Will The Brand Continue To Fire After Losing The Creative Director?

On Thursday night, a group of excited Virgil Abloh fans wandered outside the Pompidou Arts Center, waiting for something that would never happen. The designer promised that some people would be involved in his Off-White 2020 spring and summer women's wear conference. But in the show, because there is no high concept product that the industry expects for its fashion show, there are only few logo designs that are exciting. The whole series is focused on the fashionable shirt dress, the cut leather trousers and the front fork tights.
As expected, Abloh was nowhere to be found. In early September this year, he announced that he would work in Chicago for 3 months to recover from his busy travel schedule. He works as a men's wear designer in Off-White and Louis Vuitton. Flying eight times a week is part of his job. (he has also participated in numerous cooperation and is still a popular DJ.)
For Off-White, the temporary disappearance of Abloh is at the critical moment of the brand. When its founder returns, the brand may need to be reshaped.
In many ways, this summer's retrospective of Abloh's fashion and other works exhibited at the Museum of contemporary art in Chicago is like the end of a chapter of the designer. He is acutely aware that fashion is no longer related to the complexity of design, but is more concerned about the importance of image and how to build a community that aims for the same person through products.
Many people want to know what the future of the brand will be like, and whether there will be Abloh participation. What will it be like in the future? This is a hot topic recently discussed by Facebook's closed discussion group called High Fashion Talk. The discussion group was launched by photographer Iolo Lewis Edwards, and he created a group of 25 thousand fans who are fanatical fashion fans, many of whom are male.
"They can really benefit from it. This can be a way to" Refresh "their clothes. Sometimes their clothes are full of excess," one member said. Another user said, "imagine that if mass production of Off-White enters the mid end fashion market, I think they can beat those high street brands."
Virgil Abloh in Off-White curtain call, photo source: Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh
Edwards said that in recent months, he has found that his attitude towards Off-White has changed. Off-White is a popular luxury brand. It is also a cooperative machine founded by Abloh in 2014. The designer is known for visual merchandising, fans and tightly controlled distribution strategies, which can make a simple T-shirt a covetous and a symbol of affiliation. He has led the high fashion industry to have different views on street clothing, limited edition T-shirts and community building. Since then, he has been welcomed by mainstream media. In 2018, LVMH group appointed him as the artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear. Recently, Tom Ford also appointed him a member of the board of directors of the American Designers Association (CFDA).
But like all rising trends, Abloh's peak in the luxury of men's clothing seems to be weakening - and not just fans of the Facebook group. According to Edited, a retail analyst, U.S. retailers' demand for Off-White is slowing. The number of products sold on Farfetch decreased by 50% compared with the same period last year, while the number of discounted goods increased by 7%. In the July sales, 40% of the brands were discounted, up from 30% in the same period last year. According to Tribe Dynamics, in the year ended August, the media value of the brand gained by social media declined by 38% compared with the same period last year.
"Now the audience seems to have moved to Louis Vuitton instead of Off-White," Edwards said.
Abloh has helped luxury brands go to the streets, but the trend that he is leading is beginning to cool. Off-White is at a turning point. Not long ago, Balenciaga's creative director, Demna Gvasalia, resigned from Vetements. The brand is the only luxury wave that has been competing with Off-White for its huge influence in the high fashion industry.
Abloh has already laid the foundation for the new era of Off-White, and has launched new directions in recent fashion conferences, including more suits and evening wear. But the brand is famous for its $300 T-shirt, 600 dollar Hoodie, accessories and Nike sports shoes, with signature arrows and quotes on his sneakers. These works are to make him stand out. Compared to those low-key but elegant T works, there is no definite reason for existence in the market.
However, Off-White is hard to get into a real low. Since the second quarter of 2018, it has been in the forefront of Lyst's most popular brands (according to Lyst and Google's search data, conversion rate, sales volume and social media exposure summary), alternately with Gucci.
In the latest quarter, Off-White's Jitney bag (a female style handbag, printed with the words "Logo" and "Cash Inside", mostly written by Abloh) ranked first among the most popular female products in the Lyst Index list. The thick Odsy 1000 old shoes ranked fifth among the most popular male products.
According to Edited's data, the brand's 16% wholesale products in the United States have been cut, compared with the average price reduction rate of luxury brands is 37%.
And the fans community built around Abloh is still there. They wait for the next release with Nike, or appear in his show, all of which inspire their sense of belonging and desire to buy, go to museums to appreciate his works, or pay for his latest Off-White.
Luxury brands may have reached the pinnacle of the "two generation" crowd, but consumers still know the brand that has opened the trend. More people are willing to dress more casually, even in work and special occasions, which makes Street tide cards not "cool" quickly.
Virgil Abloh exhibition at the Museum of contemporary art in Chicago. Photo source: Nathan Keay
Mario Ortelli, managing partner of Ortelli & Co., a luxury consultancy, says many luxury brands are also entering the tide market, making Off-White's core market more competitive. But he added that Off-White used to provide customers with what they did not know what they wanted, rather than just responding to the spirit of the times.
"So far, Off-White has shown great ability to adapt to our market needs," Ortelli said.
At the same time, however, Off-White's retail strategy is undergoing major changes, which may make the brand easier to buy, and the exposure brought about by limited sales will be damaged. This is especially important for sneakers, because consumers' aspirations lie on the extreme imbalance between supply and demand. Last year, Adidas released a coveted Yeezy sneaker, but it didn't sell out immediately, because Adidas increased the number of commodities listed.
The driving force behind the change in Off-White's retail strategy is Farfetch, which acquired the New Guards group for $675 million in August. The Milan based platform controls Off-White and other limited brands, such as Heron Preston and Palm Angels, which are led by creative people and have a large number of enthusiastic fans. Farfetch plans to launch, test and scale brands through its own sales channels and New Guards, and bet on the next generation of Off-White. They also plan to increase direct retail and e-commerce sales of existing brands, which currently account for only about 5% of New Guards's revenue.
However, New Guards group does not actually own Off-White, but controls the licensing authority of Off-White trademark. In a statement, Farfetch told BoF that the contract between New Guards and Abloh would last until 2035, and that negotiations or termination could not be made until 2026. This means that the relationship between Farfetch and Off-White will last until at least 2026. So the next seven years will be crucial for Farfetch. They need to seize the time to find the next Off-White. Once this agreement is terminated, Abloh can do anything he wants to do in Off-White, including transferring Off-White's trademark authorization to other places.
But at the same time, Abloh has clearly become the leader of the fashion industry, because he knows better than most people: today, fashion business is not only based on design innovation.
Perhaps forcing himself not to travel is a way he looks for the next way.