New trends and fashions in clothing are mostly introduced by top-notch designers and brands who in simple words are quite expensive for most of us. There are several reasons behind this bitter reality. Any organization whether in the fashion industry or any other spends massively on R&D with the purpose to bring something new in the market and cash in the first-mover advantage. In today’s age, any product or fashion is soon replicated, and the first-mover advantage is quite short-lived. Hence, these brands and designers are only left with one option to cover those crazy amounts spent – keep their prices high.
Moreover, most of these fancy designers and brands have a specific target audience that is aligned with their high-end brand image. Hence, keeping the prices low could lead to suicide for their new product line. The rich brats wouldn’t want to buy something cheaper from a brand that they like to flaunt in their social circle as it could possibly harm their status image. Thus, the brands or the designers not only could lose their market share but also their long-built reputation in the market. To help you get more clarity, imagine Gucci selling their clothes at the same price as Kmart – Yes, that would be great news for the masses but about the high-end class? They might want to look for an outlet on Mars. Plus, the overwhelmingly high-profit margins that brands like Gucci are accustomed to enjoying. They might want to look for another line of business then.
Like every other story, this has the flip side too! In today’s age of media being immensely powerful and widely spread across the globe, fashions cannot enjoy exclusivity. Smaller international, as well as local brands, designers, and mass manufacturers, are always looking forward to enjoying the second-mover advantage. Since they do not have to spend hefty amounts on the R&D nor are they obligated to keep up with a brand image that preaches expensiveness, they can easily replicate the latest clothing trends and offer at a much affordable price. Hence, people with a limited or constrained financial situation can also afford to look fashionable or trendy like their favorite celebrity icons.
But the story doesn’t end here as the important question coming to our minds would be – how do brands differentiate themselves while offering the same designs?
The answer to the question above leads to a few offerings such as quality, aesthetics, brand image, etc. Even the mediocre international and local brands have different classes and cater to different audiences. Better brands would offer clothes and shoes that offer comparatively higher quality and decent aesthetics that could resonate with their brand image as well as the target audience whereas brands catering to the lower end of the society would keep these standards at a lower level which is equally liked by those targeted consumers.
Although, looking fashionable or maintaining a trendy appearance could cost more for some but it is yet affordable for all provided they are at the right place to buy from. However, trends and fashions in clothing and shoes are changing every now and then, thus keeping your wardrobe up to date with them could get a bit costly at times. Some people often feel discouraged to buy something different or trendy for the same reason that it might get outdated quite soon and would become a waste then.
Hence, we can conclude that a fashionable or a trendy look is not always expensive to have as long as one goes to the right place for shopping and has the right aesthetic sense.
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