FASHION MARKET LEVELS

Fashion market levels:

The fashion market it’s a big place high streets to high end, the master pieces of haute couture to the mass production of sweatshops – hundreds of brands, unique selling points and price points, from the thousands of pounds for a ball gown to £1 basics, including brands from Prada to Primark and everything in between.  Looking at the market as a whole can be overwhelming – when examining an amalgamation of tastes, budgets and needs all catered for at once it can be hard to distinguish what is what and which company competes with another. However, dividing the market into smaller segmentations (more digestible market levels) enables of clearer comparison of market sectors, allowing  those investigating to establish the origins and intentions of companies and see whose rubbing shoulders with who.

The fashion market can be deciphered into 6 market levels: Haute Couture, Luxury Fashion, Bridge Brands, Brand Diffusion, High street and economy. The 6 individual segmentations break the market up in terms of price points and who each levels target customer is, but closer analysis of each level conveys which companies sit within the bracket and why the market level was initially established.

1.    Haute Couture:

-What is the market level?

Haute Couture is the highest of all the market levels, it consists of bespoke garments hand made by seamstresses in workshops in Paris. For a garment to be considered Haute Couture, it must meet the requirements of the French Ministry of Industry. The pieces of couture clothing are made to measure and one, due to the hand made nature of the clothing they take a considerable amount of time to create and cannot be replicated.

-Where does it sit?

It sits at the top of the market due to the high quality nature of the pieces which take hours to create by the work of numerous seamstresses per garment.

Who is included?

For a piece to be regarded as haute couture it has to have been made in France and meet the requirements of the French Ministry of Industry. Therefore, only a handful of the French fashion houses are included – including Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Valentino and Jean Paul Gautier.

Entry prices?

The entry prices for couture start at around £16,000 - £20,000 but prices are dependent on the garment being made.

Audience?

The audience for haute couture clothing is usually professional individuals or royalty/nobility with a large amount of disposable income to spend on clothing. The audience for haute couture understands the high price point of the items which is due to the rare fashion and precious embellishment. A large market for couture is the emerging countries such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Also collectors make up a considerable size of the market, due to the understanding of the clothes increasing value over the years.

2.     Luxury:

-What is the market level?

Luxury is the second highest market level in the segmentation of the fashion market, it includes high quality designer brands that belong to the main designer conglomerates of LVMH, Kering and Richemont. The garments are not hand made but produced,  however not mass produced so there is control and limited availability.

-Where does it sit?

Luxury fashion sits below Couture , however the products are priced just high enough to feel part of an elite market.

Who is included?

Brands that are included are normally featured in the fashion week shows of London, Paris, New york and Milan – these include designers such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci,  Prada and Burberry.

Entry prices?

The entry prices vary dependent on the type of garment.

Audience?

The largest consumer of luxury products is China, where the individuals are from emerging economies with large amounts of disposable income. Usually the consumers of luxury brands are high earners, with incomes of £100,000 and 76% of the market is aged 35-54.

3

.    Bridge brands:

-What is the market level?

Bridge brands are brands at the top end of the high street, created to bridge the gap between high end and luxury.  They sell high quality clothing at adequate prices,  so that they are at the high end of affordable.

-Where does it sit?

Bridge brands sit third in the market hierarchy.

Who is included?

Examples of bridge brands are stores like Cos, L K Bennett, Reiss, Whistles and Jaeger. They all offer simplistic, minimalistic pieces which focus on giving high quality pieces within an affordable price bracket.

Entry prices?

Entry prices for garments start at around £50.

Audience?

The audiences for bridge brands are usually middle class, sophisticated women of an age of 30+. They have a moderate amount of disposable income to be concerned about buying quality products.

4.    Brand diffusion:

-What is the market level?

Brand diffusion is a market level below luxury as it is a diffusion line offered by luxury brands to make it more affordable for a lower price point. Diffusion lines have been described as ‘low-budget lines targeted at incurable label addicts who have champagne tastes at beer budgets’. Brand diffusion is produced in bulk but not mass produced, the fashion house then decides the price they want to retail their lines at in accordance to similar diffusion lines. The diffusion line usually sells more variety then the luxury brand – the original brand creates a more niche product base in order to not devalue the brand.

-Where does it sit?

The level sits fourth in the market hierarchy; it provides a bridge between the luxury labels and the high street and more economic budgets.

Who is included?

Examples of Brand Diffusion are ‘See by Chloe’, DKNY and mui mui. They are lower budget diffusions of the luxury labels Chloe, Donna Karen and Prada.

Entry prices?

The entry prices for brand diffusion is any thing between £40 -£400 regarding the type of product being sold. Usually the diffusion lines are priced at 30% less than the full brand.

Audience?

High end brands wanted to entice a new market, so created brand diffusion to appeal to younger customers with smaller budgets.In general, the brand having a secondary line meant more money and more press.

5.    High street:

-What is the market level?

The high street is t he penultimate market level, it was established in 1909 in an era when women predominantly stayed at home and looked after children so the department store was created to offer a new experience for women. The high street offers quality fashion ,with a longer life span than economy, at affordable prices.

-Where does it sit?

The market level sits second from bottom due to the affordable pricing and the fact that the products are massed produced to bring down the cost of each individual item.

Who is included?

Traditonal highstreet brands are stores such as John Lewis, Debanhams and Marks and Spencers – which are all department stores, offering both a wide range of affordable products and a customer experience.

Entry prices?

Entry prices for high street brands are at around £10 for basic items.

Audience?

The audience for the high street is normally males and females aged 45 and over, whose purchases and lifestyle are dictated by their finances. However, the traditional ‘highstreet’ is dying, most of the current high street customers are moving to fast fashion and with such number of transactions being carried out online, retailers with a string web offering now need just 70 high street stores to create a national presence – compared to the 250 shops needed in the 2000’s.

6.    Economy:

-What is the market level?

Economy is the home of fast fashion and mass production.

-Where does it sit?

Economy is the lowest level of the fashion hierarchy, it is based on fast fashion and mass production. It works efficiently to get trends from sweatshop to store front – being able to send a garment from the design process to being available to purchase in just two weeks.

Who is included?

The main conglomerates of economic fashion are Inditex,  H&M and Arcadia – they own a wide collection of stores featuring on the UK highstreet such as Zara, Topshop and Monki.

Entry prices?

Entry prices vary for each shop as they cater for a different niche of the economy market, however basic t-shirts all retail below £10 with the lowest pricing garment being from Primark and costing just £2.50. The prices are so low due to the manufacturing of products in bulk, this leads to low quality and short lifespans of products making it the least environmentally friendly fashion market.

Audience?

The audience of economic fashion is those who want on trend fashion at affordable prices – they want to receive value for their money.Shoppers may have lower budgets for their clothing and wish to buy garment that are on trend now, and  easily replaced rather than focusing on a products life span.