Major Designers Push for the Overhaul: Dissecting the Dries Van Noten Open Letter

Note: Today's post is more about fashion than law, but I thought it is timely to discuss.

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DRIES VAN NOTEN SHOWCASING HIS LATEST
COLLECTION WITH CHRISTIAN DELACROIX

Big names in fashion are increasingly vocal in pushing for the overhaul of the system. They are making grim predictions for fashion's future, urging fellow designers to join them in revamping the current business model. In his open letter to the industry, Dries Van Noten made an impassioned plea for the change. He noted that "fashion became frivolous and customers lost respect for it". He also added that the system has become dysfunctional well before the pandemic and underlined that "the pressure to produce more collections and have more drops earlier in the year" is no longer sensible and maintainable. He definitely is not the first designer to air the grievances. Natacha Ramsay-Levi of Chloé and Anthony Vaccarello of Saint Laurent said earlier this month that the ever-increasing pressure for the new is taking a exacting toll on the creativity of designers and the shelf life of their sweat-infused clothes and accessories.

What's laudable about Dries Van Noten is that he came up with an alternative system we all can debate about. With other signatories in the open letter, he proposed the following change: Put the Autumn/Winter season back in winter (August/January) and Spring/Summer season back in summer (February/July). He articulated the rationale for why the industry should move in the direction he suggested. Van Noten argued that the proposed system will "create a more balanced flow of deliveries through the season to provide newness but also time for products to create desire". He also claimed that this will permit discounts to take place "at the end of the season in order to allow for more full-price selling".

That 13-word sentence is a multifaceted idea that needs a bit more unpacking. The fashion calendar is, in some sense, out of sync. We all know this from our own experiences. Under the current system, you (can) buy clothes for fall and winter starting from summer. To put it more vividly, you are buying a fall trench coat when you are sweating in a tropical t-shirt. Major department stores are now displaying resort and, perhaps, pre-fall collections to attract shoppers. Dries Van Noten thinks that this asynchrony does not give products enough time to create real demand. What's worse, those that remain unsold go right to early markdowns, thereby eating away the profit margin of a given product. Plus, major department stores have a program called "vendor allowance". Under this arrangement between a retailer and a brand, the brand has to make up for the losses the retailer (in this case, department stores) suffered as part of the early markdowns, doubly hurting the cash flow of the brand. In terms of manufacturing, the industry places orders for the next season to their suppliers in advance of almost 4-5 months when they have a little idea of what's going to be the next mega hit.

I find his proposal quite convincing, and it thus merits serious discussion. The trick here is that the Van Noten proposal cannot achieve its intended effect unless all major brands implement his suggestions at the same time. Would they do it in the presence of fierce competition? Major fashion brands from LVMH and Kering, fashion's two powerhouses, were notably absent in the letter and they have the right to do so. On a personal level, I think the industry needs to get rid of the bifurcation between the creative aspect and the business aspect of a brand. I'm not suggesting that it is trapped in such mindset, but that does not also mean there isn't still room for improvement. The creative and the entrepreneurial are mutually reinforcing. The declining creativity will end up hurting the sales of a brand in the long run if customers stop believing in its vision and aesthetics. Dries Van Noten set things in motion. Will the ball move forward?