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Where to Buy luxury designer collections? Haaretz notes Rehovot's Caprezio
"Chani Perry, a former supermodel, now 53 and still glamorous, walked through the crowd of women in Milos, a store in Tel Aviv's Gan Ha'ir. She turned on her high-heeled shoes and walked haltingly down the improvised runway in shockingly expensive jackets and coats by classic European brand names such as Escada and Louis Feraud as well as in the store's latest acquisition, the Italian brand, Piazza Sempione, which is pure beauty and perfect simplicity. The prices: NIS 4,200 for a safari jacket in a mix of wool and silk and NIS 1,700 for wool slacks under the successful "115" label.
It was a recent Friday morning, one of those mornings when luxury storeowners usually invite selected customers to a mini-show in the hopes of whetting their appetites for winter purchases. At the end of the show, the woman inspected, felt and tried on the clothes and quite a few stood in line at the cash register. "I have enough clothes in the closet, but I'm still looking for something new," said one nice-looking woman of 60-plus who was dressed with understated elegance. "With this, I'll wait until the end of the season," said another woman of around the same age, of a knitted coat in black and white, "but I'm taking this," she said, pointing to a black evening dress with diamond buttons by Louis Feraud - a classic.
Sky-high prices
But not every mature and elegant woman can allow herself to even think about buying the brands sold at Milos. After many conversations with women over the age of 50, who dress well, the same picture emerges: All of them say they lack a place where they can find good quality, state-of-the-art clothes for their age group and at a reasonable price. They say they prefer to buy clothes in Israel, both because of the desire for free time when traveling and the convenient payment terms in Israel, but they find the limited possibilities here very frustrating.
There is no shortage of stores like Milos that sell imported luxury designer collections - but their prices are sky-high (notably Helga Designs, Tactic, and Amour in Tel Aviv's Kikar Hamedinah; Max Mara and Vendome Studio in Gan Ha'ir and the Ramat Aviv Mall in Tel Aviv; Mimosa in Ramat Aviv Gimmel and Caprezio in Rehovot).
There is also no shortage of Israeli designer stores that appeal to a similar clientele, and most of them are also very successful. Among them are Raziella, Dorit Sadeh, Yael Orgad, Bracha Baron and Ronen Chen. But often the designs suffer from overload - an attempt at flattering Israeli taste, which favors gimmicks such as lots of pockets and zippers and patches and other clever and superfluous accessories. Another prominent problem is the quality of the fabrics, which are usually synthetic and cheapen the look, but almost never affect the price.
The advantage of local designers is their familiarity with their clientele, and most of their success can be attributed to their ability to create cuts that blur the typical Mediterranean contour. But that is not enough to compensate the drop in class, refinement and sophistication - three essential elements of clothes for mature women.
Among the designer stores that meet these three requirements and offer high-quality tailored clothes, Elian Stolero (253 Dizengoff St., Tel Aviv), Minima (218 Dizengoff, Tel Aviv) and Ilana Efrati (which requires appointments made in advance) stand out. Stolero offers clothes with a play on fabrics, colors and original design ideas. At Minima, they invest in fine Italian fabrics for blouses, slacks, skirts and suits in classic styles. The prices at all three stores are very high.
Bridging the Gap
Although it may not come as much consolation, the problem is common in the rest of the consumer world as well. In the United States, the women of the Baby Boomer generation, who were born after World War II and grew up in the years of prosperity and matured in the liberal atmosphere of the 1960s and 1970s, are well acquainted with this problem. The Baby Boom generation is today the largest and strongest group in the U.S. population. They are not conservative and thrifty as their parents were, but young at heart, politically and socially active and with disposable income and a tendency to invest in their quality of life. The women of this generation invest a lot more in personal appearance than the women of the preceding generation but, since the mid-1990s, when they began reaching their 50s, designers and fashions shops started neglecting them in favor of a younger clientele.
After years of being courted by advertisers and marketers, these women were dropped, only to find themselves stuck between low-cut jeans and dreary conservative suits.
This year the need was finally identified, at least by the U.S. fashion giant, The Gap; in August it launched a new subsidiary, Forth Towne, which is scheduled to open 25 branches in the U.S. over the next two years. The new stores, Gap executives announced, is aimed at women over 35, a very diverse clientele that includes working mothers and housewives, mothers and grandmothers, suburban women and die-hard city women. The common denominator among them, as far as marketers are concerned, is that they are not motivated by the same urge that motivates young and teenage shoppers: the desperate quest for the hottest trend.
In Israel it seems many women in this age group tend, to their detriment, to choose clothes for younger women instead of clothes that radiate maturity. The result is often embarrassing. The forced attempt to be up on the latest fashion may look vulgar, compared to the well thought out look that radiates good taste and a hint of sex appeal, of the mature kind. Still what will a woman who wants to avoid this embarrassment without going broke do? The solutions offered by elegant women in this age group recur in all conversations with them: carefully sifting through clothes from the more elegant Zara Woman Line; buying fine clothes at Miss Lagoute-Amica store, from the more prestigious imported lines; visiting the Israeli outlet of comme il faut, which supplies basic items such as tailored slacks and jackets, but whose prices are infuriating; and buying expensive, but quality clothes, at end-of-season sales.
Miss Lagoute-Amica is one of the only places where it is possible to find a large selection of clothes in a broad range of sizes for women of differing ages. The quality of the clothes sold there varies, from the fine quality of the more expensive brands such as that of Belgian designer Olivier Strelli; French designer Gerard Darel or the French company, Well, for larger sizes, to the successful subsidiaries of Max Mara such as Fanny Black and the house brands manufactured in Turkey and India by the owners and the head designer, Ronit Revivi.
Appropriate alternatives
The clothes sold there are not cheap, but they do have one clear advantage over their competitors - the end-of-season sales are earlier and enable many customers to buy winter clothes even before the season has started, including expensive items such as European-style tailored wool coats, elegant suits, twin-set knit sweaters (consisting of a knit sleeveless top and a matching cardigan) and richly embroidered wool scarves.
A much less expensive option is the Zara chain, where mature women can find appropriate alternatives - provided they refine their hunting instincts and are willing to invest some time in it. "You have to go to Zara often, because the merchandise constantly changes," says A.G., a 40-something who has a high fashion consciousness and is a size 40-42. During weekly visits to Zara she sifts carefully through the offerings in the more upscale and more expensive Zara Woman collection. Imitations of the latest hits from leading fashion houses, for prices ranging from NIS 300-500 are her way of keeping her wardrobe up to date. "I already have fine basics in the closet, such as tailored slacks and jackets, and here I find the complementary items that will coordinate with one season, such as Victorian lace blouses and velvet jackets that are very trendy now, and other items that I have no interest in investing large sums in."..."
Source and FullText: By Shira Breuer. Between low-cut jeans and dreary suits Haaretz.com (8 December 2005) [FullText]
It was a recent Friday morning, one of those mornings when luxury storeowners usually invite selected customers to a mini-show in the hopes of whetting their appetites for winter purchases. At the end of the show, the woman inspected, felt and tried on the clothes and quite a few stood in line at the cash register. "I have enough clothes in the closet, but I'm still looking for something new," said one nice-looking woman of 60-plus who was dressed with understated elegance. "With this, I'll wait until the end of the season," said another woman of around the same age, of a knitted coat in black and white, "but I'm taking this," she said, pointing to a black evening dress with diamond buttons by Louis Feraud - a classic.
Sky-high prices
But not every mature and elegant woman can allow herself to even think about buying the brands sold at Milos. After many conversations with women over the age of 50, who dress well, the same picture emerges: All of them say they lack a place where they can find good quality, state-of-the-art clothes for their age group and at a reasonable price. They say they prefer to buy clothes in Israel, both because of the desire for free time when traveling and the convenient payment terms in Israel, but they find the limited possibilities here very frustrating.
There is no shortage of stores like Milos that sell imported luxury designer collections - but their prices are sky-high (notably Helga Designs, Tactic, and Amour in Tel Aviv's Kikar Hamedinah; Max Mara and Vendome Studio in Gan Ha'ir and the Ramat Aviv Mall in Tel Aviv; Mimosa in Ramat Aviv Gimmel and Caprezio in Rehovot).
There is also no shortage of Israeli designer stores that appeal to a similar clientele, and most of them are also very successful. Among them are Raziella, Dorit Sadeh, Yael Orgad, Bracha Baron and Ronen Chen. But often the designs suffer from overload - an attempt at flattering Israeli taste, which favors gimmicks such as lots of pockets and zippers and patches and other clever and superfluous accessories. Another prominent problem is the quality of the fabrics, which are usually synthetic and cheapen the look, but almost never affect the price.
The advantage of local designers is their familiarity with their clientele, and most of their success can be attributed to their ability to create cuts that blur the typical Mediterranean contour. But that is not enough to compensate the drop in class, refinement and sophistication - three essential elements of clothes for mature women.
Among the designer stores that meet these three requirements and offer high-quality tailored clothes, Elian Stolero (253 Dizengoff St., Tel Aviv), Minima (218 Dizengoff, Tel Aviv) and Ilana Efrati (which requires appointments made in advance) stand out. Stolero offers clothes with a play on fabrics, colors and original design ideas. At Minima, they invest in fine Italian fabrics for blouses, slacks, skirts and suits in classic styles. The prices at all three stores are very high.
Bridging the Gap
Although it may not come as much consolation, the problem is common in the rest of the consumer world as well. In the United States, the women of the Baby Boomer generation, who were born after World War II and grew up in the years of prosperity and matured in the liberal atmosphere of the 1960s and 1970s, are well acquainted with this problem. The Baby Boom generation is today the largest and strongest group in the U.S. population. They are not conservative and thrifty as their parents were, but young at heart, politically and socially active and with disposable income and a tendency to invest in their quality of life. The women of this generation invest a lot more in personal appearance than the women of the preceding generation but, since the mid-1990s, when they began reaching their 50s, designers and fashions shops started neglecting them in favor of a younger clientele.
After years of being courted by advertisers and marketers, these women were dropped, only to find themselves stuck between low-cut jeans and dreary conservative suits.
This year the need was finally identified, at least by the U.S. fashion giant, The Gap; in August it launched a new subsidiary, Forth Towne, which is scheduled to open 25 branches in the U.S. over the next two years. The new stores, Gap executives announced, is aimed at women over 35, a very diverse clientele that includes working mothers and housewives, mothers and grandmothers, suburban women and die-hard city women. The common denominator among them, as far as marketers are concerned, is that they are not motivated by the same urge that motivates young and teenage shoppers: the desperate quest for the hottest trend.
In Israel it seems many women in this age group tend, to their detriment, to choose clothes for younger women instead of clothes that radiate maturity. The result is often embarrassing. The forced attempt to be up on the latest fashion may look vulgar, compared to the well thought out look that radiates good taste and a hint of sex appeal, of the mature kind. Still what will a woman who wants to avoid this embarrassment without going broke do? The solutions offered by elegant women in this age group recur in all conversations with them: carefully sifting through clothes from the more elegant Zara Woman Line; buying fine clothes at Miss Lagoute-Amica store, from the more prestigious imported lines; visiting the Israeli outlet of comme il faut, which supplies basic items such as tailored slacks and jackets, but whose prices are infuriating; and buying expensive, but quality clothes, at end-of-season sales.
Miss Lagoute-Amica is one of the only places where it is possible to find a large selection of clothes in a broad range of sizes for women of differing ages. The quality of the clothes sold there varies, from the fine quality of the more expensive brands such as that of Belgian designer Olivier Strelli; French designer Gerard Darel or the French company, Well, for larger sizes, to the successful subsidiaries of Max Mara such as Fanny Black and the house brands manufactured in Turkey and India by the owners and the head designer, Ronit Revivi.
Appropriate alternatives
The clothes sold there are not cheap, but they do have one clear advantage over their competitors - the end-of-season sales are earlier and enable many customers to buy winter clothes even before the season has started, including expensive items such as European-style tailored wool coats, elegant suits, twin-set knit sweaters (consisting of a knit sleeveless top and a matching cardigan) and richly embroidered wool scarves.
A much less expensive option is the Zara chain, where mature women can find appropriate alternatives - provided they refine their hunting instincts and are willing to invest some time in it. "You have to go to Zara often, because the merchandise constantly changes," says A.G., a 40-something who has a high fashion consciousness and is a size 40-42. During weekly visits to Zara she sifts carefully through the offerings in the more upscale and more expensive Zara Woman collection. Imitations of the latest hits from leading fashion houses, for prices ranging from NIS 300-500 are her way of keeping her wardrobe up to date. "I already have fine basics in the closet, such as tailored slacks and jackets, and here I find the complementary items that will coordinate with one season, such as Victorian lace blouses and velvet jackets that are very trendy now, and other items that I have no interest in investing large sums in."..."
Source and FullText: By Shira Breuer. Between low-cut jeans and dreary suits Haaretz.com (8 December 2005) [FullText]
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