128
.EDITOR'S LETTER style in progress wo-men’s fashion
Publisher, editorial office, advertising department and owner UCM-Verlag B2B Media GmbH & Co KG
Salzweg 17 5081 Salzburg-Anif Austria T 0043.6246.89 79 99 F 0043.6246.89 79 89 office@ucm-verlag.at www.ucm-verlag.at Management Stephan Huber, Nicolaus Zott
Seize the Day And Tomorrow As Well!
Editors-in-chief Stephan Huber stephan.huber@ucm-verlag.at Martina Müllner martina.muellner@ucm-verlag.at Managing editor Daniela Angerbauer daniela.angerbauer@ucm-verlag.at
g
ood moods tend to make us sceptical – at least in our industry. This is particularly interesting from a psychological point-of-view. Actually, for the past several seasons the mood across the board wasn’t nearly as good as just now at the Pitti Immagine Uomo in Florence as well as the Bread & Butter and the Premium in Berlin. Whenever the lightness of being was expressed, there was a slight confusion or even disbelief in the tone. That annoys me, since it means accepting the opposite as the normal state of things, and also the status quo as a lucky but undeserved coincidence. This is not the case. There are solid reasons for this stable run of sunny weather. Admittedly, if you were actually expecting a storm of biblical proportions but in the end only got a hard rain, your ambitious innergardener would have been in the mood for champagne. And that’s how it was, sort of. The critical point is, though, the way we react to storm warnings. It can be summed up this way: "When times get worse, we have to get better." After all, there's always too much bad stuff going on. And too many competitors. Instead of giving into the principle of the selffulfilling prophecy, we focused our attention on the right places. The manufacturers have recognised that products are critical – as we've so amply pointed out here – and as a logical
style in progress
Art Director/production Elisabeth Prock-Huber elisabeth@ucm-verlag.at
consequence, the focus should always be on the product and product quality. As far as I'm concerned, this remains the most important trend for this season as well. The investment in retail has also been strong – despite the media's pounding on the crisis drum. The numerous first-class renovations and expansions undertaken by famous retailers, in addition to several exciting reopenings, are a sign of their belief in themselves. Incidentally, part of this strength lies in the fact that ordering is clearly being handled more cautiously, not simply lopping off at the top, but done selectively. This, in turn, has reduced write-offs noticeably. And these are things that are obviously appreciated by consumers, who increasingly look first at the product and the shopping experience, and then at the price or the customer relations. In Germany, this meant a 3 per cent increase in sales in fashion retailing – the biggest increase in nearly 20 years. I can already hear people accusing me of seeing things through rose-coloured glasses. No problem, I look terrible in rose-coloured glasses. But we can and should enjoy the moment from time to time. Seize the day and tomorrow as well, dear fashion industry! And I don’t mean that hedonistically at all. Stephan Huber stephan.huber@ucm-verlag.at
Contributing writers Stefanie Buchacher, Janaina Engelmann-Brothánek, Eva Djian, Sabine Fiedler, Jeanette Fuchs, Michael Ginthör, Miranda Hoogervorst, Claudia Janka, Jan Joswig, Katharina Legenstein, Ina Köhler, Julia Lauber, Tiffany Lee, Kay Alexander Plonka, Nicoletta Schaper, Alana Wallace Photographers+Illustrators Padma Bhatt, Angelika Buettner, Clemens Kois, Sabine Liewald, Bernhard Musil, Peter Schaffrath, Arne Schultz Image editor Anouk Schönemann anouk.schoenemann@ucm-verlag.at Advertising director Stephan Huber stephan.huber@ucm-verlag.at Publisher’s assistant, distribution Sigrid Staber sigrid.staber@ucm-verlag.at Christina Hörbiger christina.hoerbiger@ucm-verlag.at English editor Elizabeth d'Elsa English translations Word Connection Business Translation Service Printing Laber Druck, Salzburg Printing coordinator Manfred Reitenbach Account info Volksbank Salzburg 105 627 BLZ 45010
Next Issue 27June 2011