24th Apr 2007
Eyes on Retail
Online designer shops are coming of age and it’s no more apparent than in their sales pitches for the Sprin season. I recently went to the big four, (or at least what I would like to think is the big four in the US) to take a look at their approach for the season. There’s no real nuance when it comes to online designer retail and it’s not as if someone is going to walk up to you with a cup of espresso, or give you personalized shopping service; so online, retailers try their darndest to make items as attractive and as easy as possible so you can simply click…click… click…credit card… confirm and…. click. I took a look this morning at what Bluefly, Eluxury, Net-a-Porter, and Yoox was selling to the masses (in all honesty I get tons of emails from them daily, so it’s not hard to miss).
Net-A-Porter
I start with Net-A-Porter (www.netaporter.com), because among the 4 they are my favorite in terms of range of super lux items. They were one of the first to cheerlead the now everywhere J Brand and offer a list of designers your average round the corner designer department store would envy. Among other things they are going great guns behind Rick Owen’s motorcycle jacket. Why? Because they have it exclusively, silly. To be fair, it is worth a picking up as I haven’t seen a jacket like this in seasons. It is that good. They’re big behind putting your whole summer look together now as opposed to five weeks from now when the season begins officially in earnest.
Bluefly
I’ve noticed this dramatic change recently at Bluefly (www.bluefly.com). On the face of it, it looks as if the range of their offerings have improved and their items for the season are really for the current season and not one behind (shhh don’t tell anyone I said that). What’s on their radar? Anything and everything spring at eye-raising pricepoints. In their day dress category there’s something to the effect of 40% savings on a variety of New York fashion week-like spring 2007 items. Names include Diane Von Furstenburg, Cynthia Steffe, Abaete, Nicole Miller the list goes on.
Eluxury
The thing to know about Eluxury (www.eluxury.com) is that they do everything and anything LVMH really well. Anything else is up in the air. It could perhaps be attributed to the fact that they are owned by LVMH. This season they’re really behind black and whites, color matching the same marks and anything Louis Vuitton when it comes to accessories. The price points are in no way shape or form discounted , which makes you wonder why you wouldn’t walk into a store and buy the same item. ::Me ME…Raising hand with answer:: because a lot of the items they sell, are hard finds anywhere else.
Yoox
Yoox (www.yoox.com) has always had one of (if not the largest) the largest list of designers anywhere. The downside is that sometimes they may have only one or two pieces left of the designer they’re selling. Chock that up to their attractive price points. For example, they have Giancfranco Ferre, Gianfranco Ferre Forma, and Gianfranco Ferre Studio, dig a little deeper and some of the items they have from each collection are either in one size or not from the current season. It can be a bit of a let down. I think of it as shopping in one of those places where they throw clothes in a bin and let everyone loose. A more nuanced description though is a huge bin filled with top designer names. I’m personally excited about their not-so-hard sell of French lingerie and it’s not a hard sell when you see the marques and price points.
Am I missing any? Leave comments in the comments box.
Posted by Eva @ 7:25 am
April 24th, 2007 at 8:29 am
[...] post by Eva [...]
May 1st, 2007 at 8:41 am
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Leah