5 FASHION TRENDS ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL RETAILERS

H.LORENZO

LOS ANGELES, U.S.A.

“We sell a lot of r unway looks and one-of-a-kind products,” explains Natasha Advani, menswear buyer and marketing director of H. Lorenzo in Los Angeles. About 80% of this boutique’s total sales can be attr ibuted to stylists, who are particularly interested in the store’s show pieces. A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar are among H. Lorenzo’s regular customers, who are drawn to pieces made with top-quality, original and unique f abrics. In e-commerce the bestseller s are sneakers, all in limited editions: Margiela, Raf Simons and Comme des Garçons x Nike. The online store recently received an upgrade: “We’ve specialised our description of technical details to help customer s calculate sizes and fits. This has really boosted sales of outerwear and pants, which until recently were the most complicated items to position online .” However, the biggest f actor that deter mines a successful sale is the clothes’ workmanship. “Unsurprisingly, 70% of our clothes come from the Italian, French, British and Japanese markets. They have manufacturing bases that pay a lot of attention to details.”

UNITED ARROWS TOKYO, JAPAN

Akiko Aso, head of PR at United Arrows in Tokyo, explains how the store’s clients are making a return to tailoring: “We sell lots of hand-crafted suits – jack ets, shirts and trousers – and often of our o wn production. They come in all versions, including shar per fits for professionals as well as less for mal styles. We see the suit as a kind of basis that absorbs cuts and f abrics with a seasonal trend.” Meanwhile, the store’s online sales are concentrated on casual and spor ts clothing, especially shoes and bags rang ing from New Balance to Church’s. Other bestsellers in the accessor ies category are sunglasses and small leather goods. “In reality, our online customer s are often the same people who also come into the shop , probably because there’s still a cer tain mistrust when it comes to buying very expensive items on the inter net.” Clients of United Arrows are over-30s who love luxury clothes, and they’re fascinated by brands that project the media power of a world-famous creative director. “People who buy fashion nowadays want a product with good wearability that will stand the test of time . Casual clothing isn’t a pr iority choice anymore. Hand-tailored jackets and leather shoes are becoming mainstream again.”