The Big Corporate Monster?

The Big Corporate.Monster?

By Noxema Jackson


We see it happen in every field.. the knockoff. In music it’s the illegal downloading that hurts the industry but in fashion sometimes its not so black and white. When designers come out with their collections they are fully a product of their creative minds as wild as the clothing may be. What companies like  H&M and others such as Forever 21 and Target are doing is kind of harsh to the high end couture lovers but lets face it we don’t all make six figure paychecks. Fashion is a right every person should have at any budget and while I can sit here and be a snob about how fashion should be for the ones that can afford the couture its not my view at all. 
The people that actually think the fashion houses of Paris and Italy are suffering from all of this must be out of their minds. One thing we tend to forget is that Europe will always be far ahead of us with trends and fashion that’s just a fact. By the time such styles make their way to us in retailers such as Target, H&M and others they are already over in the European market so there is no loss to the designers whatsoever. Another thing I should point out is the new development  where these corporations are actually teaming up WITH these designers in order to bring style to those with modest income. Take for example Vera Wang and Karl Lagerfeld, in November of 2004 Lagerfeld’s collection for H&M debuted and sold out in mere hours. We later hear of Lagerfeld’s  disappointment when he told Vogue magazine he would never work with the Swedish retail giant again adding “They did not make the clothes in sufficient quantities. I find it embarrassing that H&M let down so many people… I don't think that is very kind, especially for people in small towns and countries in eastern Europe. It is snobbery created by anti-snobbery." So you see you cant win them all. Another fashion great Vera Wang also teamed up with a big chain this time it was the chic Kohls . Wang’s efforts were more effective because eventhough she took a chance with going to route of a store that had never showcased such a high end designer she surely overcame with flying colors. Her line Simply Vera Wang which made its debut in September of 2007 was such a success that it can still be found in Kohls all over the country. It has offered style to girls that couldn’t otherwise afford such luxury and I know of at least three of my girlfriends who wear the collection and love it.

I guess ill leave it to a person who could have said it better herself if she wasn’t a made up character in a movie. It was the great Miranda Priestly herself who said “And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.

In my opinion fashion is for the brave souls who wake up ever morning and decide that they are going to take time and make themselves presentable to the outside world. So wether you follow a trend or don’t or wether you shop Indie or go the couture route. Get up! Look fabulous! Read Fashion Indie and youll be all set.