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This gives them an opportunity to feel that energy and feel the attitude of what you're working on. I find it incredibly liberating. In the last few years, fashion has gradually opened itself up to ordinary shoppers. Bloggers have sidled into shows alongside fashion editors, the TV show "Project Runway" has made design seem doable, and Fashion's Night Out has brought designers into stores to meet shoppers. But never before have Fashion Week designers so aggressively appealed directly to consumers with their shows, in large part because technology makes it so easy but also because economic conditions make this round of runway shows so important. The luxury shoppers that Fashion Week designers go after all but disappeared during the recession, not only because rich consumers' investments plummeted but also because it was unseemly to buy expensive items in a sober time. Now, though, they appear to be buying again. Herms International said last month that its profit rose 55.2 percent in the first half compared with a year earlier.
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