Dean: Why fast fashion collaborations will never replace luxury goods

This past weekend, for possibly the first time in my life, I woke up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning. It had nothing to do with the Super Bowl. Instead, a friend and I made a pilgrimage to Target for the 8 a.m. release of the Jason Wu collection.

Jason Wu for Target is the latest in a series of designer/fast fashion retailer collaborations that have become enormously popular in the last decade. The general idea is this: A high-end designer like Wu, who designed Michelle Obama's Inaugural Ball gown, creates a much less expensive line for a trendy but lower-end chain like Target.

It's unsurprising that this business model is so successful. The designer gets a cut of the profit and increased exposure, the retailer gets media attention and the consumer gets high-end styles at mass-market prices. Hardly a season passes without the announcement of a new designer at Target or H&M. And the more ubiquitous these collaborations become, the more they are celebrated as the post-recessional triumph of accessible style over the irrelevant extravagance of luxury goods.

There are elements of truth to this story. The world of fashion is always changing, and recently, the recession has forced it to change in more affordable ways. Kate Middleton wears $100 dresses from Zara. Michelle Obama is a devotee of J Crew. The highest praise is no longer reserved for socialites in head-to-toe couture, but for those who mix high- and low-end brands to create unique looks.

Designer/fast fashion collaborations fit into this picture perfectly: They represent a more democratized world of fashion that prizes creativity over exclusivity. In the immediate wake of the recession, many news sources gleefully speculated that the era of overpriced luxury brands was over. At the time, the idea of spending thousands of dollars on designer clothing was almost offensive.

However, I would not go so far as to say that these partnerships are the future of fashion. The Wall Street Journal's predictions were partially correct: Sales of luxury goods declined during the worst years of the recession. But although our economy hasn't fully recovered, the luxury sector has.

This past summer, The New York Times reported that first-quarter sales of brands like Tiffany, Mercedes-Benz and Gucci were up by 20 percent. Even as we question the wasteful practices that led us into the recession, it seems luxury is not obsolete.

If you've been following the fashion world — or the general history of human wealth — that shouldn't come as a surprise. Despite the rise of frugal "recessionistas" and designer/fast fashion collaborations, luxury never quite went out of style.

The eclectic look that is so popular amongst bloggers and power women depends in large part on the incorporation of high-fashion brands into mass-market outfits. In fact, sporting the right Celine tote or Miu Miu booties is often what makes an ensemble appear artfully mismatched instead of just an exercise in colorblindness. As long the wealthy exist, there'll be clothing that most of us can't afford.

But this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The astronomical prices of designer clothes often correspond to the enormous amounts of skilled labor that go into creating them. You can't expect a $40 Jason Wu for Target dress to sport the intricate organza flowers that studded Michelle Obama's inaugural gown. So if you value that tradition of painstaking craftsmanship, you should hope the people able to ante up the money for designer clothes will continue to do so.

Although the women assembled outside Target last Sunday lunged for the racks like a school of hungry piranhas, they weren't hungry for cotton-and-poly dresses. They were after Jason Wu's cachet, the promise that swathed in his clothes, they'd be prettier, cooler or more interesting. The luxury market will always exist because of that aspiration.

Caroline Dean is a Weinberg sophomore. She can be reached at carolinedean2014@u.northwestern.edu

All opinions expressed in this column are solely the opinions of the columnist and do not reflect the views of The Daily Northwestern. If you would like to respond to the column, you may comment below, email the columnist or submit a 300-word letter to the editor to forum@dailynorthwestern.com.