The Fashion Designer Legends Series

The fashion industry is sometimes though of as being a bit parasitic - feeding off of the desperation of young women (and men) to fit in. But there is another side of the industry. The fashion industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, employing countless individuals. It makes people feel good about themselves to be seen in designer couture. It can help build self-esteem. It's not necessarily the cash-sucking monster that people make it out to be!

I have to admit, for many years I rebelled against the fashion industry. When I was a teenager, we were very poor. I longed to wear the best fashions, carry a Gucci purse and wear Guess jeans. Sadly, most of my clothes were purchased at garage sales and Wal-Mart.

When I was a young adult, I was bitter that I couldn't afford the high cost of wearing fashionable clothing. Wal-Mart, Kmart, and occasionally the more expensive Target were the mainstays of my shopping experience - by choice, I told myself.

Then it all changed. Oddly enough, it was because I watched the movie "The Devil Wears Prada". That movie changed my life. The movie made me realize that I was demonizing the fashion industry simply because of my own inability to afford its products. I wasn't demonizing luxury automobile makers, or plasma television manufacturers, even though their products were also out of my reach. So why was I so angry at the fashion industry?

I finally realized that I was angry because of my childhood. I wanted the name-brand clothes my peer were wearing, but I couldn't have them. The closest I ever came was wearing a pair of Reebok shoes that were bought second-hand at a garage sale for $1. I was still very bitter about that, and I'd taught myself to despise the industry. I was simply angry at my parents for not buying me the clothes I so desperately wanted to fit in.

Some would say it was the industry's fault to begin with, for making expensive clothes that most couldn't afford. But fashionable clothing has been desired by people who couldn't afford it since ancient times! Even in ancient Babylon, poor people envied the luxurious robes of the rich. It's not the fault of the industry that people can't afford its products! The industry is simply delivering the market what it wants. Just like Wal-Mart delivers off-brand clothing at affordable prices, which is what its particular market wants and needs, the designer fashion industry delivers exactly what its market wants. They want exclusivity. They want to wear clothing that not just anyone can afford. The designer fashion industry's market is NOT the people who can't afford luxury.

Every company has a target market. Wal-Mart targets consumers who either can't afford more expensive merchandise, or who are particularly frugal and value saving money. Saks Fifth Avenue has a completely different market. They target people who either have the money to easily afford luxury goods, or who truly see the value in having products that most people don't have

So you see, there's no point in demonizing an industry for delivering something there is a demand for! If people didn't want the products, the designer labels would go broke! But people DO want these goods, and the designers are only delivering what their target market wants. That's just good business!

As I mentioned before, I've never been able to afford designer garb. In fact, I don't think I'd ever even heard the word "couture" until I saw "The Devil Wears Prada"! I just wasn't something I had any interest in, because I knew I couldn't afford it anyway.

Since seeing that movie, I've changed. I still can't afford to spend $2,000 on the latest Marc Jacobs handbag or those amazing new booties from Gucci. Still, I can dream. I flip through the pages of Vogue or Vanity Fair, and I dream of owning those things. I think of what it would be like to wear couture every day, to have a closet full of name-brand designer clothing - all bought brand new at full price. No longer does the though depress me or drag me down. No. I've come to accept the fact that I'm not Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. I can't afford those things, and I likely never will be able to. But it doesn't drag me down anymore. Now it lifts me up, and gives me hope. It shows me what I could have if I worked harder, and smarter. I gives me something to strive for!

The fashion industry is still somewhat of an enigma to me. I've ignored it for so long, I have a lot of catching up to do! I've spent the last several months cramming in as much as I can, but I still have so much to learn. This series of lenses on the industry is as much about my own learning experience as it is about delivering information to you. So I hope you'll bear with me as we go on this journey together, learning about the industry and the designers we know and love, and maybe even some we've never heard of!

Buckle your seatbelt! It's going to be a bumpy ride!