74906.pdf

The Fashion Business

by Mario Testino and styled by Lucinda Chambers signalled that mass-market
design had come of age. By 1994 we had 610 stores worldwide and a group
turnover of £5.9 billion. As Divisional Director of Design, my portfolio
represented a business worth £3.5 billion pounds.
The downturn throughout 1999 in Marks & Spencer’s business has led to
massive and continuing change, not just cosmetic but reaching deep into
fundamental attitudes and approaches. In the second part of this chapter I
will give my view of the issues challenges and opportunities, which I consider
to be key to the volume retailer today and in the coming years.

Age Profile

With the ‘cultural flip’ of the 1960s, instead of values passing from age to
youth, they began to flow the other way. Although we thought at the time
that you were either young and part of it or old and out of it, it seems that
our generation has yet to reach its sell-by date. The post-war ‘baby boomers’
are now beginning to grow old, and are confounding marketeers in the
process. Unlike their parents, whose lives were shaped by depression and
war, this generation has in truth never had it bad. The first to enjoy significant
levels of disposable income, everything throughout their adult lives has been
targeted at them; the new ‘third agers’, as the 50–75 age group is often called,
insist it should remain so, and have the financial might to ensure that it
does. No longer faced with slipping into obscurity or striving to feign youth-
fulness, the generation of which I am part aims for continuing style and there
are plenty of role models to inspire us: Calvin Klein, Paul McCartney,
Catherine Deneuve and Mick Jagger are in their mid to late fifties. What
will be the impact of this marketing phenomenon on product? In my opinion,
the ‘third-agers’ will lead the demand for products which are ‘modern’ but
will eschew ridiculousness and excess, they will prioritize ease of care,
practicality and comfort appropriate to their relaxed lifestyles. In other words,
they will effect a fundamental shift away from faddish or dictatorial ‘fashion’
towards enduring, interpretable ‘style’ and genuinely high-quality design.

How We Shop

We have not stopped spending our money, but it seems we are more reluctant
to spend it in public. Whether it is a matter of embarrassment about appearing
extravagant, or whether it is a matter of convenience I cannot say, but it is
certain that home shopping is transforming the retail landscape.