Amazon has developed in the last few months a disturbing interest in the fashion industry: the Internet-based retailer has indeed launched The Fix, an in-house accessories label available exclusively to the retailer's Prime customers; then it started its own label, Find, as well as a try-before-you-buy subscription-based box shopping service, Prime Wardrobe, while the company's research and development hub has been working on an algorithm that will be able to act as a "designer".
There was an Amazon connection also on the London Fashion Week runways: former Diesel creative director Nicola Formichetti's Nicopanda label collaborated with the giant retailer to launch the fastest delivery fashion service available on the market.
Basically buyers who live in selected postal areas in London or Milan can order a selection of the garments and accessories seen on the S/S 18 runway (a hoodie, a long sleeve shirt, a bomber jacket, a scarf, a clutch bag and leggings) and receive them in 60 minutes (the service comes at a cost). Amazon promises a one-day shipment for the rest of the U.K., Italy, France, Spain and Germany, so you may end up wearing some of the pieces from this collection before they even appear on a printed magazine (yes, what's the point of writing fashion reviews anymore?).
Just to strengthen the concept, the models on Nicopanda's runway (that took place in Hoxton, East London, where the e-commerce retailer has its European Fashion Photography Studio) walked down the runway carrying cardboard boxes as if they were working in an Amazon warehouse (or maybe they were actually packing the stuff and getting it reading for shipping...).
As a whole the collection was unisex streetwear with plenty of references and rip-offs: divided in tribes - "The Jock, The Preps, The Punks and The Prom Queen" - the collection included classic varsity knits of the kind you may have seen on Fenty x Puma's A/W 17 runway. Adidas triple striped tracksuits were reduced to ruffled and pleated skirts, while the Adidas logo was turned into a panda logo; Comme des Garçons' A/W 16 conceptual and monumental pink ruffled bondage punk piece, reinvented by Rihanna in her Fenty X Puma S/S 17 collection was recreated here in a more wearable key. Comme des Garçons's trademark polka dots from the PLAY line were given a new spin, and were transformed into white or red panda heads on pink, red, black and blue backgrounds.
Button badges covered bodysuits and berets were decorated in a Judy Blame/Judy Blame for Moschino's Pre-Fall 17 collection style. The berets were indeed covered in all sorts of pins and metal hardware and there was even a fidget spinner hanging from one of them (possibly bought on Amazon?). When matched with jumpers and tulle skirts, the berets evoked Dior's A/W 17 collection, while the tulle Prom queens were dressed in gowns reminiscent of Molly Goddard's childish frocks.
As seen in a previous post, Amazon's The Fix is already a compendium of the most glamorous and desirable fashion tropes or - to put it more simply - it offers consumers products that are copied by designs made by more famous brands. With Nicopanda Amazon has reached a new goal: offering overpriced young and trendy copied and remixed designs and delivering them almost immediately to the consumers.
Now in this case, the fact that the garments bear resemblance with other designs is almost secondary, the first point of this operation is indeed the speedy delivery and its implications.
As much as we all like getting the stuff we order in the shortest time possible, we must indeed start considering the fact that behind any order there are several human beings and behind a very speedy delivery there are quite a few human beings running very fast usually for a very low wage (and in this case we are not even mentioning the people who actually made the garments...).
In a nutshell, we should be taking into consideration the human cost of the entire operation and see if it is worth it: when you look closely at the garments on offer you realise that there isn't indeed anything special about them and they are also rather expensive for their quality. The 100% polyester scarf will set you back 78 Euros: you may argue that you are paying for a designer item, but, readers, it is still a polyester - not even a viscose - scarf with a very basic print on it.
Some critics will say that the collection was all fun and tongue-in-cheek, but, rather than elevating the "see-now-buy-now" concept to the next level, the one hour delivery trick sounds like an added level to a spirit crushing job. Working in a warehouse is indeed a hard job; working in a warehouse and packing orders at a fast rate for very little money and in the name of plagiarised fashion is not glamorous at all.
Comments