12 minute read
Fashion as We Know It Is Dead” Retail visionary Susanne
Susanne Tide-Frater’s reputation as a visionary precedes her. She has rejuvenated Selfridges and Harrods, accompanied Farfetch for many years, and built brands like Victoria Beckham. The creative strategist welcomes the dawn of the digital age with great optimism. Susanne Tide-Frater is certain that fashion is changing fundamentally – for the better. Interview: Martina Müllner-Seybold. Photo: Cris Fragkou
In order to remain at the forefront, Susanne Tide-Frater has worked intensively on the subject of digitising trade. Her vita is all about depth: the international consultant originally studied archaeology.
The world of retail is being turned upside
down. Especially the premium and luxury fashion segments are undergoing massive changes. Could you share your thoughts on the future of fashion retailing?
I assume the future of retail will be kind of channel-agnostic. I think that both the brick-and-mortar and online stores will be the gateway to the brand experience. It is not about channels anymore, in my opinion. They are merely access points. Through technology, paired with fantastic interpersonal service, the customers will be able to create their own stores wherever they want: at home, in hotels while travelling, or even in another shop. Customers will be afforded an opportunity to design an individual, personal “Store for One” experience. I worked extensively on this topic at Farfetch, where they have an entire division focusing on the “Store of the Future”. An infinite shelf will allow you to access a brand’s or retailer’s entire product catalogue. We worked on product recognition, meaning that a retailer can actually understand your wish list by what you touch and take off the rail. Wardrobe management will allow retailers to create an inventory of what you have purchased, but also of what you already have in your own wardrobe. They will be able to work on it together with the customer. Then there is the so-called content experience. I think technology is fantastic nowadays. It will help immensely in terms of storytelling and virtual reality solutions. So whilst technology is really helpful and enabling, I really think it is the human touch that will make the difference. The choice and the journey lies completely in the hands of the customers. This is the very positive future of retailing as I envision it.
What are the three main topics that will shape the future of the retail trade?
The first one is the pursuit of a circular economy. The second big issue, which will present a whole new business opportunity for the retail trade, is what I call “service products”. Basically, these are services which will be offered as products and in connection with products. I think service products are a wonderful opportunity, but they are not fully understood yet. They are, in short, all the things you cannot put in a shopping bag and carry out. The third big topic that I work on is personal versus personalisation. I mean, you could summarise it as tech and data versus the human touch – although those elements should work together. It is all about how to create a seamless experience between one and the other. Personalisation is based on data and knowing the customer’s past, whereas the personal aspect is about how store assistants react to a customer’s future wishes and current moods. Store assistants are hugely important in retail of the future.
I believe there are three big issues. All of these issues need to be addressed if you want to secure a future in fashion. I am not entirely sure that “retail” is still the correct term. As you said before, it is all about having personal access to brands and being given a personal choice. It could, of course, also be a temporary choice. Maybe we do not own fashion anymore. I totally understand why these shifts seem so terrifying to retailers. It must feel threatening for someone who spent a lifetime caring about buying, merchandising, and selling clothes.
That is absolutely true and I have never considered myself a die-hard retailer. Originally, I am actually an archaeologist, meaning I am more of an observer of the world of retail, even though I spent a while at Selfridges and Harrods. For me, it is all about learning. I am a pioneer and a risk taker. When I took over the creative direction at Selfridges, for example, it was really old-fashioned. I was also a pioneer when I agreed to build the Victoria Beckham brand for Simon Fuller, because she was an ex-Spice Girl at the time and nobody banked on her. And then José Neves [the founder of Farfetch] approached me with his vision of a platform. Back then, when we were eight in a room in the east of London, I knew about retailing and brands, but I felt strongly that I needed to learn about the digital world if I wanted to remain on top of things. So yes, I think it is hard for a die-hard retailer to change. But, in the end, it´s easy, because you can embrace future opportunities simply by observing the consumer and trying to foresee what he or she might want in the future, rather than only looking at the past.
Well, fashion retailers might be perfect in predicting what customers want to wear in the future, but they´re not in terms of predicting how they prefer to consume in the future.
Yes, because the fashion and luxury retail trade is not about trends. Trends are terribly old fashioned. It is about behaviour. Everything runs faster and faster now, but the overall principle has not changed.
That is so interesting. In a previous interview with our magazine, Martin Lindstrom said that he would recommend every shop owner to spend two hours a week with a random customer. Not their favourite customer, but a random one. I believe that is the interesting point. Observing such customers points you into the direction of change.
It is really interesting. When we created Browns East, which is very bijoux, it was still devised as a retail experience which contained a lot of ideas which we translated into physical customer journeys. We created one for the walk-in customers, who actually randomly walks by, sees something interesting, and comes in. We also created one for VIPs who obviously know the store much better. We were totally aware that one of the roles of the store assistant is to understand why the walk-in customer came in and who this customer is, not merely to tell them what they should want to buy. It shouldn’t be invasive, just an open exchange to understand his or her needs. One day they might be there to shop, another day they might be there to discover your brand. We got very surprising results.
Customers hold all the power in this new era of retail, don’t they?
Yes, they hold the power. They, the consumers and their respective communities, decide if a brand is a success, because they do not only shop for themselves. They talk, they support, and there’s social media on which they like and share. This viral buzz can allow brands to rise incredibly fast.
So, retail has to change its mind when it comes to its employees. How should a shop assistant who is paid peanuts fulfil this role? The way it is now, being on a sales floor is very unattractive. Combined with tech, as well as an opportunity to build your own community as a salesperson and being a person who is looked up to, it is a whole new story. It is not about advice anymore…
What sales assistants have is extremely precious. We saw this when Farfetch bought Browns. There are two types of sales assistants. The Millennials come with all their savviness and tech knowledge, while some people still have their contacts in a little black book. If those two communities actually learn what they do not know, they will have beautiful careers. A retail future without people is unthinkable. This is what supermarkets like Sainsburys make us do now with their self-check-outs that don’t allow us to talk to anybody. It is so boring. It is so soulless. It is horrendous actually.
Browns is bringing its nomad concept to Berlin. You played a major role in creating this strategy of pop-upshops in cities like Los Angeles and now Berlin. It is so interesting that even a brand like Browns has to get physical to establish a long-lasting connection with its customers.
Yes, because it is sensuality, spontaneity, and theatre. However, this physical effect might get a virtual dimension, at least this is something I am working on. I ask myself how we can make a customer in Stockholm participate in a store event in Berlin. Nobody has succeeded in achieving that yet. I think that is another exciting stream for the future.
Let’s come back to circularity. Do you think the fashion industry can achieve it?
Parts of the fashion industry will. I mean, we are on a crossroad. Adopting sustainability almost as a fashion trend, as many companies do right now, is not going to be enough to satisfy these younger generations. They will be able to sense it is fake. I work with quite a few brands. I work with young designers and they are all talking about sustainability, but only very few companies actually have it in their DNA. For me, it is about the deep-felt attitude changes, which have to start at the source of the fashion system as a whole. Sustainability has to be lived by the company from the bottom up. It even has to be part of HR decisions and company culture. It is our chance to really reflect on margins and fails, like the – How do you call it? Ah yes… - the “Schlussverkauf”, the permanent sale. I also think the celebration of the new has to cease.
I really love to hear you say this, because all of us are guilty when it comes to celebrating the new. In German it is especially difficult, as we don’t even have a word for something you keep, and love to keep.
You are right and I think, in the future, it will be about the well-made and the long lasting items, about spending more less often. Products by really sustainable brands take their time to be produced and they are going to cost. I also think a lot of young consumers will switch from fashion to clothing. Fashion may not be cool anymore. But in all of this you can hear that I am an eternal optimist. I think this is a great opportunity for new creativity in the right hands.
Do you think the business model of selling new clothes at a very high pace has to be questioned in its entirety?
On all levels, not only ecologically… It doesn’t make sense for designers to be forced to create, I don’t know, six to eight collections per season. I see some of the young British designers who are pulled into this system. They don’t sleep anymore, they don’t earn money. They basically feed the machine. This takes the fun out of fashion. I think it takes the interest out of fashion, because you have no reason to look forward to a purchase and to, you know, plan something. Then you cannot even cherish it in your wardrobe and enjoy wearing it, because the next season is already there. So I think this whole system will profoundly change. There are many business models out there, from renting to exchanging. I think we will go much more in the direction of a new kind of Tupperware party, where you exchange your clothes with friends or with the organiser. Those models will bring back the fun into fashion.
Bringing the fun back into fashion could also be the saviour for brands and retailers. A Chanel customer, who bought a Chanel bag a year ago, is still proud of owning this particular bag today. However, Chanel never ever acknowledges such customers. One is only perceived as a good customer when one buys another Chanel bag. I firmly believe this needs to change. Brands and retailers need to establish a system that allows such customers to cherish their pieces longer. There has to be some sort of after-sales care.
That is totally right, Martina. It is so interesting, because this is part of what I call “service products”. Why should there not be a “repair your handbag” or “polish your shoes” service? I don’t know if you have heard of or even visited the new Adidas store in London? Which, by the way, was designed by Browns’ architect (laughs). What I found really interesting is that they have launched a “pimp your sneaker” service. I don’t know what they call it. They don’t call it “pimp my sneaker” of course, that would be too common. Anyway, there is an area where you can bring your cherished trainers and it is like a car wash. You can clean the surface and soles or have them repaired. It is incredible. I saw it last week with Holli Rogers [CEO of Browns and member of the board at Farfetch] and it was extraordinary. Adidas obviously wants you to buy new trainers, but they also encourage you to love what you have already bought. That is what wardrobe management is. I mean, look at Hermes bags. Obviously, they are the prime example, but I think this can go much further, because most leather goods specialists have opted for quality. You want to pass this bag on to your daughter or niece. That is pure sustainability and fashion brands should support their customers in their sustainable choices for a lifetime. I think the fashion industry has to be very careful and mindful not to use this sustainability excuse to create a fast trend that is subsequently killed off. I believe that would be the final death blow for consumption. That will make that young generation say: “No longer!” There are signs already. There was the movement that demonstrated during Fashion Week and said that Fashion Week is dead. And I agree. Fashion as we know it is dead. Not fashion itself, but the idea of fashion having to be new is definitely dead.
Great, now I have the perfect headline for this interesting interview! Thank you, this was great.
