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.”
Shares jumped 4 percent following a Milan Fashion Week outing which saw Sabato de Sarno hone the brand’s universality and upscale appeal. Critics were left wanting more in ways both good and bad.
BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks to veteran modelling agent Chris Gay to understand the shifting power dynamics in the modelling industry and how models can build a career that stands the test of time.
The late designer’s archive of nearly 20,000 pieces ranging from Madame Grès and Schiaparelli to Comme des Garçons and Gaultier is like a ‘real-life backup disk of 20th century fashion,’ writes Laurence Benaïm.
The designer’s first outing this Friday will be a major test for the Italian megabrand and owner Kering.