The Fashion Businesslogos of each company. Stuart Ewen, a sociologist, describes the couture
world as ‘beyond the real’, believing that this notion of beyond reality is an
‘essential element to the magic of style, its fascination and enchantment....
Part of the promise of style is to lift us out of the dreariness of necessity.’^33
The brand logo holds the magic of style. As long as Hilfiger, through astute
marketing, can succeed in creating an élite image for his mass-produced
leisurewear and fragrances and as long as he can successfully market them
as ‘designer’ products, he represents a serious commercial threat to the elite
designer fashion world. As long as Hilfiger can successfully attach this element
of magical desirability to his very ordinary leisurewear products and continue
to launch his products to a generation of international young consumers,
he presents a most serious economic threat to the world of Paris couture and
designer prêt-à-porter, a threat as serious as the consequences of the Wall
Street crash of 1929.
It seems however, that the established Paris fashion houses were aware of
the Hilfiger threat as soon as it reared its head. Their astute commercial
flexibility and response to challenge, once again came into play. By the mid-
1990s plans were in place in Paris to deal with the threat of commercial
rivalry from global leisure/lifestyle clothing companies such as Hilfiger (and
indeed the increasing commercial rivalry from Italy.) Hence the employment
of the avant-garde young London designers, John Galliano at Givenchy and
Dior, Alexander McQueen at Givenchy and Stella McCartney at Chloe from
the the mid-1990s. These companies recognized the urgent need both to
rapidly lower their consumer age appeal and to modernize their image of
glamorous elitism. Even as they were chewed up by the great financial
companies LVMH, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, the commercial need to retain
a cutting-edge, innovative house style remained paramount. If the sale of
branded products was to continue to flourish, the need for this sharp, young
image was essential. This outweighed the need to satisfy their few hundred
private clients, who can always be serviced with watered-down versions of
outrageous catwalk styles. The retention of an image of seductive glamour,
however, remains vital for the continuation of the million-dollar international
selling of branded perfume, maquillage, handbags, jewellery, stockings,
watches, shoes, tee-shirts, luggage, underwear, sunglasses, scarves and now
interior design too.
As Tommy Hilfiger and other similar brands have expanded the extent of
their marketing hype, so too have the great couture salons of Paris. By the
late 1990s their advertisements featured more and more seductive images
- S. Ewen, ‘Marketing Dreams – the Political Elements of Style’, in Tomlinson, A.,
Consumption, Identity and Style, London: Routledge, 1990, p. 43–8.