Unlimited Limited Editions
The Latest Way Fashion Brands Try to Stand Out
Fashionistas love scarcity; hence the flood of "limited" editions...which can seem virtually unlimited these days. Is this anyway for a fashion label to get noticed?
In an age when everyone’s a “designer” and has a massive PR machine in place to trumpet the fact – hello Sarah Jessica Parker for Steve & Barry’s, Gwen Stefani/L.A.M.B., Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Nicky Hilton – how do fashion labels distinguish themselves? By tapping into a fundamental characteristic of the average fashionista: a love of exclusivity.
SCARCITY BREEDS DESIRE
At the extreme luxury end of the market, the uber-pricey haute couture market is booming, inherently limited as it is by six figure pricetags and a relatively scarce supply of craftspeople. “People want something rare,” Stanislas de Quercize, president of Van Cleef & Arpels recently told WWD (Fashion Brands Use Scarcity as Strategy With Limited Editions, August 7, 2007). “When you see what’s happening with art at the auction houses, you know that. There is money, and people will pay to have a one-of-a-kind piece.” Agrees Robert Burke of Robert Burke Associates, a New York brand consultancy: “You can make money with limited editions. It’s not only about drawing in new customers or serving as a marketing tool to drive volume. Consumers today more than ever want exclusive products — look how couture is thriving.”
Some examples of recent limited edition items:
- Hermès 10 special $25,000 Cape Cod watches for the opening of its Wall Street store (NYC)
- Prada $160 limited edition white T-shirts with Rem Koolhaas
- Wrangler limited edition jeans
- Puma limited edition sneakers
- J. Crew limited edition clothing
- Ralph Lauren limited edition Net-a-Porter.com shirts to raise funds for breast cancer
- Marc Jacobs limited edition home fragrances
- John Galliano limited edition Diptyique candles
- Sean “Diddy” Combs limited edition fragrances
- Samsonite limited edition luggage with Alexander McQueen
- Topshop limited edition $575 dresses by Kate Moss
A LIMITED EDITION TOO FAR?
While labeling an especially lustworthy item “limited edition” tends to bring out the covetous collector in most self-respecting style mavens, limited editions are becoming such an unlimited phenomenon as to risk undermining their raison d’être. “It’s almost comical,” muses Sarah Lerfel of painfully hip Paris store Colette. “When you turn on the TV, you even see advertisements for limited edition cheese. But it still works. It proves people want something different. We have to get them in the store. If they can’t get it online or elsewhere, they will come in…It’s not only happening in luxury and fashion. Limited edition is equally strong in T-shirts, sneakers and even toys.”
With the flood of limited editions becoming mass market, true collectors are becoming ever more picky and willing to shell out exorbitant amounts.“Customers’ appetites are becoming more discerning,” explains Jolyon Fenwick, one of the co-founders with Marcus Husselby of 20ltd.com, which trafficks solely in limited edition runs limits its product offering to 20 products at any given time, such as the sold out 20,000 GBP ($40,000) Zaha Hadid tea set in silver or $20,000 ($10,000 GBP) Pucci rug on the site. “But at the same time, the limited edition concept has lost a lot of its integrity. I was at McDonald’s and saw a limited edition hamburger…The landscape of luxury has altered,” said Fenwick. “Luxury went to the street. Consequently, luxury is moving more upscale. Limited editions appeal to the opinion-formers. It’s like listening to music that’s on the charts and music that’s for the cognoscenti. That’s the difference.”
 |
 |
 |
 |
