Let’s talk types of fashion brands for a minute: what the heck is the difference between designer and contemporary? Name brand and fast fashion? What about diffusion lines and haute couture? These terms are thrown around a lot, as if we all are supposed to know what they mean, and frankly I’ve never seen them actually explained anywhere. And Lord knows that there’s a lot of confusion (we have Juicy Couture to thank for that, in all it’s velour tracksuit glory).
There’s really no hard-and-fast definition of any of these terms – it’s really more of a consensus, and the lines are blurred. There’s an element of artisanship, craft, storytelling, and quality, yes, and frankly many people would say that those elements are what define these categories. Certainly, they play a large role, but so does price.
In theory, price should be proportional to the level of craftsmanship, but we all know that that’s not the case – who here has bought a Forever 21 dress that somehow lasted ten years? Or a Kate Spade bag that frayed in just weeks? Branding, price point, and manufacturing play a role in how a brand is defined.
Let’s break the types of fashion brands down:
Haute Couture
For an in-depth look at haute couture, definitely check out this post.
For all my talk about no “hard-and-fast definitions,” haute couture is an exception: it is actually a legally protected term by the French government, and there are strict requirements to be deemed so. Garments must be made to order, for example, and the designer must have an atelier in Paris with a specific number of full-time employees, among other rules.
“Couture” on it’s own – without the “haute,” and not including when the term is used ironically or spelled with a “k” – is generally accepted to mean that a designer is creating made-to-order garments for specific clients by hand. While they embody the spirit of haute couture, they have not been approved by The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, the official governing body of haute couture. Now, at their discretion, the Fédération may invite couture designers to participate in Haute Couture Week, even though they are couturiers and not haute couturiers.
Price point for couture generally starts at $5,000, although most garments, especially dresses, easily go for many tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yes. These are the pieces you’d see on display at the Met; they’re considered cultural heirlooms.
Schiaparelli, Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Givenchy are examples of brands which have haute couture lines.
Designer
I often hear “designer” and “couture” used interchangeably, and while there is some overlap between the two, they really are distinct entities. Most designers produce “ready-to-wear,” or “pret-a-porter” collections, which as the name suggests, are mass produced and not made to order.
To be considered “designer,” the quality, artistic prowess, brand history, and price point come together in a nebulous, somewhat subjective ball and out of a primordial, very expensive, black box a brand emerges designer (*jazz hands*).
For example, Dior has an haute couture line AND a ready-to-wear line. Both are rooted in the brand’s story of classical Parisian silhouettes, although the ready-to-wear is mass produced and is sold at a lower (but not, by any means, low) price point. Balmain, Balenciaga, Versace, Gucci, Prada – all designer.
As far as price, the absolute lowest you’d see for a designer would be several hundred dollars, say for a pair of socks (that sounds like a joke, but it isn’t). Generally speaking, most items fall between $1,000 and $10,000.
Contemporary
This category is also known as “bridge brands,” meaning they cater to fashion-conscious people who seek high quality, sartorially relevant clothes at a low(er) price point than straight-up designer brands.
Many of these brands are on the cusp of being considered “designer,” a fact that Neiman Marcus seems to have capitalized on. Their contemporary collections are housed in their “Cusp” department, and my friend Lauren jokes that it’s a derogatory term they’ve created for their lowest-income customer who’s on the “cusp” of making it from the engine room up to first-class (I should add that every employee I’ve ever interacted with at Neiman Marcus has been nothing but warm and accommodating, despite the fact that I positively reek of proverbial “engine room”).
A great example of a contemporary brand is Thurley, who made the dress I wore in this post from last week. The silhouette was impeccable, the design completely relevant to the mood at the fashion forefront today, and let me tell you: if you flip the dress inside-out and inspect the seams, you’ll see that not only is everything lined with sturdy, high thread-count cotton, but the craftsmanship is superb.
Most of the types of fashion brands Revolve carries are contemporary – L’Academie, Tularosa, Lovers + Friends, etc – as are the brands in Nordstrom’s Individualist department and most of the brands that Rent the Runway carries. You’d expect to pay under $1000 in this bracket, and obviously price varies greatly depending on the brand.
The absurdity that this category is often described as “affordable” is not lost on me; however, for people who collect fashion as some people collect cars or art, investing in contemporary brands makes a whole lot of sense.
Diffusion Lines
In my mind, diffusion lines run parallel to contemporary brands in terms of style offerings, quality, and price point. At a certain point, designers realized they needed to diversify their customer base and include people of lower incomes (again, “lower” is a relative term) – hence the birth of diffusion lines.
See by Chloe is a great example: Chloe is a well-known, super fancy designer brand out of Paris whose boho-chic pieces run a few thousand dollars a pop. To reach a a wider audience, they launched See by Chloe, which offers a similar style POV for $200-$800. By no means inexpensive, it’s still accessible enough for Chloe to expand brand awareness and it’s customer base.
Also of note are the short-term diffusion lines done in partnership between designers and mass retailers, like Isaac Mizrahi with Target or Lanvin with H&M. Now, while these lines tend to retail lower than traditional diffusion lines, I also find that the quality is (generally) inferior. However, it can be a fun, affordable way for people to access design they normally couldn’t spring for – and for the designers, it generates buzz and takes the wind out of the sails of bargain stores trying to knock off their designs.
Name Brands
Frankly, I’m including this mostly out of a pet-peeve of mine about ads for stores like Ross and Marshalls (both for which I harbor long-burning, poorly-concealed passions, so this comes from a place of love). There’s always a cheery, confident, female voice in the ad gushing about “name brands at unbelievable prices.” What the heck does that actually mean?
Not a lot. A name brand is basically any brand with high name recognition. Calvin Klein, for example (I just watched Back to the Future again, so Calvin is much on my mind): yes, you can find heavily discounted Calvin Klein items at Ross. Does Calvin Klein produce high-end ready-to-wear? Absolutely. Does it also produce mass-market designs with dubious quality control in insanely large quantities that result in overstock and will, inevitably, end up in a TJ Maxx bargin bin?
Yes. And I’d know, because a good portion of my underpants are Calvin Klein of the bargain bin persuasion.
Point being: don’t let yourself be dazzled by the promise of “name brands” – it doesn’t mean a whole lot, other than it’s a name you’re likely familiar with.
Fast Fashion
Oh, of all the types of fashion brands, this may be the most problematic. We’ve talked about fast fashion a number of times here on the blog (this post, for example) how it presents the industry with some major issues – chief amongst them being sustainability and workforce ethics.
A typical fast fashion brand will create clothes based on runway trends and have them cheaply made, shipped, and on the racks within weeks (check out this article on Retail Dive for more info). Its appeal is that consumers have unprecedented access to high fashion trends at extraordinarily low prices, and the garment turnover is high enough that there is always new product to push. Unlike luxury brands, or even mid-market and economy retailers (think GAP), these brands don’t operate with seasonal collections – production is constant.
Concerns over transparency have clouded the fast fashion spotlight in the past few years – how much waste is produced, both in overstock and in pollution, as well as labor conditions, are difficult to quantify. It does seem, however, that some companies like Zara are pushing a greener, more transparent agenda in response to consumer outcry.
Since brands like Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 offer items as low as under $10, with most items under $100, the allure is clear. With increased pressure from consumers, as well as cultural and economic changes (like those discussed in the Vogue Global Discussions posted here) the future of fast fashion is very much in flux.
There are, of course, a dozen other ways to categorize brands, but these are the terms I hear used the most. What types of fashion brands would you add?
love,
Stig
