like Jil Sander, Helmut Lang and Camilla Staerk have lost the rights to their name brands, which are also their given names. Jil Sander returned with +J for Uniqlo, Lang stopped designing altogether to do fine art and Staerk now designs under her surname.

Versace, Ferragamo and Prada Hint At–But Don’t Go Through With–IPOs
From whispers at Salvatore Ferragamo and Versace in 2006 to Tommy Hilfiger, and Prada’s de-listing–then hopes of re-listing–at several points throughout the decade, many fashion companies sought out public funds, but for one reason or another, were not able to actually attain them. Of course, the 2008 crash made raising money even more difficult. Yet Hilfiger, Versace and Prada still haven’t ruled out public offerings. The Teens may just be the decade of fashion IPOs.

2005: LVMH Starts Suing the Heck out of Copyright Infringees
From eBay to Wal-Mart to Bad Boy Records, LVMH crusaded against counterfeit handbags and copyright infringements in the last half of this decade. The lawsuits resulted in an industry-wide debate over what could-and couldn’t-be copied. Intellectual property lawyers prayed to the Louis Vuitton gods each day, thanking them for making their profession more lucrative than ever.

2006: Tom Ford Proves You Can Still Build A Luxury Brand From (Almost) Scratch
After years of conglomerates buying the rights to old fashion houses and hiring the Next Big Designer to revive the brand, Tom Ford did something radical. He broke away from Gucci (where he had played the corporate fashion game, making both said brand and YSL financially viable) and launched a label under his own moniker. Tom Ford currently consists of fragrance–a partnership with Estee Lauder–men’s suiting, shirts, shoes, sunglasses and a few discreet shops that keep customer’s measurements on file for bespoke services. Next step? Women’s wear. Could Ford be THE brand of the Teens? I sure think so.

Rodarte For Target Already On eBay

I came across this blue pin dot Rodarte for Target dress on eBay this morning. The current bid is $49.99–it will retail for $40. I also found this sequined leopard print dress, with a Buy It Now price of $150.

The thing is, Rodarte for Target doesn’t land in stores until December 20. There are a few pieces available at the Target To-Go shop in New York, but the blue and leopard print dresses aren’t included in that mix. Maybe they’re part of the lineup at the Washington, D.C. or San Francisco pop-up shop.

Otherwise, I’m curious as to where the sellers, closettherapy_az and june2machina, got these dresses. They both have pristine seller ratings, so I’m confident these auctions are legit. Look for an update here as I investigate further.

What Does A Million Dollar Watch Look Like?

Not as blinged-out as one might expect. As Ben Clymer, a watch expert and editor of timepiece blog Hodinkee.com explained to a group of interested parties at the Antiquorum auction preview on Monday night, it’s what’s inside that counts.

Clymer, who abandoned the world of finance to work on Hodinkee full time this past April, co-hosted the preview with the house. Guests were able to examine each piece, with Antiquorum’s auctioneers on hand to answer any and all questions. The actual sale, featuring over 400 different lots, begins today at 11am, with a second session at 2pm.

But back to the watch: What you’re looking at here is not a set of three watches, but instead one timepiece with three exchangeable dials. Sure, the dials are nifty, but as you can see, there’s very little pomp in this piece.

Circumstance, on the other hand, is abundant. The Patek Philippe Ref. 3974 Platinum, made in 1999, has plenty of complications (a watch-people term for features), including a perpetual calendar, moon phases and leap year indication, but what makes it special is its rareness. Only three models of this particular watch have ever been sold at auction. It’s estimated to garner at least $1 million.

But really, how could it be that expensive? As Clymer explained to me in a recent Q&A for eBay’s The Inside Source, watch collecting is a lot like car collecting: it’s less about the bells and whistles and more about the history. “Watches have an inherent longevity,” he explained. “To many people, they are daily reminders of a person or place. Sure, they’re stylish and functional, but above all else they’re heirlooms.”