Fashion

Recession Chic

By Lucy Karpilovskaya

Since the economic recession, contemporary downtown Ann Arbor boutique Poshh has lowered their highest price point from $700 to $500. Possh has also added accessories that are all under $50 which allows Poshh to have, as Asleigh DeWeese, manager of Poshh says, “Something for everyone.” DeWeese mentions that this was one of the many recession decisions that had to be made in order to stay afloat since the bursting of the Ann Arbor bubble.

In deciding what to sell at Poshh, DeWeese explains that it is important to research the demographic that will be shopping at Poshh and to also keep in mind the recession and be sensitive about designers’ price points but still “push the envelope as people shop at boutiques for unique things.” The recession has affected the designers that Poshh sells in terms of the designers lowering their prices for the consumer and wholesale cost for the buyer of the boutique so Poshh can still sell the designers’ pieces without going in the red. Everyone is affected equally, DeWeese says, starting with the consumers, than the retailers, than the designers and back around. The incident with Saks deeply discounting merchandise has also burst The Ann Arbor bubble. DeWeese says that she once had no choice but to match Sak’s discounted price on a dress, per request of a client, otherwise Poshh would have lost the sale.  “What Saks did killed retail,” DeWeese says, “People are expecting major discounts and most boutiques can’t afford them.”

Sales have declined in Poshh but as DeWeese says, “If Poshh can get through this recession, they can get through anything.” In these spring months, sales are picking back up due to events such as prom and graduation. Although sales did decline since the recession, Poshh is good at helping the client understand how they should look at the pieces sold in the store. Due to the price point, all pieces in Poshh are “trendy but with a classic twist” and so the selling point for all the pieces is that the client is buying an investment piece with a “wow factor” that makes the client happy and is also very unique. 

At a boutique down the street from Poshh, it is hard to miss the red sale signs at Renaissance for 50% to 70% off. At Poshh’s prior recession highest price point, Renaissance, downtown Ann Arbor’s mostly menswear boutique, sells pieces that start at $700.  Manager at Renaissance, Bill Sizer, says that this price point has not been affected by the recession due to their 45 and up clientele with an income level that is lesser prone to the recession than the people buying at mass market retailers. The clientele at Renaissance, Sizer says, does more “wardrobe buying” and mostly stays away from making “impulse purchases.” Despite this clientele, Sizer mentions that business has been slow in the winter months but finally is back up in spring.  Sizer also says that sales have decreased since the recession and points out, “We are on sale.”

“People that go into the creative industry do not go into this industry for the money,” says Louis Marinaro, an Art and Design Professor at the University of Michigan. Professor Marinaro does not recommend going into a creative career in any kind of economic climate. “It is a calling,” Professor Marinaro further explains, “not a choice.” Recession or no recession, Professor Marinaro says, there will always be people making fashion and art.

Zack Jacobson-Weaver, the Materials Fabrication Studio Coordinator at University of Michigan’s Art and Design School, brings up a great example of who does make money in the creative industry. “Art appreciates,” Zack says, and people with very high income levels are willing to pay six figures for it. Zack further explains that the people that can afford to pay that price can still afford to do so in a recession. However, in a phone interview, Professor of Economics Paula Malone says that the very wealthy have been affected by the recession. Their disposable income has gone down due to losses in the stock market and also the middle and poor classes’ opinions of the wealthy’s elaborate spending habits have caused them to rethink their “conspicuous consumption.”

It is interesting to point out that luxury fashion designers still create high price pieces but they are understated luxury. According to Professor Malone, this is due to the fact that designers are afraid that heavy discounts on their goods would give them a bad position post recession so the designers do want to hold onto the “mystique of having luxury priced items.” However, these deep discounts, she goes on to say, will be forgotten by the consumers as consumer expectations change and consumers “do have short term memories.” It is very important, she says, that these designers establish the fact that they are the source of luxury goods so people will forget the deep discounts.

So why buy luxury in a recession if even the very wealthy have been affected? “It is a signal sender,” Professor Malone says, “People want to send signals that they are still comfortable.” Unfortunately, consumers are “tightening their belts” and being thrifty and so retailers are hurt by this lack of spending and are forced to fire some employees. With fashion, Professor Malone goes on, it will always be with us but the selling point of a piece has changed from emphasis on “flashy” to selling a piece based on its quality.

For now, businesses are offering sales to attract consumers, Professor Malone states. When asked when the recession could be over, Professor Malone laughs and says she “would be a very rich woman if she knew the answer to that,” but does make an educated guess for either 2010 or 2011.