Shop Talk

Luxury apparel, redefined

American luxury retail has been, well, in shambles.

Since department store revenues began to plummet in September, luxury’s glossy image transformed to one that brings to mind strewn-about merchandise on a Saks Fifth Avenue floor.

Pricing structures have come under pressure as shoppers seek deep discounts, or worse, question price guidelines after aggressive reductions at the end of last year.  In the spring, markdowns crept dangerously close to the start of the season.  Clearly, discounts really are not what designers want their labels to be known for.

“For younger, newer designers, image is everything,” said fashion consulting firm Launch Collective’s Rob Spira, who recently co-curated the New York City Save Fashion pop-up shop to celebrate independent designers.

“Before, designers were coming to us for ideas to build funding,” Spira told Reuters at the Save Fashion store, which popular style Web site Refinery29 also co-curated.  “Now they’re looking for creative ways to sustain in this kind of environment.”

Refinery29 Editorial Director Christene Barberich said many rising designers complained recently that upscale department stores were canceling orders despite interest in their brands.

Check Out Line: Who needs foreign tourists? Luxury chains have Palin!

Check Out Alaska Gov. and hockey mom Sarah Palin, who’s not only John McCain’s vice presidential pick, but a luxury fashion maverick.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 since late August to outfit Palin and her family in the fanciest of duds from department stores like Saks and Neiman Marcus, says politico.com.

The financial disclosure records, included under the line item “itemized coordinated expenditures,” show RNC expenditures at Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York of $49,425.74 in September. Based on Saks’  September comparable-store sales of $273.2 million,  Palin accounted for .018 percent of sales.

The RNC also spent $75,062.63 during one September trip to Neiman Marcus, says politico.com, which would represent .012 percent of Neiman’s September comparable-store sales of $406 million.

The RNC spent only $789.72 at Neiman-owned Barneys New York but dropped $5,102.71 at Bloomingdale’s, which is operated by Macy’s, said politico.com, a website that tracks political news.

Hefty primping expenditures on the campaign trail are nothing new. U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, received guff for her expensive custom-made pantsuits, which cost upward of $6,350 each.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on Palin’s hair and makeup, and made $295  in purchases at high-end children’s stores Pacifier and Steiniauf & Stroller Inc., according to politico.com.