Dive Brief:
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Cadillac and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Wednesday announced the launch of the Retail Lab, a program providing pop-up stores for six designers of womenswear, menswear, and/or accessories who have been in business for at least three years but don’t have a physical store. The stores will be open for three months and located on the ground floor of Cadillac's New York headquarters.
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Cadillac is paying for costs associated with real estate, display units, mannequins, signage and point of sale technology, also providing each designer with a $75,000 grant to put towards wholesale buys, sales support and marketing. Designers additionally will receive mentoring on business development, marketing and PR from fashion retail veterans.
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The first designer participating is Timo Weiland, whose men’s and women’s collections will be available in July. Others can apply for the remaining five spots through the CFDA’s website.
Dive Insight:
"The CFDA is always looking for meaningful programs that help strengthen the impact of American Fashion," said CFDA president and CEO Steven Kolb in a statement. "Every designer aspires to a freestanding retail experience that allows them to tell their brand story and connect directly with consumers. Cadillac's commitment to the industry will help the selected designers make this a reality."
Cadillac’s program comes as the fashion industry is in the midst of a logistical shake-up. Designers and fashion retailers like Burberry, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Thakoon Panichgul and Rebecca Minkoff are abandoning longstanding traditions like making goods available for purchase months after runway shows, in some cases making them immediately available to shoppers.
These breaks from tradition come at a time when luxury retailers are struggling somewhat. The reasons are complex and diverse, from the strong dollar to self-inflicted wounds, like Coach’s dilution of its brand through discounts and outlet sales.
While some of these operational changes seem obvious and a long time coming, they're actually untested. And even if experiments like the Retail Lab prove successful, true change will likely require a major overhaul of supply chains that in some ways still serve the particular needs of high-end fashion, but in others are simply outmoded.