In Dialogue With Designers
The entire fashion industry is crying out for change. Are you putting your money where your mouth is?
That’s true - especially in retail we have to find the intersection between past and future now, and we must not forget the demand for quality. This means we have to revise our entire sales concept. Everything that is happening here in the online sector is currently aimed at a young group of buyers ... But our target group must be approached differently - they have completely different expectations when it comes to fashion.
How does this manifest itself in your new range?
I have shared my concept and I am concentrating on my core competence, namely Austrian couture for a demanding clientele, on the one hand, and designer products on the other. In both cases, we select the range
very carefully and question in each case: What is design?
What is your answer to that?
It must be the artistic demand, which of course goes hand in hand with the corresponding quality and marketing. We only want to represent designers who are perceived as artists and who express themselves as a medium through their textile designs. This includes, for example, Christina Hrdlicka with her label Kalissi or Arina Bolotueva, who founded the By Bolot label.
With the new concept, you want to build a bridge between online shopping and the physical shopping experience... no easy task?
The origin of “Runway Vienna” is to provide a platform for new fashion and design and we will push this even more. We are the interface between customers and designers - so our store will primarily display sample collections. The store will more and more become a showroom, just as it has long been common practice in the Asian market. We also want to promote direct contact between the fashion designers and their end customers - possible individualization, in-depth advice and, if desired, home delivery will then be handled by the designer. We will also concentrate on individual appointments so that we can dedicate ourselves 100% to each customer.
Besides a considerable investment, what challenges will this entail?
It can be summarised under the term logistics - it all depends on the technical details... For me personally, this is not just a small step, but a great leap. (laughs!)
Credits:
Photos: Die IDA, Runway Vienna, By Bolot (Fotos: Vanessa Vandehart)
Hair&Make up: Cornelia Lohner
Models: Lisa Marie und Jenna Kos, Stellamodels.
Runway Vienna, Kalissi
