Has ZARA become a luxury brand?
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| via rencanamu.id |
Are they Marc Jacobs? We didn't do them this season, alas! At ZARA, you meet young girls but also women who come there to stock up on affordable clothing that has the advantage of reflecting current trends.
“Clients are frantically browsing the shelves, just to get their dose of fashion at low prices. 193 Even though some of them are looking to find a go-anywhere top or well-cut low-rise jeans, it is clear that most of them already have everything they need in their closet at home.
If they are there it is to reassure themselves that they do not miss the trend of the moment. They simply want to be in tune with the times, dress to the rhythm of the catwalks, in short, follow the trend of the moment. Hence this feeling of fever that one could have when entering the store.
Here, customers arrive, inspect the shelves, find their happiness, grab it, buy, leave and come back. The team of ZARA salespeople, well-behaved young girls or robust boys, irreproachable in their outfits, made up of black shirts and trousers worn in Nancy rue Saint Jean as in all the brands in the world, is in the image of its customers.
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They too, and above all, are interested in magazines and dissect their fashion content for each season. On the shelves, you most often meet girls who know a lot more about it than others, real fashion experts who don't miss any trend of the moment.
Just listen to them to realize:
“Well frankly, I buy imitations of luxury brands at ZARA without breaking the bank. The clothes are very chic, nothing to say about the jeans, they are of good quality.
And when I want jackets and pants, I invest in the top of the range: Diesel, Guess, Calvin Klein. Personally, I mix brands and small ones and I can guarantee you that at ZARA, you can find the right tucs.
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| via ZARA |
“The prices are accessible, the clothes are pretty good, so that’s nice. Some of them are often employees and do not hesitate to spend huge sums on clothes.
“They read specialized magazines with sustained attention and scout out chic boutiques. And attend ZARA regularly. Not only ZARA, but ZARA among others. They do it with a particular delight because they buy in conscience.
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| via ZARA |
When they “have a crush”, they know that what they are choosing is neither more nor less than a real fake version of the PRADA top of the season, the Gucci skirt of the moment or a Céline coat worn on the catwalk. . »
Why this desire to consume this type of brand? What do they represent?
Pierre Bourdieu speaks of the “vertical diffusion” of fashion, that is to say that the privileged population in terms of cultural and/or social capital imposes its choices on the rest of society. A mechanism of mimicry occurs according to Guillaume Erner. The population that adopts the dress codes of the upper classes through the consumption of luxury brands is part of the “cultural goodwill” where individuals have a relationship of fundamental proximity to legitimate culture.
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| via ZARA |
There is a process of social ascent through the imitation of the immediately superior class. By imitating the upper classes, individuals legitimize their actions and escape the "atrocious necessity of choice", they experience social support.
Thus individuals consume products whose attributes are those of the dominant class, which allows an illusion of belonging. There is an upper class "leadership" constituting the "cultural goodwill" of the "follower" individuals. By consuming clothing from aspirational brands, individuals indirectly identify with or aspire to be integrated into the dominant social strata.
The object is the social perspective sign and consumer aspirations therefore denote professional or cultural aspirations.
If we consider the professional activities of the respondents declaring that they want to consume luxury brands, we observe that most are students, a transitional and uncertain phase of professional life, or hold low-wage positions.
Consuming at ZARA models imitating those of luxury ready-to-wear, for a lower cost, would reflect, according to Pierre Bourdieu, the fact that individuals want to fit into the social standard of dress and correspond to the criteria imposed by the upper classes and by consumer society in general.
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| via ZARA |
The individual would therefore be structured by a logic of need and directed in an aspiration to go beyond this need, to transcend. However, whether we are in the clothing register or in another field, the general observation that we can make is that the hierarchical grid is no longer sufficiently adequate to describe our society.
If we observe teenage fashion, we realize an almost opposite effect in the sense that it is very often the signs of marginality that inspire fashion. Guillaume Erner reminds us that the “bon chic, bon genre” relating to the style of a small minority of teenagers is of course not what all teenagers seek to imitate.
But we can see that most young people are fascinated by those who embody urban culture. These include “punks”, “yos” (european rappers), “ricans” (American rappers), “skaters” etc. This behavior often stops when young people enter the world of work.
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| via ZARA |
If, on the one hand, high-end brands are becoming more democratic and, on the other, popular brands claim a certain creativity, on arrival, these brands are aimed at almost the same targets.
"At one time, the fashion world could be built like a pyramid, haute couture was positioned at the top, the designer of ready-to-wear below, the competing brands followed and at the basis of construction, there was the retail trade.
Today, this is no longer the case – if however things have never really been so simple. Now added, without hierarchy, all that is basic clothing, sportswear and “semi-couture”.
Customers also don't settle for a specific gender, they go back and forth from one style to another, buy a Louis Vuitton bag here, a ZARA jacket there, wear a Topshop t-shirt and Gap jeans under a Chanel coat. »
“It's not enough to look fashionable, you also want to look smart. There are two different changes happening at the same time. First, Chanel, Dior, Gucci and the others will continue to develop luxury as a commercial affair.
At the same time, we note a complementary reaction that a customer may agree to buy the very new, trendy Dior bag that she has seen in all the magazines and advertisements, but that she will not have Shame at all to go to ZARA to buy yourself a 10 euro t-shirt because it's pretty and it's good value for money.
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| via socialbakers.com |
She can then go to another shop, a little more expensive but not as famous, perhaps it will be the shop of a young designer, where she will buy a skirt.
All these articles reassure her and send a message to others that she is a smart consumer, that she is not dazzled by marketing, that she manages her image herself. (Jean-Jacques Picart, the fashion guru interviewed by Mark Tungate). The public is becoming more and more expert and knows brand capture strategies.
“We have reached a turning point. No one wears a logo anymore. People don't hesitate to mix Lanvin and Topshop. Everything becomes more democratic. (Alber Elbaz, designer at Lanvin interviewed by Mark Tungate). According to ZARA professionals, the ZARA and H&M customer is not loyal because there is no loyalty strategy on the part of these chains.
“ZARA sells clothes to everyone, our brand concerns everyone, from Kate Moss to the poorest.
"[...] ZARA models - clothes, shoes, bags, it's Chanel or Chloé at low prices: they don't require you to spend your salary! It is not surprising that ZARA fans are recruited among broke teenagers as well as among more or less rich women and men. wear an H&M T-shirt, Diesel jeans with Gucci shoes; or dress at ZARA and wear a Chanel bag.
Martine Moutet abounds in the same direction by affirming that the consumers ZARA and H&M are in a logic of "zapping", the consumer society generating this type of behavior.
Many women do not hesitate to mix genres and brands, to combine Chanel with ZARA. Sophie Templier, Development and Marketing Director at Chloé, talks about a new form of consumption where there are constant back and forths between “chic” and “cheap”.
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| via ZARA |
According to her, “all women go to ZARA and buy designer accessories, they mix expensive and cheap pieces”. Respondents are also aware of this new way of consuming and oscillating from a designer brand to a retailer.
It is therefore a safe bet that the expert customers of ZARA, H&M or Gap will also expand their fashionable style with Kookaï or Cache c Cache items that they match with PRADA or Chanel depending on their financial resources. Young people who love fashion, even the most affluent are nowadays very Zappers.
“The snobbery of wearing only designer clothes has disappeared and now the right attitude is to make your choice… What is so fashionable that it is almost outdated can be bought “cheap”. What is exceptional and truly creative is acquired in the great. Designer bags plus H&M T-shirts: this is today's panoply.
Fashion magazines have understood this, which offer both beautiful fashion pages with adults and more playful sections with children where we offer nothing more or less than dressing like on the catwalk... cheaper." There is a constant back and forth between cheap and totally uninhibited chic.
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| via ZARA |
But what could be called the “copy made by ZARA” is in no way comparable to that of the Asian or Italian markets which offer fake Louis Vuitton bags and grossly counterfeit D&G belts that are totally out of the law. As we have pointed out, luxury brands and mass retail chains now share almost the same clientele because ZARA and the others have aroused a desire for fashion among client audiences.
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Hedonic behavior prevails to the detriment of investment buying. "By dint of shopping in shops where the clothes are considered to be Kleenex, people want fantasy, pleasure... The label, the myth associated with it, the imagination it develops, the heritage side not enough to convince. »
“The typical woman at ZARA is an active woman who dresses there as much for her office as for her evenings, even for the weekend. She is a woman who does not want to make a mistake in taste, she is elegant and fashionable at the same time. She can mix ZARA products with accessories or other designer products.
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| ZARA |
ZARA is her second home. She likes beautiful fabrics: 100% silk, 100% wool etc. […] The typical H&M woman is younger, she changes her shirt like she changes her socks, she is a fan of fashion and loves change. She is much more aware of fashion trends and, moreover, is on the lookout for it.
“Between Gap and Louis Vuitton, the avenue de Champs-Elysées has thus become a shopping thoroughfare. » We find on this site, the second tourist site of Paris after the Eiffel Tower which sees passing each year 80 million visits, now as well brands such as H&M, ZARA, Morgan, Kookaï, Petit Bateau, Naf Naf, Celio, the Virgin megastore, and Planet Hollywood, Guerlain, only major luxury brands like Mont Blanc and Cartier.
Do they all attract the same clientele? Anyway, these megastores all implicitly convey the same message: whatever your status, we welcome you with open arms. And we want to add the moment when you are candidates to spend your money.
“The house's policy is clear: 'aspirational consumers' are welcome in these dear boutiques. Forbidden to frighten them, to be elitist and snobbish. Gone are the days of those intimidating dens for insiders, those shops that looked like tearooms where stiff saleswomen like ballet teachers won nothing but condescending smiles. »
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From now on, at Louis Vuitton as elsewhere, there is everything and at all costs, cabin trunks made to measure in the Asnières workshops and mini-bags around 200 euros.
And the shop showcases are treated with the same care as the advertising campaigns… Come in, ladies and gentlemen! Don't be afraid of luxury. » A luxury that is becoming popular without using the same methods as those of the fast fashion chains. Because as the fashion journalist so aptly shows: “The first distill a legendary scent and stage the solemnity of a story almost one hundred and fifty years old.
The latter just try to have enough space to pass the racks of clothes that customers try on non-stop, from morning to night. At the first, the onlooker can just watch but there will always be a moment when a salesman with an advantageous physique will come to offer his services with infinite kindness. »
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| via independent.co.uk |
this luxury sector, the customer is almost treated as a very important personality. The sellers try as best they can not to intimidate the customer and this, by adopting the best manners possible.
While at H&M for example, the customer will do his shopping from start to finish without any salesperson coming to bother him; the latter are much more focused on storage because the clothes stored on the shelves are constantly unfolded by customers; which has the gift of annoying the staff.
“I am a saleswoman in the ZARA store at Rue de Rennes in the sixth arrondissement in Paris, sometimes customers abuse it. They complain that the store is crowded at the end of the day, but they leave the clothes all over the place. It's not complicated to give the clothes you don't take to a saleswoman instead of leaving them anywhere! While all those who are not happy with the state of the store start by having a correct attitude, it will change a lot of things in the ZARA of Paris.
“Working in the brand, I have to react to the views of certain critics. First of all I take care and I insist on this point of managing the Women's department. Totally different from other rays. The Women's section is certainly the most difficult of the three rays. Before saying that you don't have a customer service, know that the sellers are not there to welcome you! To everyone's great surprise, the sellers are there to restock the products, spend their time managing the shelving of new products, storing the cabins that you leave in stacks of 15, in a ball, upside down and company...
For those who are tidying up, stop complaining, it's not the sellers who put the clothes on the floor for fun, right? When you look at the clothes you drop and leave, don't complain about finding a store in a pitiful state...
After all, sales people might be tired of putting products away every 30 seconds, when you have no respect for these people! .
“It is certainly not the staff who have fun dragging clothes on the floor, and on the contrary, we are very annoyed to see how some customers treat our work and in fact it is very disrespectful for us saleswomen; maybe that's why it makes you less willing to be friendly with a person who has just messed up our storage and who doesn't say hello or thank you, we're not dogs anyway! On the other hand, we recognize friendly customers and there, we go out of our way to help them find what they are looking for.
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Kindness goes both ways. And that's the beginning of respect."“It must not be obvious! You only have to see the poor saleswomen at ZARA on Saturdays: folding and folding piles of sweaters on the chain, which the customers undo as they go.
I once saw a saleswoman from ZARA who was folding pants, and customers were undoing her pile as she went along and even throwing them on the floor, the girl had tears in her eyes.
Today, “luxury brands on the one hand and the behemoths of accessible fashion on the other have completely changed the face of city centers which have become veritable open-air shopping centres. They shaped the urban landscape, fought for square meters and drove up prices at breakneck speed.
All observers recognize it: nowadays, nothing is more important than having a shop of your own and at the right address.
She is not there to observe the establishment of a ZARA brand very close to Chanel for example, but one would think that it would only be a matter of time. “There are not so many sacred perimeters where luxury people keep to themselves. Except perhaps Via Montenapoleone in Milan and Avenue Montaigne in Paris, these luxury arteries where shops line up, gleaming and monumental with a military rigor that evokes generals in battle order. »
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| via fortune.com |
However, there are never great distances between them. We can imagine that in the future, ZARA, H&M and the others will establish themselves in this cult sector.
This suggests that they target the same audience and thus seek to attract the same clientele. “In the space of a few years, the Left Bank has stripped itself of its clothes as a high place of the intelligentsia to become a hot shopping district.
Dior at the Divan bookstore, Emporio Armani at the Drugstore Publicis, Cartier just opposite the Monoprix on rue de Rennes? And when ZARA pushed Tati out of the walls of the former Félix Potin building, a historic monument, also on rue de Rennes, we understood that the battle had been won. By KO! Also, H&M created the event a few years ago by setting up shop on rue Rivoli.
The LVMH group also struck hard by buying La Samaritaine, which it immediately transformed into a fashion department store for the towns of the right bank. One part is rented to restaurants and the other tenant of the store is ZARA. If finding a good location for your shop is a real obstacle course, defining your concept is a significant challenge.
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| via dailymail.co.uk |
“It all starts in the office of the artistic director who defines a store concept applied to his flagship store, which has become a kind of show apartment. The idea is then duplicated identically in all the boutiques in the world […] We must be at PRADA in Florence as we were at PRADA in Seoul. And, at the other end of the chain, you have to find your bearings at ZARA in Rio as at ZARA in Barcelona... It's globalization in all its glory.
Whether you are in the luxury sector or in that of ZARA and others, mastering the control of distribution networks is essential. The policy of conquering the general public is accentuated by the deliberate desire of luxury brands to launch their advertising campaigns in the street.
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