On Monday 13th October 2014 we were set
the task of discovering specific fashion clusters around central London. The fashion walk allowed me to discover where the fashion
clusters were in London and the way in which stores were cleverly located. I
was looking at how fashion brands create a visual presence on the highstreet
and the specific shopping districts; creating an awareness of the market
level clusterings.
I started the walk off at Oxford Circus.
Just off Oxford Circus is Conduit street which is home to luxury brands such
as; Vivienne Westwood, Donna Karan, Moschino, and Sketch (which is the original show room in London
that Dior used to use; a lot of presence of the Dior company still lies there).
Off Conduit
Street I look a left onto Saville Row – the home of tailoring in London,
and where Henry Poole & Co and Norton & Sons can be found. Each and
every store looked sophisticated and well thought out. All of the shop fronts
where very minimal and effortless.
There are many
different market segments; Haute Couture all the way to Economy, which each
have their own fashion cluster in London, this is simply because brands need to
be close with their competitors at all time to incise target consumers to buy
from their stores. It was very interesting to look at the precise grouping and
classes and where each shop was placed within the market. The hierarchy of
fashion is something that is taken very seriously, and walking along Bond
Street, Mayfair, Oxford street and even Conduit Street, it is very easy to
identify the target audience for that
particular street – a very in-depth and personal shopping experience.
