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Analysis Of The High-End Track Of Leading Brands Targeting High Net Worth People

2023/7/13 14:58:00 0

Different from the high-end ready to wear series, for the old fashion houses with a long history of high definition, to some extent, the practicality is not in the forefront of the brand strategy, but a more conceptual and artistic expression of the creative language; More customized exclusive services and more targeted high net worth customers.

On the other hand, for the pioneer brands that first entered the "Gaoding Game Field", or the luxury brands that have successively restarted the Gaoding series in recent years, when the brand's own pioneer, street attributes and the elegance and artistic expression represented by the traditional advanced customization are constantly performing compatibility and discipline, the Gaoding series is increased, It may mean a change of business direction in the current market environment and competition pattern.

In addition, advanced customization, which seems to have always been in the "eye of storm" in the fashion cycle, has already retreated into the rapidly changing commercial jungle rules, which has released more commercial and cultural possibilities. In other words, today's Gao Ding is no longer the "Gao Ding" steeped in the tradition.

Targeting high net worth people,

Pioneer brand's high-end ambition

The commercial nature of the Plus High Definition series is undoubtedly to seize the high net worth people with stable consumption capacity. Especially in the current uncertain economic environment, the middle end market is weak, and the high-end market is also full of fierce competition.

In 1868, the clothing industry association including high-end customization was established in Paris. It was limited to tailoring and perfect tailoring of customized fashion, which satisfied the pursuit of luxury and sophistication of the upper class privileged class, and also made customization services once a historical booster of economic development. By 1925, France's customization industry accounted for 15% of the country's total exports, and Gaoding Fashion Week was established in the 1930s and has continued to this day.

However, with the continuous expansion of the market scale, the increasingly diversified structure, and the continuous evolution of cultural trends and business rules, the high-end nature of high-end customization, which has been used to serve and represent the privileged class for more than a hundred years, still has the significance of "upward" upgrading for today's brands.

In the past, in the market cycle where the economic environment fluctuated greatly due to external factors such as the epidemic, the income level of high net worth people was less hit, and their consumption ability showed strong resilience, which has long become the consensus of the luxury market. PricewaterhouseCoopers also pointed out in the report "Insight into the Luxury Market in Mainland China and Hong Kong:" Rebuilding Customer Value and Achieving Sustainable Growth "that high net worth people and the post-90s are leading the development of China's luxury market. China's high net worth population accounts for about 0.3% of the total population, but contributes about 42% of luxury sales.

For high net worth people, high-end quality is still the most important driver of brand consumption. According to the Hurun Research Institute's 2023 Hurun Top Quality Product - China's High Net Worth Group Brand Trend Report released in the first half of this year, 69% of the respondents believe that high quality is the principle of brand selection, while brand awareness and fashionable design rank second and third with 64% and 50% respectively.

In addition to the high order series and higher quality product lines or services, gaining the favor of high-end customers has become the key to the competition between leading brands and luxury giants.

Rodrigo Bazan, CEO of Thom Browne, said, "In Europe, we have launched customized services for women", striving to give full play to the brand's huge growth potential in customized categories. In addition, Zegna Group, the parent company of the brand, is also constantly improving its high-end and luxury positioning. Gildo Zegna, the chairman and CEO of the group, said that hand cut and expensive fabrics are very popular in the United States, and customers have particularly strong demand for expensive suits and evening gowns.

Valentino also strengthened its brand positioning by virtue of Gaoding. Since 2016, Pierpaolo Piccioli, who holds the sole creative power, has exerted his talent and imagination in advanced customization. In recent years, Piccioli has created the Valentino "Re interpretation" exhibition, which presents the high definition collection of Chinese clothes in the fashion house, and has a unique dialogue with the creative works of Xu Zhen, Cao Fei and other Chinese artists.

At the beginning of 2020, Kaiyun Group announced that its brand Balenciaga would restart its high definition business, and it was also the first luxury brand to set foot in the field of advanced customization. In addition to the business intention of chasing the high-end market, for Balenciaga, the high order business is also a way to effectively consolidate its luxury positioning and explore the young generation of high order customers in the "era of fashion industrialization". C é dric Charbit, the brand CEO, once said that the restart of Gaoding business is not only for the creative mission, but also for the future of the brand. He said: "Retail customers and high-end customization customers have shown strong interest. These customers may be traditional high-end customization customers, or they may be young generation customers."

In addition, with the gradual recovery of the market, luxury brands' attention to high net worth people has also shown a number of distribution peaks in the retail industry. For example, in the past, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Chanel have successively opened VIP member rooms in Beijing SKP to deepen the connection with high-end customers.

Hundreds of barges compete for the current,

Can the pioneer brand break through the tight encirclement with Gaoding series?

Change means competition.

In addition to the dividend of the high-end trend of the market, the current cutting-edge vanguard brands have sprung up and grabbed the attention of young people by means of price belts, community operations, co branding and other different ways. The layout of Gaoding business is undoubtedly a comprehensive measure to stand out from many competitors of the same age and build high-end positioning and differentiated luxury value.

Looking back at the field of fashion and luxury goods in the past decade, it can be said that it was the decade when street trends dominated. Although the iteration of the trend has washed away the barrier between the so-called pioneer and the mainstream, which has a significance of diversification that cannot be ignored, for the long-term growth of the brand, only by peeling off the flow shell of "trend pioneer" and "pop effect" can we truly touch the essence of a global brand development and consolidate our irreplaceable market position and viability.

Balenciaga CEO C é dric Charbit also said when the brand restarted its high definition business: "The more digital shows we have, the more we need physical fashion shows. The more we mass produce, the more we need unique products."

Just like the Japanese designer brand Sacai, which was founded in 1999, although it did not launch high order business, in recent years, Sacai has become a favorite co brand of the old fashion houses. After the launch of Sacai x Nike x Jean Paul Gaultier, it won cooperation with the head luxury brand Dior in 2021. While endorsing itself through co branding with the old fashion houses, Sacai strengthens its own stable and recognizable design language. Yoon Ahn, founder of Ambush, a fashion accessories brand that was invited to work as Dior jewelry designer, is the same.

In addition, the American street brand Iron of God, founded in 2013, also held its first fashion show in April this year, further accelerating the brand's layout development. In March, Alfred Chang, the brand's CEO, was appointed. Jerry Lorenzo, the founder of Iron of God, said that at the current stage of brand development, it is crucial to hire a suitable CEO to further establish the organization, culture and resources.

It is both an opportunity and a challenge,

The future of Gaoding is uncertain

Whether from the perspective of creativity or commercialization, the plus size and high definition series can bring potential advantages for the pioneer brand in terms of its own positioning and market layout. In addition, with the layout of more and more avant-garde brands and the addition of young high definition designers, the old fashion houses are making a comeback Today's advanced customization is just like the advanced ready to wear five or ten years ago - the traditional meaning is dispelling and a new order is being established.

Just like the Paris Gaoding Fashion Week, which is full of flowers this season, there is Thom Browne, who has brought Gaoding's first show, presenting a more sophisticated version of the brand's iconic "suit" with an exaggerated and grotesque approach; There is no shortage of Schiaparelli's emphasis on the spatial sense of the silhouette, which combines the sharp and elegant qualities; Or the "ready to wear" and "everyday" high definition design launched by Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative director of Dior, since she took office.

Charles de Vilmorin, known as the youngest designer of Gaoding, returned to the official schedule of Gaoding Week in Paris this year after leaving Rochas as creative director. Charles de Vilmorin, with his unique swan headdress and cocoon shaped cloak, endows his body with a new proportion with architectural language full of volume, and uses his avant-garde surreal design language and youth culture perspective to bring more breakthrough possibilities for advanced customization.

However, advanced customization has never been an ideal "utopian" existence. Compared with the garment product line with lower trial and error costs and faster trend iterations, the historical significance and specific rules that have been followed for more than a hundred years have magnified the economic effect and creative characteristics with the naked eye, and the consequent business risks are also magnified. If there is any carelessness, "Utopia" will also become "paradise lost".

In the past, there were also many luxury brands that shut down Gaoding business due to difficulties in reconciling creativity and commerce.

Therefore, the pioneer brand wants to break through the tight encirclement by relying on the Gaoding series, which cannot be separated from the precise and sensitive market entry point, marketing strategy, the improvement of customized services and retail layout, the capture of the needs of the young generation of Gaoding customers, and the combination of the complete and long-standing fashion archives and brand heritage.

Whether the brands entering the advanced customization business can move from self to self, the answer is still subject to market tests such as the growth of the new generation of high-end customer base and the evolution of advanced customization.