Fashion Futures: Trading Style and Stocks

When I was working a luxury multi-brand retail store, I had this idea of a stock exchange to depict new drops and heavy inventory. For example, if a new Loewe shipment was being marketed, our communication would read, “Loewe is up by 5 (number of pieces) points.” Now, I’m not an investor or trader, but I would like to be. It had me thinking about how many of us lack the knowledge when that is the only requirement to deal in this field.

If you’ve received a creative education, you know that you very rarely touch upon finance terms and even then, it is not going to teach you how to wield the stock market. Larger retail stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Saks, Galleries Lafayette, Neimen Marcus, Harrods could create a stock market-like system for the brands they carry.

Core concept:

• Customers would invest in brand’s listed on the retailer’s exchange.

• The amount they invest will reflect how much they pay for the brand — e.g., a higher investor gets better prices or earlier access.

• This system would help the retailer finance future inventory purchases with brands via customer investments.

The gamification of investment can help young women understand the principles of trading on a base level, in a language they speak. Additionally, investing becomes a form of brand loyalty and customers have a financial reason to support and buy from a brand. I can see this adapting to beauty, furniture and even art dalliers (the artist becomes the stock).

For the retailers, these early investments can aid in negotiating better MOQs (minimum order quantity) with brands and it further fuels their demand data before the purchase orders go in.

It is a re-imagination of exclusivity and the VIP club. This program would be for the clients who are more than forwent shoppers, the HNI population. The investors would become a tiered club with privileges — early access, private previews and improved payment terms.

There would be transferable digital tokens between users — stumbling onto an NFT-based membership. A new app or separate section on the same app would have to be created with a crystal clear UI/UX. In the paragraph above, I mentioned that this would primarily be accessed by the 1% of buyers. A counter to my earlier point can be investments to a person’s capacity can be allowed via the app. In the end, it would avail meagre discounts, but consider inventory that is not selling or a brand’s reputation has taken a swing, then the stock would fall, making the prices more attractive of aspirational luxury shoppers — creating a sense of inclusivity that is rooted in allowing young women to feel empowered to shop.

To take this a step ahead, the retailers can host a young girl’s program i.e., the Fashion Stock Exchange to teach them about investing. It would be a financial literacy program through the lens of fashion for high schoolers and beyond (around 13 to 21). Consider it to be a type of summer school.

It would entail investing, portfolio building, brand valuation, smart consumerism and long-term financial planning.

Real concept	Fashion-based
Buying a stock	Investing in a fashion brand you love
Portfolio	Your closet of brand investments
Market trends	Fashion week, resale values, celebrity endorsements
Diversification	Mix high fashion (risk) with staples/basics (stability)
Volatility	Trend cycles, fast fashion drops, fads, viral moments

This can include case studies with comparisons of resale values 10 years ago and now. The most prominent example is that of a Birkin. The resale value has been on the rise of over a decade — making it a very appealing investment.

Data from Rebag's article.

For the summer program, a space would be rented or cleared up in the retail store for students to attend classes in-person in the city of the retail store (large metropolises such as New York, Paris, London). It can also be in collaboration with fashion institutes — Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, London College of Fashion, Central Saint Martins etc.

Combing aesthetics with analytics is the future for retail brands. It is an interesting way to scout for talent for an early age and stage. The fashion industry is consistently in a flux because leaders are either trained too analytically (CEOs brought in from other industries at the point of “saving”) or too creatively (when the creative director takes the lead, with less understanding of business principles). It is time that the industry jumps out of this self fulfilling prophecy and equips its talent with the ability to manage and think critically about both aspects of the company.