That oft-ignored market for men’s luxury has been popping up on my radar screen a lot more often in the last few months. Up until now, men’s luxury spending has been dominated by expensive watches. But, as a generation of high net-worth men with a taste for modern design is growing up, more players are reaching out to meet their sophisticated needs in innovative ways.

It brings to mind a casual gathering of friends that took place in my kitchen on a recent Saturday evening. Over wine and cheese, I watched in awe as hedge fund managers, private equity investors and investment bankers from London’s burgeoning financial community were comparing, discussing and examining each other’s (expensive) watches in excruciating detail. Some were taking pride in the beautiful pearl dialfaces, others in the high-tech mechanics, and still others in having a Swiss watch brand that nobody else had heard of. Digits were exchanged. Prices were quoted. Statistics were cited. Still, it wasn’t so different from the groups of professional women I have seen cooing over their friend’s new Chloe bag. Could the same passion for those watches and handbags be transferred to cufflinks, tailor-made suits and high-tech men’s cosmetics?

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L’Officiel India held a glitzy party in London last night to celebrate the distribution of its magazine in the UK, the first official deal of its kind for the magazine outside of India. Hosted by Bollywood director and talk-show host Karan Johar, and attended by the now infamous Shilpa Shetty (who literally sashayed into the club with an entourage who were running to keep up with her), the party was a sleek affair, mixing London fashion personalities, Bollywood star wattage, and high-net worth Indians with money to spend.

Up until now, Indians in the UK have had to use the old "suitcase" import technique to stay up to date on new hotspots in Mumbai, fashion week in Delhi, and Bollywood gossip. But now, they will be able to find L’Officiel India at their local newsagent right next to other international fashion magazines. The magazine in the UK will contain exactly the same content as the magazine distributed in India. Depending on the success of the UK initiative, next stops for L’Officiel India could be distribution deals in Dubai and Hong Kong.

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It seems every few weeks I come across some interesting quotes from or video clips of Cathy Horyn of the New York Times. As one of the first major fashion critics to pen a regular blog, it’s not surprising that she believes in the importance of blogging to the fashion industry. Regular readers know that this is a recurring topic on the BoF, especially after what I heard from some industry people at the Harvard Business School Retail and Luxury Conference earlier this year.

This is a video I came across where Julie Fredrickson of Coutorture attempts to interview Ms. Horyn on the topic of Web 2.0 and fashion. I use the word "attempts" intentionally. As you will see, by the end of the interview, Cathy’s journalistic instincts come out and she can’t resist turning the tables on Julie and ends up asking about her experience in (not) gaining access to shows at New York Fashion Week. The video pre-dates the launch of Cathy’s blog at the New York Times, On the Runway, but many of its key messages still ring true. 

People talk about Miuccia Prada as an intellectual designer. Up there with Martin Margiela, Dries van Noten and Rei Kawakubo, Ms. Prada is a heavyweight in the world of conceptual fashion. Season after season she manages to surprise and inspire the notoriously critical and fickle fashion crowd.

What’s less cool to talk about is Miuccia Prada’s knack for marrying the creative with the commercial. No other designer seems to be as able to take the most high-falutin’ catwalk looks and translate them into a commercial product in the showroom. For Prada and her infamous husband Patrizio Bertelli, "commercial" is not a dirty word. Buyers rave about Prada’s ability to provide the right balance between the consistent core items that form the foundation for her collection as well as the on-trend items that push the brand’s creative ideas forward. In more ways than one, she is a leader not a follower.

How cool it was then for me to see this stunning lookbook for Prada’s S/S 2007 collection, which once again strikes this inimitable creative-commercial balance. So many lookbooks are just boring shots of androids- cum-models with a white backdrop. Often, the logic behind this is that its best to let the clothes speak for themselves and allow buyers to focus on editing. Instead, Prada has seamlessly combined this season’s vibrant rich colour palette, key pieces and trends  (fringe bags, turbans, ruffled leather and pared-down chic), landscape and cityscape images reflecting the global footprint of her brand, and seamlessly integrated these with runway looks to deliver a strong message about what she might have been thinking as she conceived of her collection.  The technique she used reminded me of the recent Gilbert and George exhibition put on at the Tate Modern, where everyday photos were infused with saturated colours and political messages.

For someone who honestly was a big fan of neither the turban nor the fringe, she somehow makes it work for me. The products look completely different now because Ms. Prada has let us into her amazing little head.

Photos courtesy of the Prada website.

© 2007 Copyright Imran Amed – The Business of Fashion.

Taking on financing is one of the most important decisions an emerging fashion company will make.  This step is absolutely essential because the early stages of growth often requires significant amounts of working capital that cannot be generated by the business alone.  So, unless you are independently wealthy and sitting on a pile of cash, financing decisions will be part of your critical path, early on.

What is the difference between equity and debt?
Financing can come in many forms, but it basically comes down to equity versus debt.

Equity investors (in this case, venture capitalists or angels) provide cash to invest in your company and  therefore end up sharing ownership of the company with you. They invest in the hopes that your business will grow and that they will have some positive return through shared profits and upside.  They may offer you resources and expertise to help drive the business further. In fact, this is much preferred to someone just giving you cash and leaving you to fend for yourself.  If, however, you disagree fundamentally with your investor on where you want to take the company and how you will do it, then you may find their “help” a nuisance. Thus, when evaluating equity investors, choose someone who is aligned with your strategy and who has the industry and/or functional experience that your business needs to grow.

Debt financing, on the other hand, usually comes in the form of loans, where you are required to pay back  the money you have borrowed, plus interest, using a fixed schedule of payments that can be spread out over many years. While debt providers won’t be actively involved in your day to day business, taking on debt will mean you will have an additional cash outflow that your business will have to be able to support each month to stay on good terms with your bank. If payments aren’t made regularly, you may quickly find yourself dealing with irate calls from your bank manager. In the worst case, taking on too much debt  could drive your business into bankruptcy. Debtors are always paid back before profits are shared amonst the shareholders of your company.

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