A farewell to fast fashion practices is good for the entire high fashion sector. Not only for brands and designers, but for all the players, from manufacturing to retail. For this reason, it becomes a fundamental step to clarify that slow luxury also protects Italy: because talking about high-end suppliers means talking about made in Italy. The signers of Forum Letter, the appeal headed by Dries Van Noten, underline the point. Rodrigo Bazan, CEO of Thom Browne, doesn’t forget the suppliers of the Belpaese.
Slow luxury also protects Italy
Van Noten and Bazan dedicate a two-voices interview to Corriere della Sera. It is here that the Thom Browne CEO (pictured) explains that joining the Van Noten movement has “only one purpose”. Which is? “To protect the designer”, of course. But also “product development, labor, among other things, especially Italian, retailers, collections, customers”. The two agree on one point: the epidemic brings with it a transformation of values on a global scale. Fashion cannot be said to be excluded. For this “we have to tell about ourselves. Explain more what we do and how we do it – they agree -. To make it clear that industry and talent are behind fashion. It’s not just frivolity. We all almost forgot about it. It is no longer a question of which star wore this dress, it is more important to show how a bag is made to appreciate its value”.
The premises of the movement
“I could not continue to pretend nothing happened, in the face of a tragedy like this. The world has changed, this horrible Covid thing has happened and cannot be erased, we must go on – explains Van Noten, about the birth of the movement -. When we were in the midst of fashion madness, it was difficult to understand that we were going in the wrong direction”. Now it is possible to make up for it: “This pause must make us take that step back, reflecting well – he continues -. Armani‘s perfect words, Saint Laurent’s decision to get out of the calendar, the uncertainty of times, were the driving force: if everyone goes on their way, it will only cause confusion”.
Time equal quality
Van Noten and Bazan also share another assumption: slowing down the times of luxury is the only way to bring value back to the product quality. “People no longer know what they are looking at, let alone when they go to buy it in the store – they say -. There was or always is this pressure to go faster. To propose news, drops. Then, to attract customers again, the discount system, but when one commodity goes on sale at 50 percent, others at full price are needed to get back on the investment, and the circle gets faster and faster”.
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