Oscar de la Renta is using Amazon instead of fashion weeks to buy clients.
The New York-based luxury fashion house has found that by streaming a show on its eCommerce site and showcasing its wares at off-season shows, it reaches its customers directly. Fashion weeks and other industry events only reach industry buyers and the fashion press, the Financial Times reported on Thursday (15 December).
“Our industry has a problem keeping up with the Joneses,” Oscar de la Renta CEO Alex Bolen said in the report. “I have no business spending that kind of money on a fashion show to sell clothes.”
According to the report, many small and medium-sized brands are focusing on running a profitable business instead of trying to keep up with the promotional activities of luxury giants such as LVMH and Kering.
At Oscar de la Renta, sales are above pre-pandemic 2019 and profit margins have increased from 10% to 25%, the report said.
“Is Amazon exactly the right place for luxury fashion? I’m not sure,” Bolen said in the report. “But we have to experiment with new ways to highlight our story.”
When Amazon Luxury Stores made its debut two years ago, it did so as an invitation-only offering for eligible Prime members that began with Oscar de la Renta’s Fall/Winter 2020 line.
A September 2020 press release noted that the collections are “sold directly by participating brands as a store-within-a-store experience,” brands make independent decisions about their inventory, selection, and pricing—and Amazon provides the tools of commerce for brands to create and personalize content in each of their unique brand voices.”
As PYMNTS reported on Oct. 21, Amazon has since expanded the concept to European markets and added brands in the U.S.
“Since the unveiling of Amazon Luxury Stores with iconic fashion house Oscar de la Renta, the American retailer now includes a wide and diverse range of global fashion and beauty brands and is constantly exploring new and exciting ways to engage customers ,” Amazon said in June. blog post.
At the same time, Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s and other players are scrambling to find ways to shrink Amazon’s growing gap in the apparel retail category.
As PYMNTS reported on August 22, Walmart, for example, is trying purchased video and influencer marketing.
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