Can R M Williams regain its traditional Australian marketplace?

 

Back in 2013 in Australian life - R M Williams & Australian Country Style I wrote that a 49.9 per cent share in the iconic Australian brand had been sold to L Capital Asia, a private equity fund sponsored by French luxury giant LVMH Group. The intent was to extend the global reach of the R M Williams' brand.

The company has now been purchased by Australian billionaire Twiggy Forrest, bringing it back under Australian control. Like many Australians, I am pleased at that. 

I do wonder, however, if R M Williams can reclaim its traditional country market place following its shift towards the urban and fashion market place, Reflecting, it's a number of years since I bought R M Williams because the brand had become very expensive and ceased to meet my needs. I would like to return! We will see.  

Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear 1715 - 2015 - at the Powerhouse Museum Sydney

Hhat tip to Artdaily for this one.

Men's clothes as seen on display at the Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear 1715 - 2015 exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Reigning Men is the world's largest exhibition of men's fashion featuring some of the world's most iconic examples of menswear spanning over 300 years and traversing the globe. It runs from May 2, to October 14, 2018.

Postscript

Rather nice parallel piece by Peter McNeil in The Conversation, From ‘macaronis’ to mohawks, men’s fashion has always been political.

In praise of a well-cut wool suit

Those people who have a suit for every day of the week and even, one is reluctantly led to believe, more expansive wardrobes, are parvenus of the worst sort. A gentleman generally has two suits. There is one for formal occasions like funerals and another for less formal occasions like going up to London. They are made by one of a select band of exclusive tailors and last him many years until his wife judges they are too threadbare. Then they are either handed down to the gardener or given to a good cause like the Distressed Gentlefolk’s Aid Association.

I have always had very old-fashioned views on suits. They should be made of wool, they should be comfortable and well cut, and they should last and last. This generally means that I have eschewed the most modern fashions.

The more modern the fashion, the more likely it is that the suit will date. To my mind, it is better to look slightly old fashioned than to be wearing a suit that clearly belongs to last year's fashion.

For the life of me, and I accept this dates me dreadfully, I cannot warm to a suit that starts with a crumpled look, looks too tight around the shoulders and has trousers designed to fit matchsticks. It's just not me.

I mention this now because the Parisian Gentleman  has just published an excerpt from “The English Gentleman”, a satire written by Douglas Sutherland and published in 1978. It's quite entertaining, although the advice on where to place your hankie does not seem quite right.

Refashioning Dad revisited

Back in Early April in Refashioning Dad, I reported on a campaign to reshape my wardrobe. This was followed by End of the fashion big brands? and then That crumpled look. This somewhat unusual Belshaw excursion into fashion came to a halt over a simple issue, money. Not a permanent halt, mind you, just a deferral.

Then yesterday my fellow blogger Ramana pointed to this story from the New York Times, For Men, a New Look for the Summer Suit. Now this photo heading the story caught my eye, for the bloke on the left is  wearing one of the outfits I  actually wear to work minus the tie. This was one result of stage one of the refashioning Dad campaign. Mind you, not the brands, but the colours and cut.

 

The story said in part:

It’s no secret that men’s tailored clothing has been on a roll. According to NPD Group, which tracks the clothing market, for the 12 months ending March 30, 2012, sales of tailored clothing (suits, jackets and trousers) were up 11 percent over the same period in 2011. In an economy in which double-digit growth in any category is remarkable, the fact that 2011’s nearly $4.5 billion market in tailored clothing rose to almost $5 billion this year is extraordinary.

Now I happen to like tailored clothing, while greatly disliking the crumpled fashion now in somewhat in vogue, at least in Sydney. So I liked the thought that some of my clothes style might be coming back into fashion. Then I read another paragraph:

Not only does a less expensive suit cost less, it is also a far less precious thing. You might not bicycle to work in a $1,700 suit, but one that cost $450? When the cost of a suit is on par with a fancy dress shirt and a pair of premium jeans, the possibilities for wearing it open up considerably. Brunching! Gallery-going! Walking the dog! Even Mike Rowe, the hunky, muddy star of “Dirty Jobs,” might wear one to work.

This pulled me up a little. $US450 for a cheap suit suitable for biking?! Mmm. Then I looked at the detail of the costs attached to the outfits in all the photos. Mmm indeed! I am not going to spend half my annual clothes budget on one combination. But then, I don't need too.  It's not necessary.

So long as the cut is good, so long as the clothes are well made, I don't need a brand. I just need my main fashion adviser. And she's free!

That crumpled look

Today I found my mind drifting again to clothes, following on from Refashioning Dad and then End of the fashion big brands?

One thing that I has amazed me a little is the return of the crumpled look.

If you at old photos other than posed shots, you will see that clothes are often very crumpled. It was just such a pain to press things, if indeed you could. I actually remember the old irons heated on top of the stove, for they lingered on well into the fifties if only in store.

Now when I look at fashion shots, both men and women sometimes look very crumpled indeed.

At one level I don't mind. Crumpled saves time. At a second level, I do wonder.

Why pay a huge sum just to look crumpled when you could achieve just the same effect by sleeping in your clothes overnight? It's on par with It's on par with what we might call "aged" jeans. Fancy paying a premium for a piece of clothing when you can achieve the same effect through normal wear and tear!

But then, I will never be a dedicated follower of fashion.    

End of the fashion big brands?

Continuing my muse on fashion that began with Refashioning Dad, one of the points that Marion Humes makes in her review of the Australian fashion industry is the explosion in choice available to women since she became editor of Vogue in, I think, 1997. That would certainly fit with my own impressions. 

Part of the increased choice came from reduced tariff protection making a wider range of cheaper goods available. Then many people simply had more money to spend. Most recently, the internet has provided access to a very wide range of fashion choices indeed.

Neither choice nor indeed designer labels necessarily means quality or style. I thought that the man's outfit in this photo was remarkably daggy. I was reassured that eldest daughter shared that view.

The cost of the outfit, by the way: Armani gray jacket $1,390, pants $690 and cotton shirt $390. I can look just as daggy at far less cost.

As often happens, my interest in the review was sparked by professional as well as personal interest.

In the first half of last year I did some work for Dilanchian Lawyers. This included analysis of particular client matters. I am not a lawyer, although I have a reasonably good general knowledge of certain areas of law. Instead, I focused on disentangling the economic and commercial issues underlying the various cases. A number of the cases I looked at involved the fashion industry.

In her review, Ms Humes pointed to some of the changes that have been taking place in the structure of the fashion industry. Those changes lay at the heart of the cases I reviewed.

The simple bricks and mortar models of the past were being replaced by a multiplicity of distribution channels in an increasingly global market place. In turn, this had created a complex web of legal agreements as suppliers attempt to maximise their position across markets and channels. The result has been some something of a lawyers delight!

Fashion has always been fickle. Styles change, as does brand positioning. The rise of the brand has been one of the remarkable features of the last twenty years. No matter where you go in the world, you will find the same brands, real and counterfeit.

But can the brand survive? I do wonder about that.

I am not saying that brands will vanish. People are still attracted by labels that have particular status or images attached to them. But increasingly, consumers use the internet to search for styles they like independent of brand.

The concept of territory, a defined geographic market, has already become a victim of the changes. Why buy a brand at a particular store when you can source exactly the same thing from a multiplicity of sources?

The big brands are  already struggling with this one. It lies at the heart of many commercial disputes. Now they have to face multiple competitors and an increasingly sophisticated consumer. It all makes life a tad difficult!

Refashioning Dad

Eldest daughter Helen has become the fashion guru for her father and also, if to a lesser extent, her mother.

My train reading this morning was in fact an article, really a set of articles, that appeared in Australia's Friday Financial Review glossy magazine. In a status update on Facebook I wrote:

I  normally don't read the glossy magazine that appears in Friday's Financial Review. Too many things that I either don't like or can't afford! This time I was attracted by Marion Humes' review of the Australian fashion industry. It was bitsy, that's pretty much normal now because of reduced attention spans, but there was some interesting stuff. Maybe a story or two!

While my focus in the comment was on the stories themselves, I was also thinking personally.

When I got home tonight, I gave Helen the section to read, asking her opinion. I also asked her about some of the ads for men's clothing. Her opinions mirrored mine. That was reassuring. We then talked about my desire to buy some new clothing. I wanted to shift my image.

As a writer trying to support a writing addiction through contract work, I simply cannot afford the clothes I used to buy. The money is just not there. On the other hand, I like to look smart.  So H and I worked trough my wardrobe.

I was reassured that she thought my basic taste was good. I never buy top fashion stuff, more classic lines that are likely to last. I also try to buy clothes that will fit in different circumstances.

We worked through my remaining clothing, much old. I will throw half of this out, replacing it with a limited number of new purchases built around strong statements. That way I get a good mix, things that will make me feel smart.