Armani Retrospective: The Biggest Loss of China's "China's Loss"

The retrospective was only visited by young people, but they are not the core group in Armani’s business. How deep is Armani’s “China lost”.

Earlier this year, passing through Shanghai, it happened to be on Armani's retrospective exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum. Authoritative art galleries were used as retrospectives by fashion designers. This kind of high-profile reception was the second time in China except for Pierre Cardin more than 20 years ago. Not only did all the fashion media reported unanimously, even the daily newspaper joined the welcome team.

The poster agency asked me how I felt about the retrospective exhibition. I said: There is an interesting discovery. In the Shanghai pavilion, the audience is almost identical, and all young people are chasing fashion; however, this type of exhibition is held in Paris. Although there will be young people watching the show, the mainstream people are the mainstays of the society—the well-dressed middle-aged people who pay attention to taste.

If Armani himself saw all the young people visiting the exhibition and did not see the Chinese middle-aged people, there must be a profound loss.

Armani brand can succeed, the key is to grasp its core consumer groups: the middle and upper income of the success of the workplace, reaching this level of people have entered the middle age. It is precisely to get close to this middle-aged class that Armani will deliberately highlight the classics and the soundness of his design. Therefore, the style and design of the clothing do not change very much every year. Those who are often chased by fashion judge it as "not very fashionable." In fact, Armani is more of a “classic” brand than a “fashion leader” promoted by Chinese media.

In Armani's six brand series, the most expensive high-end custom fashion ArmaniPrive series, a set of two or three hundred thousand RMB; GiorgioArmani is the highest end of the clothing line, mainly middle-aged people with high income layer, a suit price It also needs 30,000 RMB; ArmaniCollezioni is only a middle-aged person who is locked into the workplace. In response to their strong purchasing power and buying habits, they specialize in opening stores in high-end department stores. It is clear from the brand development strategy that middle-aged talent is the cornerstone of the building of the Armani brand castle.

Armani Kingdom has won the respect of the global public and is undoubtedly a fashion brand that has been designated at the luxury level. To maintain the position of luxury goods, it will not be diluted by the low-price product line. Therefore, the brand line that is positioned at the high end must win the support of the high-income class. The most important group of these high-income guests is middle-aged people. Only their purchase support can maintain a solid position of a luxury product. To achieve this high income, young people do not have the ability to achieve it. It is hard to imagine that it is a brand supported by young people and can continue its luxury status.

Armani brand line also has a series specifically targeted at young people, such as ArmaniExchange, compared with the high-end product line, the price is "quite" cheaper, a few hundred dollars will be able to get one. When young people are enough for A/E, they think they have realized their dreams. However, the analysis of the brand's connotation, from product design, quality to the store's decoration display, in Armani's brand kingdom, A/E is the least of Armani's spirit and temperament. This is related to the source of the brand. A husband and wife tycoon in Singapore, starting from acting as an agent of Armani, established a good personal relationship with Armani. In order to tap more market share, they proposed to take the low-cost route that ordinary people can afford, and launch A/E exclusively in the United States and some Asian markets. In the company's annual report, A/E's performance is shown in the wholesale category. It is the largest head of wholesale business, and its substance is more of an authorized business. With this background, we can easily understand why we cannot see the traces of Armani's design from A/E.

However, in the kingdom of Armani, the A/E with the least Giorgio Armani temperament is the most famous in China. Look at the bargaining site, selling A/E products that are both genuine and fake.

Young people are far from the real purchasing power of luxury goods, but in order to use their external material to add their own image, young people pursue their dreams and try their best. They were clever and able to appear in the shops all day long. They searched for brand-name counterfeit goods and became the main force in the counterfeit brand-name goods market.

Young people who have real guns and live ammunition, have no luxury spending power ahead of the consumer, groaning in their hearts, heroicly throw a month or two of wages, betting on designer clothes, and then live a life-saving day. This irrational consumption has become a topic of discussion in the Western media.

The retrospective was only visited by young people, but they are not the core group in Armani’s business. How deep is Armani’s “China lost”.