We’ve all dreamt of the ‘Carrie Bradshaw’ lifestyle from Sex and the City with the dream job and lifestyle but most of all, the dream wardrobe with all the high end designer clothes and accessories.
Designer brands and in particular high end labels are very good at marketing themselves to make us believe that not only are they the label to buy from but that the buyer is the member of an elite group of individuals that these items are made for.
However it seems that the designer label may be an endangered specie soon as the high street always seems to cater for the mere mortals who cannot afford the handbags or shoes that cost a whole month’s mortgage payment. Their solution: by taking inspiration from these high end labels by designing something similar and selling it at a fraction of the price so we can all feel like we are part of the fashion elite.
A great example of this is the Issa dress Kate Middleton wore for her engagement photographs. Soon after these photographs were released there was a great demand for them. Our designer loving divas were in luck as they snapped one up instantly causing a sell out, but for us high street fashionista’s it was just a case of dreaming of owning such a dress.
Until it was retailer Tesco that designed us a similar one at a snippet of the price so it was a win-win situation for all: the designer divas got their Issa dress and the high street fashionista’s also got theirs too.
More recently the Duchess’s Reis dress caused a meltdown on their website; yet again it was Tesco to the rescue who has designed a similar one (yes you guessed it) at a snippet of the Reis price.
While it is great to have retailers like Tesco who make designer inspired dresses without the designer costs, it begs the question: what does this mean for the designer labels (where these creations are inspired from) in terms of people buying from them?
As the high street is so quick to design cheaper versions is this the end of the designer label? With so many ‘inspired’ or copied versions of accessories and clothing going around are we just waiting for the high street to copy them so we don’t burn a hole in our purses? Will our designer label loving counterparts join us on the dark side knowing this?
However our designer label loving counterparts will tell us that buying something what most people pay in renting a home or car should be treated as an ‘investment’ as it will be long lasting and being a classic style it will be a continuous line throughout the fashion seasons, hence no need to keep on buying ‘fast’ fashion that will be abandoned by you in your wardrobe once the season or trend is over.
There is also the feeling of being part of an elite group that are able to not only afford this but want to live the luxurious lifestyle these brands are also selling.
However one can argue the high street retailers have cottoned onto this ‘subliminal’ advertising that the designer labels do and also implement this in their marketing campaigns but with the promise of saving us money whilst being able to keep up with the latest trends.
One thing is for sure looking at the fashion trends there is a certain bit of competition between the highstreet and high fashion labels. The labels now are aware just how strong the high street is and will have to up the stakes to keep well ahead.
Let the battle begin!
