Brands like Stella McCartney and Yves Saint Laurent, which showed their latest ready-to-wear collections in Paris on Thursday, have understood that glossy magazine advertisements are no longer the most effective way of reaching their audience.
They are using methods like street pamphleteering, Web sites and linkups with other firms to trumpet their presence.
McCartney has inked deals with Adidas for sportswear, LeSportsac for bags and Bendon for lingerie, as well as creating limited editions for high street retailers H&M and Target in Australia.
“Without visibility today, a luxury brand is not a luxury brand,” said Cedric Charbit, general merchandise manager of women's fashion at the French department store chain Printemps.
“So I think it's pretty smart, and it speaks to Stella McCartney's audience, which rejects the current codes of the luxury sector because they are too ostentatious and too obvious,” he added.
The British designer's spring-summer collection featured floaty floral dresses and paisley-patterned all-in-ones with a '70s feel. Models emerged in front of a wall of green plants wearing billowing silk separates in gentle tones of sky blue and dusty beige.
McCartney used techniques like block-printing and quilting to give her outfits a hippie-luxe feel. But her training on Savile Row, the London hub of made-to-measure men's suits, was also evident in a cream single-breasted tuxedo suit.
Her pragmatic approach to dressing is beginning to pay off. Figures released this week showed her label posted its first profit in 2006, a year before the deadline imposed by its parent, Gucci Group.
The results show it is possible to succeed at the top-tier luxury level without using leather or fur, providing you are a little creative. McCartney is a vegetarian and recently staged an online animal rights protest in the Internet-based virtual world Second Life.
Yves Saint Laurent is also busy online. The company this week unveiled a revamped Web site –www.ysl.com – with an online store for U.S. shoppers and special features like short films.
Meanwhile, its creative director Stefano Pilati has launched Manifesto, a pamphlet-style advertising supplement handed out on the streets of New York, Paris, London and Milan last month.
“I initiated the Manifesto campaign because I wanted to speak more directly to people. The advertising campaign is not enough,” Pilati told British daily The Times in a recent interview.
“Magazines publish only the handbag adverts, because that is where the money is, but what about my designs?”
Though the brand derives much of its income from “It” bags like the Muse and Downtown, they were conspicuously absent from the catwalk on Thursday, putting the focus on the impeccable lines of masculine tailored jackets.
These came with or without sleeves in traditional English wool and were paired with boxy trousers cuffed just above the ankle. With its sober palette of navy, white, gray and beige, it was hard to picture this as a summer collection.
A stunning one-shouldered evening gown in rippling jewel pink silk made for a welcome splash of color.
By contrast, Italian designer Giambattista Valli sent out dresses so bright, you had to wear shades. Models swept past in neon pink swimsuits and fluorescent yellow gowns that included a sleeveless number covered in tiny ostrich feathers.
Though Valli launched his line only two years ago, he has made his mark by dressing starlets like Mischa Barton and Victoria Beckham for the red carpet. Sales in North America are growing by some 90 percent each season, according to industry paper Women's Wear Daily.
“You feel like a princess in his stuff, it's unbelievable,” said actress Jennifer Morrison, of the hit U.S. TV show 'House.' “And it's incredibly comfortable, which is kind of an added bonus because that's not always the case.”
Pink is fast shaping up as the key color for next spring.
Croatian designer Ivana Omazic sent out a fuchsia satin dress with a matching oversized clutch and strappy sandals in her collection for French label Celine.
Soft white jackets featured corset boning to add shape to the waist, while a twisted silver choker gave a wispy scarlet silk dress an unexpected edge.
