Thursday, May 1, 2008

Steve & Barry's Starting a Revolution


On the official website for Steve & Barry's, an inexpensive mass retailer, Sarah Jessica Parker poses in a promotional photo in a shirt that says on it: "fashion is not a luxury". This might come as a shock to her Sex and the City fans who have watched her strut down the streets of New York City for years in Manolo Blahniks and outrageous designer frocks. However, her recent stint as a designer for a specialized clothing line, Bitten, for Steve & Barry's shows that the trend of expensive clothing consumption may be slowly fading. 

Steve & Barry's is heading up the cheap chic market with prices all under $20. Many of the items sold even price below the $10 mark. Their company goal is to change how the retail industry and consumers think about clothing.

In the "About Us" section of the website, they write: "Steve & Barry's is about stripping away the gloss and giving consumers something real. The fact is that great clothing doesn't really have to cost that much. It's a simple idea, but also a big idea- big enough, that is, to turn the industry on its ear." 

One of the marketing plans that has boosted the store's popularity in recent years is their multiple celebrity contracts. Not only does mega-fashionista Sarah Jessica Parker design a line for them, but Venus Williams, Amanda Bynes, and New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury have all jumped on the bandwagon. With the state of our economy currently, this step in the direction towards cheap luxury, not mass luxury may be just what we've been looking for. 

No comments: