Of all the fashion campaigns that have crossed your path in recent months, the Calvin Klein campaign starring Jeremy Allen White is likely to be one of the few that still sticks in your memory. It may have been the actor’s abs, a consequence of expectations about the third season of The Bear or the iconic views of New York, but those photos not only managed to go viral in January, they also fulfilled their purpose.
A week later, the firm’s underwear sales had increased by 30%. This has been confirmed by Stefan Larsson, CEO of PVH, the parent company that, in addition to Calvin Klein, also owns Tommy Hilfiger, and which this week saw its shares plummet by 20% after its public intervention on Monday.
Despite the success of the campaign, and despite having experienced a similar episode when BlackPink’s Jennie Kim starred in other promotional images, the numbers are not working out for the firm: as Larsson reported, the company expects an annual drop of 6% in sales. sales this 2024.
Among the reasons that the executive alluded to to explain this fall are a considerable decrease in wholesale demand (that is, Calvin Klein is present in fewer multi-brand points of sale than in the past) and the loss of desire that the label suffers. in North America (in that market they have experienced an 8% drop in sales) and Europe. The point is that the good news, that the marketing campaigns work and that the product seems to satisfy the consumer, suggests that perhaps the cause of the bad news is at the top of the executive pyramid that governs the firm.
Keeping our gaze upward, but this time contemplating the scale of fashion categories: a few days ago Bernstein and Promise Consulting published the results of their survey regarding the most “recognized, exclusive and desired” luxury bags in France. With number one, the Hermès Birkin. The second, third and fourth positions are occupied by the classic model, the classic model with adjustable chain and the Chanel Boy respectively. In fifth place, the Louis Vuitton Nano Speedy. (In case you are curious: the top 10 is completed by the Constance model by Hermès, the Lady D-Joy by Dior, Capucines and Cannes by Louis Vuitton and the famous Lady Dior).
This week Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel, the firm that markets three of the five most desired bags according to that study, gave a short interview to The Business of Fashion in which he alludes to the reputation crisis that the house has suffered. on TikTok for the past few months.
Users of the social network have expressed their discontent because, apparently, the increase in bag prices (the classic model with a double C closure today costs 11,100 euros, almost double what it was five years ago) does not correspond to the quality of them. Metal applications that lose shine, seams that come loose and handles that break occur in a series of videos that compare new bags with vintage models.
Pavlovsky recalled that it is not possible to guarantee that all the bags that appear in these images are authentic (it is true that the only thing that differentiates an original bag from its imitations is in many cases the millimeter of the grain, the smell and the touch of the leather. ), in addition to adding a humble “We are not perfect, that is clear. But we are working on all these issues, which are truly fundamental… We are aware that our position forces us to improve, and we are always trying.” It’s important to recognize that there is always room for improvement, but “We’re not perfect” sounds more natural in the context of a third date than it does after 114 years of history.
In the fashion industry everyone wants to look like the one who is most successful, and there are those who say that Chanel’s price increase strategy responds more to an attempt to resemble Hermès than to a desire for exclusivity. If we take into account that the exclusivity of Hermès is based more on the difficulty of obtaining a Birkin or a Kelly because its manufacture is lower than its demand than on the price and that Chanel has increased the production of bags precisely to respond to the increase in yours, the issue is more a question of positioning than of imitation strategy.
“We are positioning ourselves as an absolute luxury house,” Pavlovsky said in that interview. “We have always valued creativity, but it is not creativity by itself. “It is creativity as a way of understanding luxury, and always with a high attention to quality.”
In 2022, Chanel fashion and beauty sales increased by 17% to reach €17 billion. Although last year’s data will not be made public until May, its president has announced that the fashion division’s figures were “absolutely exceptional.” And there’s nothing TikTok can do to change it.
Speaking of luxury bags: The industry’s outdated custom of calling Y the new X may have killed off the accessory that Vogue said was destined to become the new Birkin. The Row’s Margaux bag, available in four sizes with prices ranging between 3,790 and 7,470 euros, is likely to be withdrawn from the market sooner rather than later because Mary-Kate Olsen, co-founder of the brand with her sister Ashley, seems not having liked the comparison one bit. Is there anything more unique than purchasing decisions made with a feeling of “now or never”?
