Luxury brands target children for back-to-school
Stacey Vanek Smith: It’s back to school shopping season and despite the weak economy, luxury retail has been doing well. And kids clothes are no exception.
From the Wealth and Poverty desk, Shereen Marisol Meraji reports.
Shereen Marisol Meraji: Gucci’s been designing kids’ clothes for two years now. So, I took a trip to its store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Inside, the kids section was pretty small, just a few racks and shelves. A 6-year-old was trying on a pair of $200 sneakers before her first day of school. But it was the tiny, camel-colored, leather jacket with the $1,700 price tag that screamed “luxury!”
Marshal Cohen: The designer and upper-end market has grown from 3 percent of the total kids business, to what now will probably become 6 to 8 percent by the end of 2012.
Marshal Cohen is the chief retail analyst with NPD Group. He says Oscar de la Renta has a new kids’ line out this fall, and you can expect to see more high-end designers outfitting kids in the future. Cohen says it’s all about getting kids connected to luxury.
Cohen: And addicted to it, and as they grow older you create some kind of loyalty and long term customer relationships.
Gucci’s gateway drug: perhaps its $275 ice-grey, skinny jean for 6- to 12-year-old girls.
I’m Shereen Marisol Meraji for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
