This season Black Friday did not necessarily leave retailers in the black. Amid protestors shouting for higher wages and American citizens’ outrage over the Ferguson verdict, many holiday shoppers decided to stay away from stores and malls and shop online or not shop at all.
“Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart you’re no good. Treat your workers like you should,” a crowd of several dozen shouted outside a Wal-Mart store in downtown Chicago. Eleven police arrest was made at that location.
“It just looks like any other weekend,” said Angela Olivera, a 32-year-old housewife shopping for children’s clothing at the Westfarms Mall near Hartford, Connecticut. “The kind of crowds we usually see are missing and this is one of the biggest malls here. I think people are just not spending a lot,” as reported in a fashionmag.com article.
It has been estimated that Black Friday sales were down 11% as compared to 2013 sales.
Valentino popup
Can you imagine Valentino in a popup store? Most of us cannot, but it has happened.
Valentino creative directors Maria Grazia Chiura and Pierpaolo Piccioli have created a collection of women’s ready-to-wear and accessories specifically for Harrods. This capsule collection will be available until January 2015 in a popup space designed by renowned architect David Chipperfield.
According to fashionmag.com, this capsule collection will include four embroidered dresses, three gowns, and a short dress, as well as leather bags and accessories in multicolored options. There will also be some hand-blown Valentino glass baubles in a variety of colors and patterns that can be used to decorate your Holiday tree.
Another celebrity brand
How many celebrity fashion brands can the American consumer stomach? Well, it seems as though consumers will have access to another celebrity brand, launching for fall 2015.
Emmy Award–Winning Actress/Comedienne Melissa McCarthy has partnered with Gerard Guez’s Sunrise Brands to create a fashion line that will include clothing, beauty products, and accessories. “I always said, ‘Why can’t I find great stuff?’ And Sunrise was up for the challenge,” said McCarthy in a wwd.com article.
“I’d been looking for two, three, maybe four years for manufacturers to help us do this line,” she said. “But after we met with Sunrise, we felt they were committed to changing the plus-size game.”
The yet unnamed fashion line will be based off of Sunrise Brands existing Seven7 line and center around casual sportswear at moderate prices. Knitwear will retail for $39 to $79, sweaters for $79 to $99 and bottoms for $59 to $118.
—William S. Gooch
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