Gucci 's Impact On The Fashion Industry

This expansion demonstrates how the luxury industry is now run by massive corporations whose focus is only on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and most importantly, PROFITS! With growth and expansion, has come a decrease in quality and rarity. The luxury garments produced are mostly not handmade but are even outsourced to large factories in places such as China and Turkey. Also, to meet quarterly turnover projections, “designers churn(ed) out increasingly trendy collections of clothes, handbags, and shoes.” (Thomas, Pg. 246) With hundreds of new stores around the globe the surplus of designer labeled merchandise is immense hence, the proliferation of outlet malls.

The mind-set of the company is to put sales and profit second to creating a special style that can change the world through fashion.

In 1980s, Gucci had lost its appeal and became a tacky brand and was also in deep financial crisis. But Tom Ford raised Gucci from dead and found out the company’s leading status and maintains

For years, Louis Vuitton enjoyed high profit margins from the luxury market in Japan until other competitors such as Prada and Gucci entered the market. Counterfeiting also became a threat to the firm’s brand by satisfying consumer demand at lower prices. Other external global environmental problems included highly priced products, limited availability in stores only, and a heavy dependency on the Japanese market (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Moreover, “the after-shocks of the global recession were a threat to Louis Vuitton’s luxury business in Japan”, and Japanese women became less interested in the brand’s products (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Alternatively, Louis Vuitton could “reinvent itself and regain what used to be its well-attested

Gucci, a brand known for its quality, luxurious and royal association was confronted with strategic issues which made the company take notice of its strategy of expansion and brand personality. The company was not only having concerns with their product line but they were lacking unified corporate vision and strategy after its acquisition of some major names like YSL. Due to which they started having loophole in their luxurious goods market discipline. Strategic concern for the company was how does the brand image cascade down in the target market and how does it rejuvenate itself is a management lesson.

Marginalization of companies is the coming together of two or more companies that offer similar goods and services to form one legal entity. Several companies merge for the maximization of profits from their products, and reduce competition from other companies that perform similar duties. Over the years, several fashion companies have merged in the fashion industry. However, government involvement in the market economy aids in controlling and protecting both the consumer's and the fashion industry itself.

Gucci was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci. In 1938, Gucci expanded and a boutique was opened in Rome. Guccio was responsible for designing many of the company's products. In 1947, Gucci introduced the Bamboo handle handbag, which is still a company mainstay. During the 1950s, Gucci also developed the trademark striped webbing, which was derived from the saddle girth, and the suede moccasin with a metal horsebit. The Gucci group really said it all, Tom Ford, creative director and Domenico de sole, president and CEO, stood side by side facing the camera with eyes of steel. These two men had, in the first six months of 1999, been the centerpiece of one of most higly contested hostile takeover battles ever seen on the Europian

We can also leverage the strength and popularity of the Gucci brand to gain distribution for the smaller names, much like how LVMH leveraged Louis Vuitton’s popularity. By holding off of new acquisitions, Gucci can learn to handle the four brands they currently have before adding extra brands.

Gucci utilizes the differentiation business strategy, as the brand itself promotes premium quality. They are known for their high end leather products and the red and green striped webbing with the GG logo. The company is in no way price-sensitive and caters to the affluent through customization, genuine leather, premium quality, and exceptional customer service. Gucci’s customer base is more than willing

When a brand is created, many will ask the questions that haunt all of us trying to start a company. Will it work? Should we stay online or launch a brick-and-mortar store? Will I make profit or fail? These questions arise even more when the company is to start only online. Because of this, e-commerce fashion brands must constantly evolve and expand their styles to maintain the interest of their target customers. Fashion Nova is one fashion brand that manages to stay relevant among its consumers because of their edgy style and quality priced clothing. Fashion Nova was first established in 2010. It gained its popularity from celebrities promoting it on their social media platforms and the fact

‘Fashion industry is characterised by short product life cycles, volatile and unpredictable demand, tremendous product variety, long and inflexible supply processes and a complex supply chain.’

New entrants The risk coming from new entrants is low, except perhaps, for the development of niche brands that can slowly earn a position. The strong financial resources and the "story" of the brand that is needed to succeed are two elements that create a barrier. Bernard Arnault explained that a brand needs a heritage; you can not cross cut and succeed (Thompson, Strickland & Gamble 2005 and Antoni 2003). Furthermore financial resources are very expensive since lenders perceive that the expected margins are difficult to get; thus it is hard for smaller companies to access financial markets (Colonna 2003). The "entrepreneur / designer" will need to look for a "godfather"the support from one of the big groups. As Muriel Zingraff, Harrods' director, observed, "We may have more patience with smaller brands if they are owned by a parent company, such as LVMH or the Gucci Group."(Sherwood 2001, p. 6) Additionally the

Burberry is uniquely positioned as a classic British apparel brand with high global brand awareness to capture the globalization of consumer demand. Its distinctive luxury brand with international recognition and broad appeal. The company’s outlook for the accessible luxury goods industry remains positive from both a geographic and product point of view. Burberry had become positively hip and popular among a younger demographic. It has a unique history and positioning as the authentic British lifestyle brand and highly successful merchandising and marketing strategy across both appeal and accessories. In 2000 Burberry’s total sales were 225.7 million and by 2003 sales had went up to 593.6 million.

4) This is a very interesting case study. I definitely learnt a lot from it. For fashion business, I have different opinions about fashion designers’ companies and fashion retail companies. For fashion designer’s company (like Chanel), they do not need have much marketing research. Like Delacroix, Chanel are entertainment company and are not perceived as a company driven by customer suggestions (like Apple). Customers are willing to buy new collection in each season for the most fashionable trend. They are buying new design, new inspiration and new innovation. Excess marketing research is not

However, in Gucci marketing plan, there were many risks involved with the “star design strategy” as this marketing strategy definitely gives instant success by boosting sales and rebuilding the reputation main asset for luxury brands like Gucci, but the risk involved is high for the company to forecast the effect on the brand image in the absence of star-design.