By SUZY MENKES
Published: June 15, 2009
PARIS — Last week, the designer Phoebe Philo showed her much-anticipated first collection for Céline. Not since she left her creative role at Chloé three years ago had the British designer offered her vision of brisk, modern sportswear with a feminine soul.
So which supermodel walked the runway? Which of Ms. Philo’s celebrity supporters sat front row? What hip mood music did she choose?The answer to all three questions is none. Because Céline inaugurated its new image with the Resort line — the practical, early-delivery collection that is creating the buzz in fashion now.
This week, Donatella Versace and Alber Elbaz of Lanvin will take their respective Resort collections to New York, where Christopher Bailey of Burberry and Miuccia Prada — along with most American designers — have already made their offerings to buyers and the press.
“But there is no television — it is not media driven,” says Sidney Toledano, president and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, explaining that these collections have taken over 60 to 70 percent of annual sales and offer a reality check for the Dior designer John Galliano’s flamboyant runway shows.
For Ms. Philo, who wanted her first collection to be blocks on which to build a wardrobe, the idea of Resort came naturally.
“I wanted to start with a pre-collection to give myself a dummy run — and I think it’s very important because of wardrobe value, ” Ms. Philo said as she presented jackets in a mélange of materials, wool capes, sleek knitwear, dresses with drapes and a tuxedo coat — all based on fabric research and with an industrial edge.
As Marco Gobbetti, CEO of Céline, puts it: “We agreed that Phoebe should start with a real foundation of product — it felt natural.”
Is this generalized move toward practicality a new attitude in the industry toward serving customers — or a last resort in a tumbling market?
The future of the fantastic runway show, designed to create an image and often aimed at the red carpet, is being challenged. Companies now realize that instead of providing fodder for fast fashion, their designers can focus on clothes to sell.
“And in terms of the ‘pre-coll’ what is interesting is the timing,” says Mr. Toledano. “It allows us to sell Resort at the end of May, then it is delivered October/November — a long period when sales are strong, and the stores want new things. I think the current system, when the spring runway collection is shown in October, is very late — when three quarters of the buying has already been done.”
The current Resort shows are more than a commercial collection of greatest hits. Mr. Elbaz at Lanvin has developed an intimate presentation, when he talks through the Resort line with a handful of buyers or editors — and that changes his own attitude.
“Pre-coll started because of America needing more merchandise — then designers started to present it,” says Mr. Elbaz. “Yet the moment a journalist gets into the picture we designers immediately become frantic — we turn into producers, and it is a different format when you get in supermodels.”
This season, Mr. Elbaz is focused on categories based on needs, including “men’s tailoring for women, capsules for traveling and weekend.”
“But it is all about the codes of Lanvin,” the designer says.
At Gucci, Frida Giannini says that she is “a big proponent of Cruise” (as Resort is also known) in order to refresh products and woo customers.
“I believe that the Cruise collection should be based on wearable clothes, with an emphasis on print and color,” Ms. Giannini says. “And yes, I am just as involved creatively in Cruise as I am with the seasonal collections.”
Whereas designers might once have left the commercial collections to their studios — much as couturiers gave licensees a free hand — now Resort has a creative focus. For example, Karl Lagerfeld brings his fertile imagination to interseason collections at Chanel and this season took Coco to Venice, after a previous trip to London and a peek at her Russian lover’s world.
Miuccia Prada, famous for her provocative runway shows, says that she sees Resort as a challenge and found it “very, very interesting to do.”
“I am personally involved, of course,” the designer says, “and it is very interesting and productive to do a more ‘real’ show, which also has a vision. So far the main show is more extreme, less linked to a ‘real’ necessity and pushed more to better understand the vision of the moment. Both are necessary in their differences.”
At Burberry, Mr. Bailey takes a slightly different view, believing that the Resort collection (which is currently in the showrooms both in the company’s London headquarters and in its newly opened New York building) is a pre-cursor of the main line.
“The pre-collections are incredibly important for us from both an aesthetic and commercial perspective — they are very much the indicator for the tone and mood of the season and serve as a preview for our runway shows,” Mr. Bailey says.
Yet there remains a nagging question: if the Resort collections are practical, stylish and have vital customer appeal, why would they not all be shown on the runway — either in addition or instead of the big international show?
Donatella Versace, who is currently presenting a streamlined Resort collection, lighted with print and color, does not envisage it on the runway.
“It’s a commercial collection and having a full blown runway show can be confusing as it ruins the ‘commercialized’ moment,” Ms. Versace says.
Ms. Giannini is also doubtful about a catwalk show for Gucci.
“Although I have shown the Cruise collection on the runway on a couple of special occasions in the past, I feel that these pre-collections for both men and women, which are ultimately more commercially driven, are more appropriately presented to buyers and press in the showroom,” the designer says. “I want to let the runway speak for my major, twice-yearly messages.”
With the cost of a big-brand show well over a half-million dollars, it is hard for companies to justify the expense of yet more catwalks, especially for those houses that will be doing menswear presentations starting next week, at the same time as the pre-collection (and, in the case of Dior, as haute couture). But, as Mr. Toledano points out, all the existing systems are constantly re-assessed, with the Cannes Film Festival, for example, serving as a celebrity runway, while the Internet has made the mini-film another branding tool.
Since Baz Luhrmann directed Nicole Kidman in a mini-movie for Chanel four years ago, Mr. Lagerfeld has directed his own vision of Coco, while Dior produced this spring an action movie with the French star Marion Cotillard.
Could the cyberscreen be the next fashion step, with a “virtual” presentation? That would raise the possibility of zooming in on details or creating interactive “conversations” with potential clients.
A surprising enthusiast is Ms. Versace, who says: “I’ve been thinking about doing a virtual runway show for over a year — we need to find a new formula for runway shows.”
Mr. Bailey, who has tapped into high-tech for many of the functions in the new Burberry headquarters, can also imagine a virtual experience.
“I feel that digital is a huge part of the future of shows and will be used more and more innovatively,” he says. “But at the same time, I don’t feel it will ever completely take over because there is something unique about the excitement and the theater of putting on a show.
“It’s so much more than just a parade of models — it allows us to amplify and display our creativity and express our point of view. Everything is heightened in that moment and the momentum that it creates is so important for us because those ‘15 minutes’ will live on with buyers, press and consumers globally and leave a lasting impression.”
Photo :: 2010 Resort pre-collection from Lanvin.
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