La mode
Virginia Postrel has more about how cheaper, more accessible fashion goods are realigning the way people think about clothes. It’s always nice to read someone who doesn’t see style as a mere stalking horse for status-seeking or in-group formation. In Tokyo, especially along the swath from Shibuya/Harajuku/Shinjuku, everyone acknowledges pretty openly that those elements exist. But no one talks about them as if they made aesthetic pleasure somehow inauthentic.
I’m not so sure, BTW, that the article she cites is correct in saying that Target was the pioneer in making clothing by high-end designers more accessible. Regular old diffusion lines have been around for ages–though unlike Target, they don’t put the lower-cost products of high-end manufacturers in stores where Americans who aren’t rich are likely to shop often. (Burberry, BTW, took advantage of its late-90s efflorescence in popularity in Asia by creating two more casual youth-targeted lines: Burberry Black Label and Burberry Blue Label. I expect to hear of a tie-in with Johnnie Walker any day now. Let’s plaid and enjoy unique Scotch taste!)
As a shopper who only buys from the reduced racks of the already-cheap trendy chains (in England there are at least five on every high street), Target has become my second home over here. But we need more! Where are the Texas H&Ms, and why hasn’t Top Shop landed over here yet? I may have to start a campaign.
Alice,
I SWEAR I saw a top shop in Portugal last time I was there.
A weekend trip, surely?
P.