Pitti Bimbo SS 2014: Marketing the Parents, Targeting the Kids.

As mentioned in my previous post “Monkey Sees, Monkey Does”, kid’s market is growing and brands are eagerly working to take the biggest piece of the pie.  But as much as it is a tempting business, it is definitely not an easy one.  Kids are very demanding and they are making their own choices.  What mom wants is not always what the kid wants; from a marketing perspective it is also a puzzle: who should we target, the kid or the parents? What was seeing during the last Pitti Bimbo Show featured a good product direction to answer this question.

Big themes at the show as we decided to call them:  Vintage Comics, Retro St. Tropez, and Nostalgic Chic.  What’s in common on this? Of course retro!  The biggest part of the Bimbo assortment was retro!  Such a clever way to attract the parents with emotional nostalgia and to the kids with a “cool” factor... because, all the elements that can awake our early childhood memories are... sadly... old enough to be cool again to the eyes of our kids.

Vintage Comics – remember when fighting with your brothers for the Sunday’s comics in the newspaper just to see the latest Dick Tracy strip?  That adrenaline rush is exactly what Young Versace and Kids John Galliano are offering for Spring Summer 2014.  The trend is evolving from Fall 2013 and is just getting stronger with muted neutrals contrasting with saturated primary colors.  Silhouettes are updated to be comfortable and cool, with retro color tone-on-tone jackets paired with jogging pants and vintage-looking tees featuring the cartoons of the golden times. [more at http://www.johngalliano.com]

 

 

Retro St. Tropez is an evolution of the Nautical Theme always present for Spring Summer.  This time refreshed with nostalgia... Color palette is predominantly white and blue stripes with a vintage feel... forget about the bright blue for kids, Bimbo kids are sophisticated.  The playful component comes with prints, 3d embellishments and accessories!  Vintage tropical prints and marine white-on-white linen dresses with Cluny lace and eyelet are also part of this group.   Silhouettes: dresses are very important for this season, bloomers and chemises are also included in this trend [suggested brand http://www.piccolaludo.it]

 

Nostalgic Chic: 50’s is back in simple and comfortable but totally girly silhouettes.  Breathable fibers for the season woven or knitted in traditional gingham, eyelet and pointelle are the direction for this group. The color palette is playful with a primary color palette on dusty hues for the true stylish and retro look.  [suggested brand http://www.caramel-shop.co.uk]

In conclusion the Pitti Bimbo assortment was playing with a nostalgic factor for the parents (or in this case for the buyers) but, tailoring the products in order to attract the kids, linking both ends of the kid’s marketing “problema”.

"Pitti Bimbo Spring Summer 2014 captures the essence of the retro nostalgia taking us into a flash back to our early years but bringing us back to 2013 with updated cool collections for today’s kids."   Roger ARTiga.

Monkey Sees, Monkey Does. New Business Opportunities in Fashion.

The recent visit at the Pitti Bimbo Show made me ponder some thoughts about an article I read a couple of months ago and that I would like to share.  This is not about color trends or silhouettes but mostly about consumer behavior and new business opportunities.

Women’s clothing industry will report a 12% increase by 2014 as reported by Marketline (1) despite the global economy downturn; but don’t be fooled by the increasing rate on women’s apparel consumption, as we have to take a look at the big picture where new upcoming brands are fighting for a position on the ladies’ mind on top of the already established brands.

As the market is getting more saturated competition is getting tougher; therefore everybody is still wondering what would be the next untapped market to increase sales.

Interesting point about the article from Euromonitor is how the industry is looking at the “little consumers”; the children’s wear arena is growing and seems promising. The trend here is for the well-groomed woman who is not only conscious of carrying a chic bag with stylish pair of shoes to complement her trendy outfit but also conscious about the ultimate accessory: of course, the kids!

Mothers are translating their fashion sense to their children. If she looks good the kid has to look good to play the part. This trend is mostly current in developing economies as it draws distinction in society, though it is also present in mature markets and as a consequence it is opening new business opportunities.

This new consumer behavior trend can be a promising scenario for brands with none or little kids’ wear background as it can be an extension for their current product mix. In the other hand, for traditional-well-established-children’s wear companies, this new trend can translate into revamping their lines and to offer premium collections to the product mix.

The trend is applicable to Mass Retailers, Specialty Stores and Luxury Houses and we can forecast hard competition once the consumer is fully educated. The new challenge is now into developing a strategy that will stay truthful to the brand DNA and will at the same time glamour the kid’s mind. It is not about offering scale models of the product mix already on the adult consumer floor, but to twist it and reinterpret this DNA to capture the little ones attention; mostly because kids are also making their own decision on what to wear, on developing their own fashion style, and building their own identity following the models seen on their parents… remember: monkey sees, monkey does.

Buyers then, have to develop a keen eye to create an assortment that will captivate both parents and kids equally. Brands who conquer the kid’s market today can also build brand loyalty that will get a long way in the future when these new little consumers get into the work force.

 

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Roger ARTiga

 

 

(1) References:

http://www.reportlinker.com/ci02124/Women-s-Clothing.html

http://blog.euromonitor.com/2012/09/little-devils-wear-prada-how-is-adult-fashion-infiltrating-the-childrenswear-market.htmlACCESSEDON02-18-2013]