harddiscounts

Fashion communication – verbal, written and visual – has contributed to undermining the industry.
In a world where fast fashion became a synonym of luxury and other similar absurdities, we always feel the need to define what we say. Somehow, we need to restore the meaning in a state of general confusion.

Hysteric mass production led us to a broken industry incapable of selling all the tons of items they produce. Indeed, the surplus is burned, making room for the next manifestation of this insanity.

So, why do niche brands or even high-end designers subscribe to these practices? Why do they feel the need to hard-discount merchandise just a few months after its delivery to the stores, devaluing both products and the brand?

“This item is new now, but it’s going to be old in three months or less.” There is no consistency in that.

A devaluing communication

The poor language to attract consumers does not focus on worth but discounts or influencers:

PRE-SALE! – SALE! – Heavy discounts! – Black Friday! -60% -70%
Who offers less?!

“Today, with the influencers bad taste is everywhere.” – said Mr Valentino to “Il Messaggero”.

Herein lies a huge mistake in terms of communication, in the messaging of our industry.

When will fashion operators understand we are conceiving, producing, selling and communicating products born out of creativity. The moment we rediscover the value of that process, we’ll acknowledge the mistakes we made.

To deal with those products like they are milk or mortadella, treating them as products with a fast expiration date is not a brilliant idea.

We love mortadella, and we also believe it has a higher value than the majority of fashion products currently in stores. But, we think the actual value of the whole creative process has to be rediscovered and protected in making and communicating fashion. Like it is something meaningful, timeless, not something to get rid of as soon as possible.

What can we do to change?

Brands have to produce less, taking extreme care of the whole process.
Heavy discounts should disappear. They are not a healthy, long-term strategy.
People should consume less but better.

Let fast fashion do its work for what is cheap, for people who chose not to see. At the same time, let’s protect and celebrate the timeless value of creativity, quality, and craftsmanship. By using proper language to this end.