The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever [Paperback]

Teri Agins (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 22, 2000

The time when "fashion" was defined by French designers whose clothes could be afforded only by elite has ended. Now designers take their cues from mainstream consumers and creativity is channeled more into mass-marketing clothes than into designing them. Indeed, one need look no further than the Gap to see proof of this. In The End of Fashion, Wall Street Journal, reporter Teri Agins astutely explores this seminal change, laying bare all aspects of the fashion industry from manufacturing, retailing, anmd licensing to image making and financing. Here as well are fascinating insider vignettes that show Donna Karan fighting with financiers,the rivalry between Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, and the commitment to haute conture that sent Isaac Mizrahi's business spiraling.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dispensing with the idea that fashion designers are unpredictable geniuses sequestered in creative isolation from vulgar commerce, Agins, who covers the fashion industry for the Wall Street Journal, has taken a long, hard look at style in the '90s and come back with a compelling report on why big business has forever altered what we wear. In seven superbly researched essays, she explains that the designers are currently being challenged to sell essentially the same clothes to a public with increasingly homogenized tastes. "Today's 'branding' of fashion," she writes, "has taken on a critical role [when] just about every store in the mall is peddling the same style of clothes." Brands, in this context, are the designers themselvesAa woman doesn't go shopping for a particular style of dress, but for a "Calvin" or a "Ralph"Aa lifestyle distillation that denotes professional and severe urban minimalism (Calvin Klein) or athletic, American conservatism (Ralph Lauren). The casualties of this trend are the craftsmanlike members of the Old School, as Agins ably demonstrates in essays on fading Parisian haute couture. Liveliest by far is Agins's chronicle of the rivalry between Lauren and the upstart Tommy Hilfiger, who sells clothes nearly identical to Lauren's, but with a hipper edge, captivating black city kids. The influence of Armani on Tinseltown and Donna Karan on Wall Street are also analyzed with verve and clear-sightedness. As glossy fashion magazines increasingly offer fantasies illustrated by advertisements far more often than they deliver journalism, Agins's penetrating dispatch from the rag trade is especially welcome. Photos. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Agins, a veteran fashion reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has written the first factual book on the fashion industry from a business/cultural/social journalist's view. She traces the beginning of couture from the early 20th century in France through all the stages to the present, when consumers set the fashion rules and designers must follow them. Major components of her story include retailers like Marshall Field, Federated Department Stores, Dillards, Nordstrom, and the Gap as well as designers Giorgio Armani, Bill Blass, Ralph Lauren, and Donna Karan. In the end, this story is about the triumph of marketing; Agins demonstrates how changes in our culture, e.g., more casual dress, have changed the fashion business. Filled with insider details and descriptions of the fickle nature of consumers, this book belongs in academic business and fashion collections.ASusan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060958200
• ISBN-13: 978-0060958206
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Names, Names, Names, dahling November 24, 2004

By Delancy Street Books

Format:Paperback

I'm glad that I finally got the book after seeing Teri on the Oprah show and the Metro Channel. Her reporting genius and years of experience show as she single-handedly unveils this industry which too often tends to believe its own hype. It was especially interesting to read her accounts of the ways in which the homogenization of large American retail stores has bolstered designers' marketing and branding efforts and subsequently, and ironically, led to the death of fashion. This read was especially timely as I watch my hip trendy New Yorker friends spending $200 on banal denim pants in assorted hues. My only regret is that Teri never once conceded that designers are artists; her approach was strictly business and on those terms this book is brilliant.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fashion books tend to be vapid. This book packs a wallop January 15, 2004

By clothing design entrepreneur

Format:Paperback

Teri Agins did a terrific job with her book "The End of Fashion". The title sounds a bit fatalistic, but the content and tome is fantastic. I've always wanted to know the history, business practices, personality and profiles of accomplished designers and Teri Agins delivers all this beautifully. No malice is detected and Ms.Agins' professionalism is evident throughout. No catty swipes are made, even when she discusses Donna's exorbitant overhead and sample process or when she discusses Tommy's obsession with everything Ralph Lauren. Remember Ralph: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I'm so glad to know what really happened to Mossimo and Zoran. This book about fashion designers and the fashion industry is a great read. I highly recommend it to fashion and garment industry types as well as for the informed or curious customer.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Have" Book for Fashion Designers June 19, 2002

By Senay GOKCEN

Format:Paperback

I bought this book 2 years ago and I still read it over and over again. When you're in Fashion Business, you always want to know what others - "your competitors"- do at the same time. How they react to the same trends, how they manage their works, how they do their fashion shows, what they think of, etc. This book tells all the backstage, all the things about Fashion Designers, all you wanna know and things you'd never think of. It's easy and fun to read. If you're a beginner in Fashion, you must have this book. This book is like a kitchen and every single page is a recipe...