Introduction to the fashion industry.

In the most simple of terms there are 3 market levels which each brand can be put into, dividing up the world fashion. Haute couture, Premium high street/designer wear, and mass market.

Haute couture is a very exclusive market level everyone wants it but only a select few can really afford it. It has a very secret customer base and can be described as 'club members' celebrities tend to not fall under this membership as they are only lent the garments for promotions and promotional events, the real club members purchase the garments. If they aren't handmade in Paris then they can not be classed as Haute Couture. It requires and admiration for how the clothes are made and for the designer. There are no price tags and it's not about the volume of sales here but the drive to sell more accessories such as bags and perfumes due to the desire of just having something from that designer.

Alexander Mcqueen worked at Givenchy then founded his own label, Alexander Mcqueen.With stores in all the fashion capitals, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York and Las Vegas and dressing celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Rihanna and Nicole Kidman.

Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer based in Paris. Head designer and creative director of Chanel, as well as the Italian house of Fendi, all the while running his own fashion house 'Once one show is over the other must begin.'


The market begins to trickle down, we hit the premium hight street, the Gucci, the Dolce and Gabbana, the Prada, these will be cheaper than the Haute couture, there will be a higher volume, but to the most of us, it still feels overpriced. These items will be sold in independent premium hight street stores in larger cities such as London, and in more exclusive department stores such as Selfridges.

Gucci.

                                   

Prada

We trickle down to the bottom, the faster moving market, where most of us shop, the high street, the most affordable of the fashion market levels. The most inclusive level, a concentration on being stylish and keeping up with the big trends whilst being affordable and available to everyone.

H&M 

Warehouse 

There is a complete difference in each market level, that will be in how the garment is produced, the end price of the garment, the quality and how expensive the fabric is, the customer will even be completely different. And the sheer volume of product in high street compared to the exclusivity of the Haute Couture, as a Haute Couture or premium high street designer a lot of sales would actually be in the accessories and add ons to the brand such as the bags the perfumes, the jewellery, where as the high street stores don't need that, the customers don''t want to buy in and be a part of the high street company's as they do with the big name designers.