By Aphrodite Panagiotalides
When Nico Manessis and I first talked about this article, I had it all laid out in my mind. I was to unite the two loves of my life, wine and fashion (my little lovie Urania is beyond compare), and talk about parallel lives, about fashion and wine as powerful partners in contemporary lifestyles and expressions of conspicuous consumption.
However, the economic crisis has since forced us to tighten our belts even more and I felt compelled to factor this into the equation. What are our ‘Responses to the Recession’? How do companies cope in the current economic crisis? Are tight-spending consumers now in charge or can companies still drive buying behaviour? Will the market polarise into a world of ultra-luxury products for the “haves” and super-inexpensive ones for the “have-nots”? How can we attempt to answer these questions, when entire economies collapse around us like dominoes?
Let’s begin by taking a brief look at the consumer and their buying behaviour to survive the crunch. An ING survey this year, which interviewed 11,000 people in nine countries, found that people have embraced a “cocooning” culture created by the financial crisis. We have become domestic hedonists, spending more time at home as the crisis bites.
Another study, conducted by psychologists at Cornell University, found that ‘experiences’ are more rewarding than ‘things’. According to the study, experiences are so effective at making us happy because we truly ‘own’ them. They become integrated into our characters and help shape our personalities. Andrea Pfeffer, Director at the Sales and PR agency Robinson Pfeffer, agrees: “The new luxury is about experience,” she suggests. “Ultimately, the shopper wants to feel personally connected to the brand.”
So one new trend is experience branding and experience retailing. Another one – actually linked to the previous one – is to buy things that are painstakingly hand-built instead of efficiently mass-produced. Architect and writer Steve Mouzon wrote near the beginning of this meltdown: “So I believe that the meltdown will begin to cause people to think long-term again, and to begin to value enduring things.”
In this vein, Tokyo-based designer Junya Tashiro describes his creations as “clothes that will mature,” aging like a fine wine, but also becoming more comfortable like an old sofa or favorite sweater. “The more you wear and wash your clothes, the more they become familiar to you, and the more you feel comfortable in them,” Tashiro explains. “If apparel has a nice feel to it to begin with, after 5 years, or 10 years, you will think ‘this is better now than when I bought it.’ I want to make apparel based on the idea that good clothing doesn’t get old, but matures.”
Choosing organic, believing in sustainable development, adopting a (frugal) green living stance and embracing the reduce/reuse/recycle motto is the way a lot of consumers (from various income groups) and companies alike have chosen to cope with the crisis.
Some companies choose to maintain a sense of exclusivity, by targeting specialised distribution channels; these are faring well under the current economic climate. Companies are also altering their public perception and developing a dialogue with customers through social media websites, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Brands are now in a position where failure to nurture ‘genuine’ relationships with their customers may result in decreased sales, negative brand association and, ultimately, a failed enterprise. Trend analyst Dion Chang signaled the start of an “empathetic economy”, in which “value systems changed drastically” and companies, communities and families collaborated to survive. Whether we’re talking about wine, fashion or any other kind of business.
To end this brief foray into consumer behaviour and marketing strategies of the economic crisis, in relation to wine and fashion, on a pleasant note, I will introduce you to some ‘Evochia’. Evochia is the ancient Greek word for the mirth and conviviality present at a symposium. Evochia is also an organic food shop near my house, where I met Dimitris Theocharidis. The shop belongs to his family and, after he’d completed his B.A (Hons) at the London College of Fashion, I met him there, designing his clothes and selling wine and calendula baby creams.
Then Dimitris returned to London and teamed up with fellow graduate Jenny Holmes to create JENA.THEO. They then went on to win the highly coveted Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden 2009, chaired by Donatella Versace, with a “recession-proof” collection inspired by womens’ sexual revolution movements, from ancient Crete all the way through to the ‘60s.
What is their next collection going to be? “Maybe we can call it Times of Crisis”, they say. “We wish to celebrate the century that has just gone. We have looked at times of crisis through the 20th century from the French Resistance, the depression of the 30s through to the recession in the 90s.” We wish them all the best.
my mind. I was to unite the two loves of my life, wine and fashion (my little
lovie Urania is beyond compare), and talk about parallel lives, about fashion
and wine as powerful partners in contemporary lifestyles and expressions of
conspicuous consumption.
However, the economic crisis has since forced us to tighten our belts even
more and I felt compelled to factor this into the equation. What are our
‘Responses to the Recession’? How do companies cope in the current
economic crisis? Are tight-spending consumers now in charge or can
companies still drive buying behaviour? Will the market polarise into a world
of ultra-luxury products for the “haves” and super-inexpensive ones for the
“have-nots”? How can we attempt to answer these questions, when entire
economies collapse around us like dominoes?
Let’s begin by taking a brief look at the consumer and their buying behaviour
to survive the crunch. An ING survey this year, which interviewed 11,000
people in nine countries, found that people have embraced a “cocooning”
culture created by the financial crisis. We have become domestic hedonists,
spending more time at home as the crisis bites.
Another study, conducted by psychologists at Cornell University, found that
‘experiences’ are more rewarding than ‘things’. According to the study,
experiences are so effective at making us happy because we truly ‘own’ them.
They become integrated into our characters and help shape our personalities.
Andrea Pfeffer, Director at the Sales and PR agency Robinson Pfeffer,
agrees: “The new luxury is about experience,” she suggests. “Ultimately, the
shopper wants to feel personally connected to the brand.”
So one new trend is experience branding and experience retailing. Another
one – actually linked to the previous one – is to buy things that are
painstakingly hand-built instead of efficiently mass-produced. Architect and
writer Steve Mouzon wrote near the beginning of this meltdown: “So I believe
that the meltdown will begin to cause people to think long-term again, and to
begin to value enduring things.”
In this vein, Tokyo-based designer Junya Tashiro describes his creations as
“clothes that will mature,” aging like a fine wine, but also becoming more
comfortable like an old sofa or favorite sweater. “The more you wear and
wash your clothes, the more they become familiar to you, and the more you
feel comfortable in them,” Tashiro explains. “If apparel has a nice feel to it to
begin with, after 5 years, or 10 years, you will think ‘this is better now than
when I bought it.’ I want to make apparel based on the idea that good clothing
doesn’t get old, but matures.”
Choosing organic, believing in sustainable development, adopting a (frugal)
green living stance and embracing the reduce/reuse/recycle motto is the way
a lot of consumers (from various income groups) and companies alike have
chosen to cope with the crisis.
Some companies choose to maintain a sense of exclusivity, by targeting
specialised distribution channels; these are faring well under the current
economic climate. Companies are also altering their public perception and
developing a dialogue with customers through social media websites, such
as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Brands are now in a position where
failure to nurture ‘genuine’ relationships with their customers may result in
decreased sales, negative brand association and, ultimately, a failed
enterprise. Trend analyst Dion Chang signaled the start of an “empathetic
economy”, in which “value systems changed drastically” and companies,
communities and families collaborated to survive. Whether we’re talking
about wine, fashion or any other kind of business.
To end this brief foray into consumer behaviour and marketing strategies of
the economic crisis, in relation to wine and fashion, on a pleasant note, I will
introduce you to some ‘Evochia’. Evochia is the ancient Greek word for the
mirth and conviviality present at a symposium. Evochia is also an organic food
shop near my house, where I met Dimitris Theocharidis. The shop belongs to
his family and, after he’d completed his B.A (Hons) at the London College of
Fashion, I met him there, designing his clothes and selling wine and calendula
baby creams.
Then Dimitris returned to London and teamed up with fellow graduate Jenny
Holmes to create JENA.THEO. They then went on to win the highly coveted
Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden 2009, chaired by Donatella Versace, with a
“recession-proof” collection inspired by womens’ sexual revolution
movements, from ancient Crete all the way through to the ‘60s.
What is their next collection going to be? “Maybe we can call it Times of
Crisis”, they say. “We wish to celebrate the century that has just gone. We
have looked at times of crisis through the 20th century from the French
Resistance, the depression of the 30s through to the recession in the 90s.”
We wish them all the best.
18.05.2010