Princess For a Day

The Fashionomist is NOT jumping on the bandwagon of fashion blogs drooling over Kate Middleton's (excuse The Fashionomist, Duchess of Cambridge) dress.  [If you must know, the lace sleeves have caught her fancy, but the cut is a bit disappointing, particularly from the house of Alexander McQueen].  But the economics behind THE DRESS (as it has come to be known) are amazing.

Yes, to ruin your entire royal fantasy, there is an economics to THE DRESS.

The New York Times recently posted a fascinating article on the copycat process of spitting out replicas of THE DRESS, just in time for spring/summer wedding season (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/fashion/24knockoff.html?_r=1&emc=eta1).  Some designers have decided to simply imagine the design from before and sell dresses based on their conception of what Princess Kate would be wearing.  Check out designer Don O'Neill's eerily similar forecast of what the newest lady-in-waiting would don.

But the more intriguing process lies in how quickly information will travel from first viewing of the bride to retail stores.

“When that dress hits, we’ll be right on it,” said Jim Hjelm,  a bridal designer in New York.  “We’ll be on the computer that afternoon, sending a sketch.”  The company’s factory in China will return samples for approval within 24 hours, Mr. Hjelm said. Equipped, like its competitors, with high-tech computer programs, the factory can approximate a design from a sketch or a Web page, with no need to pull apart the seams of an actual garment.  “We’ll probably gamble and have a dress or even three styles out before October,” said Mr. Hjelm, for shipping to stores in February. “But there are plenty of people who will have the dress within a day."

Which means, dear reader, should you have the itch to marry in THE DRESS next fall, or perhaps next Saturday suits your schedule better, you can look like a beaming queen-to-be --- and cheaper, to boot.

And therein lies the magic of easy access to information.  Think back to the last royal wedding, when Prince Charles and Princess Diana vowed everlasting happiness (or something like that).  What did one do in the 1980s in terms of access to information?  It was a television spectacle, to be sure.  But as a designer, if one desired to create a prototype of the dress and have it released to the public as quickly as possible, the process of sketching, designing, purchasing fabric, pinning, sewing, adjusting, manufacturing, price fixing, retailing, advertising, and selling would take at least a month, if not more.  The Internet wasn't there for lightning fast correspondence across the pond, and designers separated from the manufacturing and business aspects of dressmaking had, at best, phones to communicate with.  Scanners, email, and smartphones were still Jetson-speak.

The speed of communication, in other words, has made fast fashion possible.  It's reduced the cost of clothing for consumers who wish to have the latest fashion, allowing fashion to be broadened in its reach.  Even better for consumers is the fact that with the ability to have more input in design (instead of being limited to a certain designer in a certain place due to geographic obstacles, one could have this dress with creative and physical input from across the planet), consumers are getting a better product of better quality.  British design will be transmitted to American business fashion markets, where prototypes will be sent to production in China, whose dresses will be flown over the world.  The speed of the process and ability to use comparative advantage in bringing about the best product possible is simply astounding.

It's not just designers getting in the trend:  fast fashion is jumping the gun and creating designs in time for prom (that big spring event of American teenagers).  A three week turnaround is expected from today to being able to shimmy in a ballroom with your fellow high-schoolers donning THE DRESS.  David's Bridal is planning on releasing a prototype by the end of the weekend.  Internet retailer Light in the Box will have prototype of THE DRESS out tonight and ready to purchase by mid-June.  So fear not, fellow Americans - you too can look like a non-Disney princess.

The Fashionomist apologizes for spoiling your good royal fun and dampening your admiration of THE DRESS with economics, but isn't that her job?  After all, a fairy-tale wedding will be influencing trends for years to come - it's an economic trend with lasting power.  Perhaps the American recession should look into the business of royalty for an economic boost?

Best wishes to William and Kate.


*The Fashionomist*

Post-Edit:  It took just 5 hours for THE DRESS to be replicated!  
http://royalwedding.yahoo.com/blogs/kate-middleton-wedding-dress-recreated-8467