The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The British company will lower average prices for dresses by 40 percent and merge its main Victoria Beckham collection with its diffusion line to appeal to a wider audience, it told BoF.
Though the brand plans on retaining its luxury positioning and aesthetic, its eponymous designer and CEO Marie Leblanc are betting on accessible prices and pared-back designs to draw in new shoppers. “We’ve seen a huge opportunity in the market, which is a space for an affordable luxury brand,” Leblanc wrote in an email. “It’s about maintaining our elevated DNA, but providing an ease — and making sure our consumer can relate to the brand both in terms of use and price point.”
The new brand direction, which will see Victoria Beckham and Victoria, Victoria Beckham merge into a single label, will launch with a Pre-Spring 2022 collection that debuts in stores this November.
Victoria Beckham reported losses for 11 years in a row until 2018, but saw sales return to growth before the pandemic hit, according to accounts published in January. While the brand is still working towards profitability, Covid-19 has redrawn the fashion landscape, prompting many businesses to rethink their offerings.
”None of the collection feels like a compromise to me,” Beckham said in an email. The new direction is a “rebirth,” she said. “We have worked hard on fabrication and production to deliver the same quality for our community.”
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.
Consumers face less, not more, choice if handbag brands can't scale up to compete with LVMH, argues Andrea Felsted.
As the French luxury group attempts to get back on track, investors, former insiders and industry observers say the group needs a far more drastic overhaul than it has planned, reports Bloomberg.
After growing the brand’s annual sales to nearly €2.5 billion, the star designer has been locked in a thorny contract negotiation with owner LVMH that could lead to his exit, sources say. BoF breaks down what Slimane brought to Celine and what his departure could mean.