Kayla ZellerFashion Journal

Entries 1-14

Table of Contents:

Entry #1 P&G Prestige article by Cynthia Martens

Entry #2 “Elements of Style” article by Adrienne Gaffney

Entry #3 “Star of Wonder- Star of Night”-- Vogue on fashion trend

Entry #4 Men's Jackets Observations

Entry #5

Entry #6

Entry #7 Color/Fabric Trends

Entry #8 Current Trends—Predicted Trends

Entry #9

Entry #10 “Liz & Dick” movie-- Revival of fashion trend?

Entry #11 FirstView.com

Entry #12 Job Position Descriptions

Entry #13 Fashion Don'ts (according to “Sept. 3, 1942: Workwear Don'ts, WW II-Style” by Vanessa Lau)

Entry #14 Possible Career Opportunities

Entry #1 P&G Prestige article by Cynthia Martens

November 30, 2012P&G Prestige: Building a Luxury Business on Consumer Insights

By CYNTHIA MARTENS

Last Christmas in London, Joanne Crewes went undercover as part of Harrods’ beauty staff, selling more fine fragrances than any of her colleagues. “We see the consumer as boss,” said Crewes, president of Procter & Gamble Co.’s Global Prestige division.

By directly interacting with consumers, said Crewes: “You really get to know what matters. You get to know whether the product seems like it’s innovative or not, whether the value is right, whether the packaging’s right. And in that instant, just meeting the consumer, it’s like frontline — it’s raw.”

P&G created its original prestige division, called P&G Prestige Beauté, in 1992 through the acquisition of Eurocos Cosmetic, which had licenses for Hugo Boss and Laura Biagiotti. In 2001, P&G bought Jean Patou Paris, and with it the Lacoste license, and in 2003, the company snagged the Valentino fragrance license (now owned by Puig). In 2005, the acquisition of Wella’s Cosmopolitan Cosmetics brought more than 25 brands, including Escada, Puma, Bruno Banani and Mexx, into the fold, and P&G renamed the division P&G Prestige Products to reflect the multiple categories, including male grooming, it now encompassed. In November of that year, the company signed a licensing agreement with Dolce & Gabbana, and in 2006, Gucci signed a contract with P&G after the expiration of its contract with Wella. In 2009, the company’s luxury skin-care brand SK-II joined the prestige branch, as its target consumers shared the profile and distribution channels of other prestige brands. P&G Global Prestige has a portfolio spanning “from the most luxurious names in fashion through to our most recent license, 007,” said Crewes, referring to the recently launched James Bond fragrance brand. 

P&G initially decided to go after the prestige fragrance market believing “that the fundamentals of the fragrance business were completely in line with P&G core strengths, namely brand-building, consumer-driven innovation, scale and go-to-market excellence,” said Crewes. Central to building the business is a relentless pursuit of consumers’ “unarticulated needs,” she explained, through direct interaction with beauty shoppers worldwide — whether in stores or in their homes — as well as through extensive product, concept and advertising testing.

Skin care (33 percent), fragrance (33 percent) and cosmetics (20 percent) represent the major components of the global prestige market — worth more than $90 billion in annual sales — while hair products and other categories account for the remaining 14 percent. Today, P&G Global Prestige is among the top five beauty companies worldwide, and though Crewes wouldn’t divulge percentages, she said its own breakdown closely mirrors these figures. Currently based in Singapore, Crewes joined P&G in her native Australia in 1988, when she worked as a brand assistant for Pert shampoo. “I expected to stay a couple of years, earn some money and go

back-packing through Europe — the Australian dream. But once I started work, the company gave me a lot of opportunities,” she said.

At 25, she moved to Japan to develop the Max Factor and SK-II brands. P&G paid for language lessons — a benefit the company still offers employees sent on international assignments. Over the years, Crewes continued to work for P&G on brand development and marketing for hair, skin, cosmetics and fine fragrances in Asia and Australia, rising through the ranks and becoming president of Global Prestige in 2011.

The prestige business is flourishing. P&G’s Dolce & Gabbana cosmetics license has tripled in revenue since 2005, while Gucci has more than doubled its business over the last two years and will grow by double digits this year, fueled by strong results from the Gucci Flora, Gucci Guilty and Gucci Première fragrances, said Crewes. Hugo Boss is expanding its selection of women’s scents with the launch of Boss Nuit. And SK-II is seeing double-digit growth in Asia, where it is the number-one skin-care brand: its first men’s skin-care products sold out at the Korean launch in four days, prompting subsequent expansion into Hong Kong, Taiwan, Greater China and Singapore. “SK-II is our first Prestige billion-dollar brand, and our first Asian billion-dollar brand,” said Crewes.

Skin care is key to prestige growth, and the men’s category is developing rapidly. When P&G discovered that many men were borrowing their partners’ SK-II products, but that few of them were approaching the beauty counter for advice, the company spotted an untapped market. “What we wanted to do was actively get into the men’s line, and it made perfect sense in Asia. Asian men don’t seem to have the stigma that they are doing something that is more of a women’s ritual,” said Crewes.

In Europe and in the West, skin-care product usage is lower among men than in Asia, but there is a generational divide, with younger men more willing to experiment. “It is one of the fastest-growing categories,” Crewes noted.

Celebrity brand ambassadors also have been key to marketing SK-II, with a caveat: P&G only hires celebrities who are already users of its products. Australian actress Cate Blanchett is one and, recently, Korean heartthrob Yoo Ji-tae became the first ambassador for the SK-II men’s line.

“It’s amazing the authenticity he’s able to bring to guys,” said Crewes. “It’s not fake, it’s not that he’s gone ‘OK, great, I’ve just signed with this brand and I’m learning about it.’ You know, he’s actually teaching us a few things.”

If Eastern consumers are shaping skin-care habits in the West, then Western consumers in Europe and the U.S. are sparking interest among their Asian counterparts in fine fragrances and cosmetics, thanks largely to an increase in travel and Internet usage, said Crewes. In Japan, where SK-II has been an established skin-care brand for 30 years, the newly launched SK-II color cosmetics line has performed well.

“Europe remains the largest and most established fine-fragrance market,” she noted, adding that the U.S. market, while also large, was more driven by volume than by individual consumption habits. Color cosmetics, meanwhile, are up by 150 percent this year in Italy, where Dolce & Gabbana’s line is among the top three brands at department stores.

P&G sees significant opportunity for growth in the fine-fragrance business in Latin America, the Middle East and China. 

“We do see growing interest from consumers, especially younger ones as education on the category grows and knowledge on fragrance usage increases,” Crewes said. She noted that fragrances are being promoted as a new way for customers to wear their favorite labels. P&G carefully links each scent to its designer, by adding visual cues such as the golden horse bit on the Gucci Première bottle, studying how consumers relate to fashion houses and analyzing what fragrance notes are evocative of each brand. Young Chinese customers, Crewes added, increasingly view fragrances and prestige cosmetics as affordable luxuries they can pamper themselves with.

One might expect noticeable differences in marketing strategies across different regions, but Crewes said P&G’s research has confirmed year after year: “that for beauty products, dreams are universal,” and consequently, “we do very little to adapt our marketing locally.”

P&G is intent on seducing customers worldwide with “classic” products and developing a sense of loyalty and trust in shoppers who might otherwise feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of launches. The risk for beauty companies today, said to Crewes, is “killing the magic” with a continuous onslaught of new products. There is a greater need for “strategic category management,” she said.

Travel retail is one of the hottest categories of the moment in the beauty industry, up 40 percent over the past year in Europe, 32 percent in Asia and 20 percent in Latin America, according to P&G research. The category is expected to explode over the next five years, up an average of 14 percent a year, as passenger growth is set to quadruple in Asia alone over the next 20 years and duty-free boutiques have a high conversion rate. Fragrances represent about two-thirds of the beauty business generated by travel retail worldwide, while in Asia skin-care products generate 50 percent of sales.

Crewes said P&G is focusing on catering to the specific needs of airport shoppers who don’t have much time to browse. “Having products that are really easy to shop on the shelf, value for money, propositions that someone can pick up for a friend, or a gift approach are all very appealing,” she said. Traveling shoppers are also drawn to the “classic” products P&G is carefully building up, as they recognize the brand names and feel comfortable purchasing even fragrances they have never smelled, for instance.

The universality of luxury, said Crewes, is ultimately behind growth in the prestige category. “Dreams are basically the same the world over,” she said. “People aspire to loveliness and beautiful things.” Her goal is to provide customers with that “little piece of loveliness” they don’t know they’re missing.

Summary: In brief summary of this article, Joanne Crewes-- Procter & Gamble Co.’s Global Prestige

division-- went undercover as part of Harrold's beauty staff. She did this as a way to get more reliable feedback from consumers, and also experience the selling aspect as part of the staff. What was interesting to me was that she actually sold more than the rest of her “colleagues.” This is probably due to her more experienced and practiced background.

This article definitely reminded me of the show “Undercover Boss” on television. It's my opinion that it's a good idea to go undercover in businesses to get that reliable feedback. The fact that it's misleading—or even lying to people-- isn't great, but it is important to discover what people truly think about your products/services. For Crewes, she was able to discover if consumers found the products innovative, valuable for the price, and if the packaging was attractive to buy.

Overall, going undercover and acting as a normal employee allows for more insight. This way, the product line is able to produce exactly what their target market wants.

Entry #2 “Elements of Style” article by Adrienne Gaffney

This article is relevant to the fashion industry because it describes the fashion stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, who created scenes for “Vogue.” Women like Dudzeele are important for the fashion industry because she helped create an aesthetically pleasing image for women to follow. It was through her that helped models like Naomi Campbell get modeling and fashion jobs and experience.

The most interesting thing to me about this article was: “[She] created the image of an urban lady awash in fine jewelry. She compared the character to Jackie O, and the connection is apparent immediately, in the sunglasses, head scarf, and chain-strapped purse.”

Conclusively, Dudzeele helped women in urban settings recognize that they were able to be elegant, just as much as the next lady; she helped them see that it's possible to be adorned in fine apparel and feel beautiful, even if they lived in a gruff area or city. The fact that she compared this character to Jackie O made the look seem for realistic for women to follow, since they now had a model and image of who and what to follow.

Entry #3 “Star of Wonder- Star of Night”-- Vogue on fashion trend

Instead of wearing nostalgic velvety Victorian dresses or bustled Edwardian ball skirts, this article explains that this year will have more of a futuristic look using silver and gold. In other words, women won't be ornamenting themselves with ornate embellishment, but will let the boldly hued fabric speak for itself.

Entry #4 Men's Jackets ObservationsI chose to observe a single piece—a man’s jacket—and compare the trend from 2011 to 2012.

My observation of the 2012 coats was mainly based on color and texture. When looking at pictures of trendy men’s jackets on WWD.com, I was surprised how colorful the jackets were; they had a color palette that ranged from smoldering black to sea-green and orange.

I did not see that many similarities between men’s jackets from Fall 2011 to Fall 2012, though one did stand out to me. I observed that both coats still have the double-breasted feature.

For the most part, the jackets are much different today than they were a year ago. First, men’s jackets were mainly made of wool and featured many buttons. The pea-coat seemed to be the trend at the time. This year, however, men’s jackets look much fancier. Instead of being made of wool, many jackets are now made of velvet in many different colors.

Men’s Fall 2012 jackets are very eccentric and much more fun, to say the least. However, I would say that I favor the plain pea-coats compared to this wild new fashion.

Entry #7 Color/Fabric Trends·Cotton

Cotton Plant fibers

Mexico

·Faux Suede

Polyester

Britain

·Leather

Collagen fiber

Spain

Samples of current color trends:

Entry #8 Current Trends--Predicted TrendsCurrent Trends

·South Africa:

·Bridge and Ready To Wear are trendy

·Combination of colors and prints, mostly animal prints

·Classic silhouettes (like A-line and Edwardian skirts)

·India

·Traditional weaves from Indian textile

·Silver & Golden gotta patti (embellishment)

·Gotta in embroidery, on the hemlines of a kurta (loose-fitting shirt) & the border of a

traditional Saree dress

·Bell sleeves, lotus petals, sequin work & gemstone studded sleeves

·Long sleeve blouses with embroidery on the cuffs

·Belts

·Greece

·Sexy styling that includes a wide variety of visible lingerie, combined with casual clothes,

like trousers, cardigans and jackets

·Scarves, belts, hats, pashminas

· Floral

·Youthful style

Winter/Spring Trends

·South Africa

·Geometric prints

·Animal prints

·Fur

·Fur jackets

·India

·Combination of pattern and texture with big pops of color

·Structured tailoring, layering, maxi dresses

·Greece

·BIG prints

·Polka dots

·Bold colors, like fire-hydrant red

·Bell sleeves

Entry #10 “Liz & Dick” movie-- Revival of fashion trend?

After viewing the film “Liz & Dick” starring Lindsay Lohan, I realized that there are definitely a few looks in here that could be seen as being “revived” in today's fashion world. The movie depicts the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Obviously, the most distinct impression the movie had on me was Taylor's love for fashion and jewelry. The obscure romance Taylor had with Burton was also characterized by her desire for expensive things. The movie seems to portray Burton's character, who was easily convinced into buying expensive items for her, to be quite accurate when reflecting on their romance retrospectively.

Entry #11 FirstView.com

The designer I chose to research on FirstView.com was A la Disposition, its Ready To Wear Runway collection, for Fall/Winter 2012. A la Disposition is definitely a high-couture type of retailer. What I like about their collection is that it's so different. It's clear that this designer is very talented and distinctive, two traits that I think are most desired and appealing in the fashion world.

To me, this particular collection reflects industrialization and steampunk fashion.

Entry #12 Job Position Descriptions

Journal #121.       Fashion designer: To be a fashion designer, you need to be artistic and practical; your ideas shape the consumer’s world. You also need to be able to design many different things (fashion, furnish\hings, housewares, etc.) Designers must consider the availability and cost of materials, and particular image the firm wants to maintain. Creativity is key in this job position.

2.       Buyer: As a buyer, your job is to buy and coordinate orders. You work with retailers, whole-salers, and apparel manufacturers. It is the buyer’s job to observe fashion trends, make strategic plans with trend information, make vendor recommendations, and coordinate imports.

3.       Product Development Manager: PDM is in charge of presenting mechandise that has already been researched by marketing and trend teams. It’s their job to present to wholesale to help them de-velop signature trend; present to retailers to develop private label development at their own stores. This job is MAJORLY based on advertising.

Entry #13 Fashion Don'ts (according to “Sept. 3, 1942: Workwear Don'ts, WW II-Style” by Vanessa Lau)

This is an article from 1942 by Vanessa Lau, explaining don’ts in the workplace for women. 1. No glitter: glitter would take away focus when attending machinery, all her “sparkling gadgets”

will only cause trouble for machinery2. No sweaters: Too easy for machinery things, like gear, to get caught in loose-knitted stitches.

Instead, wear overalls.3. No “fluff”: Ruffles are entirely inappropriate in such a workplace setting; it’s also a HUGE dan-

ger sign.4. No baggy-ness: Not only do women who wear ill-fitting clothes look frumpy, but they also look

sloppy. This baggy worn-down look does not help worker’s morale.

Entry #14 Possible Career Opportunities1. Advertising: I think I would like this because I would be exposed to all new fashions and be

able to present them in an appealing way.a. I think I’d be good at advertising because I catch on really quickly and could find ways

to persuade people into buying things.2. Public Relations: I like that this requires people skills and creativity. I love the idea of present-

ing and promoting new items or ideas.a. I’d be good at this because I love working with people and being continuously creative.

Plus, I like the idea of maintaining a positive image for a client—I would be more than willing to take on that responsibility.

3. Visual Merchandising: I love making things look pretty! This is important to consumers be-cause if it’s not visually appealing, no one will want to buy it.

a. I think I’d be good at this because I work in a retail store right now—one of my duties is to organize stock and make the items/furniture look pleasing so people will want to buy, not just walk past.

4. Advertising: I think I would like this because I would be exposed to all new fashions and be able to present them in an appealing way.

a. I think I’d be good at advertising because I catch on really quickly and could find ways to persuade people into buying things.

5. Public Relations: I like that this requires people skills and creativity. I love the idea of present-ing and promoting new items or ideas.I’d be good at this because I love working with people and being continuously creative. Plus, I like the idea of maintaining a positive image for a client—I would be more than willing to take on that responsibility.isual Merchandising: I love mak-ing things look pretty! This is important to consumers because if it’s not visually appealing, no one will want to buy it.

a. I think I’d be good at this because I work in a retail store right now—one of my duties is to organize stock and make the items/furniture look pleasing so people will want to buy, not just walk past.