With the U.S.economy up in the air - gas prices rising and the real estate market slowing down - there is pressure on the retail sector to make adjustments to accomodate fashion buyers. However, there are some fashion companies that are still making progress despite all the unknown because the thing is, we never know what's going to happen economically. However, experienced companies that have gone through this before know how to make adjustments and have a sense of timing when it comes to making important business decisions. Companies like Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL), Jones Apparel Group, Inc. (JNY), and Liz Claiborne, Inc. (LIZ) have shown that they can survive through the ups and downs of the market.
In today's market, there's very little room for mistakes. In order to survive you need to have a firm grasp on what's going on in the industry and have a good sense for what the people want.
What are your thoughts on this? Share your experiences by leaving a comment!
First, congrats on writing a good title although it doesn't answer the question. Second, only one of the companies you listed (polo) is on the upswing. Jones Apparel Group has fallen from 17th place to 23rd. Liz Claiborne has fallen from 19th place to 31st place. Iow, just because these companies are well known doesn't mean their companies are well run. As someone who spends day in, day out writing FREE advice to fashion start ups on my website on how to succeed in the fashion industry (and has consulted with a lot of prestigious companies), it can send the wrong message. Most people start out really small. Actually, they all do. Usually one or two people. Some of the people I started working with 10 years ago are doing over 75 million a year now but they won't be on those lists because their companies are privately held. Iow, *they* are keeping more of what they make than those publicly traded companies you list. Some of my companies are more modest of course but if you're a one person company who started out a year ago with $700 bucks and a year later, you're pulling in 500,000 and slated to do 3 million next year, that is fabulous! I'm proud to have helped make that happen.
To survive in today's fashion industry you need education more than anything and luckily, a lot of that is free but you do have to go get it or point people in the right direction where they can find it.
Posted by: Kathleen Fasanella | July 26, 2006 12:50 PM | Permalink to Comment