Fashion Statement with Suzannah Roach

The Last
Resort?

What is it about the January fashion news that gets me so
wound up? The constant reminder that we are all meant to lose weight with the "Celebrity diets that work" headlines? The New Year insistence that we should also
be improving our careers, our houses and updating our wardrobes? Or is it
the models, celebrities and anyone in the media spotlight flaunting it along a
beach in Barbados or St Barts in the Resort
Collections of the luxury brands?

Oh yes! It is actually the Resort Collections that wind me up the most. It's the neon and
monochrome images of the Resort
Collections not the diets or the skinny models who look like they haven't
even eat a slice of turkey never mind the entire box of Quality Street.

So what are Resort
Collections? Officially, they are targeted at the more seasoned traveller
who holidays between November and
February in hot climes, or as Versace once described these customers "our more seasoned jet-setters". These
clothes are aimed at the higher end customer and bearing in mind which designers
focus on this capsule wardrobe it says a lot. Chanel, Dior and Ralph Lauren lead the way, with other more
main-stream clothing designers leaving them to this small, illusive, affluent
customer.

However, over the past couple years there seems to have
been more emphasis put on this short-of lived and elitist range. Not only is the higher end of the high
street trying this niche market but the men are getting in on the act too.
The tricky economy is causing retailers to look for that extra market share in
any which way. Resort Collections
are a chance to encourage customers to make that additional purchase, tucked in
between the autumn/winter range usually based on chunky knits and boots, and
the spring/summer range veering towards light summer dresses and sandals.

Retailers now have to move faster to find the pulse.
Consumers, ie you and I, are no longer prepared to see images in a magazine or
on web pages of next season's likely trends, then wait another two to three
months before these fashion items are available to buy. Ready to wear ranges have to be faster and more readily available.
This has led retailers to review their ranges and their manufacturing. Ranges
are changed more regularly and customers are now able to buy something new from
their favourite retailers much more frequently, whether it's high end or high
street retailing.

Whether you like this new shopping mentality or not, there
is no doubt that fast and furious
fashion is here. People's buying habits are becoming more considered since
the economic downturn. There was a stage a few years back where people were
spending without thinking and pushing retailers to be less thoughtful about
their ranges and, some would even say, more cut-throat with their manufacturing
as well as their marketing. Thankfully, retailers as well as customers are
becoming more aware of quality. The general public wants quality, something
that will last. The one-wear mentality
has gone, replaced by cost-per-wear. 

This brings me back to my January exasperation. Resort fashion just flies in the face of
everything that has improved in fashion over the past few years. It has
retained that feeling of decadence and
wealth. Amid economic talk of double-dip recessions, Resort Fashion Collections continue to grow. Luxury brands continue
to grow, albeit thanks to wealthy Russians propping up this market.

Retailers will only provide these additional ranges if
there is a market for them and they are continuing to expand. Everyone likes a
pick me up in these depressing months but there is something about Resort Collections that just seem to
rub the majority of the public's nose in it. While we feeling the pinch from
Christmas (in the wallet and waistband), there are still the select few who
parade down beaches in their Resort
Collections with never a thought about the cost of that extra range that
has slipped in between seasons.

It feels too ostentatious during this uncertain
period. I am all for people celebrating their own success and enjoying
their time off if they have worked hard. But do we really need to see bright neon shorts and bra tops that are so on
trend this Resort season when we are all huddled over a leafy salad waiting for
the decent TV series to start again?

A small
neon green monster seems to be nudging my elbow as I write. Resort fashion fury? Might it just be jealousy? I'll
leave you, dear reader, to decide.

Suzannah Roach

Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/fashion/fashion-statement-suzannah-roach-13/