Women's Wear Daily hosted the two-day WWD Retail/Apparel CEO Summit in NYC last week, bringing to the table all the issues facing the industry, with insight from Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Martha Stewart and many others.
In an effort to assess the present state of the fashion business and convene those at the forefront of the industry, WWD's annual Retail/Apparel CEO Summit comprised a series of round-table discussions, lecture and Q&A sessions on topics ranging from the current economic situation and its impact on retail, brand-building strategy and environmental practices in clothing manufacturing to the mind of the consumer and the future of the industry.
Donna Karan, in particular, struck a chord with her impassioned appeal for an overhaul of retail to enompass a buy now-wear now philosophy. In other words, Karan asked why we could not put put an end to stores shilling furs in August and bikinis at first frost. The longstanding system as it stands relies on a very involved chain of command from concept to store floor, that would require quite a bit of heavy lifting to modify as Karan suggests. And she basically responds to resistance with a big, "so, what?" attitude, which is awesome.
We'd say that 99% of lifelong shoppers would agree with a sigh of relief, so we're behind any movement in that direction.
