Danielle Mensah – 24th November 2011
Pepsi – for when there’s no Coke.
Last week was the launch of Versace for H&M. I previewed the exclusive collection online, and fell in love with a red Grecian dress, that had timeless Versace sewn all over it. The rest of the collection was dreadful – prints and florals which the average Joe couldn’t pull off. And then, that one red dress seemed to go down in my opinion, until eventually I just didn’t want it anymore…I decided I would still go to the launch since it would help my research for a fashion brief I’m working on.
I didn’t get to see the collection in the morning, because going to school was just far too important, but seeing other people coming out triumphant with their Versace shopping bags, made me envious. I wanted in on this brand experience, regardless of the fact that I didn’t actually want to buy anything. I needed to be apart of this, and I wanted people to know that my shopping bags were my fashion medals of honor.
When I finally saw the collection in the afternoon, I found my red dress and I snapped it up, even though I didn’t want it anymore. I bought two other items for myself and two for my boyfriend. £250 lighter, I went home proud.
I sobered up when I got home and concluded I had bought absolute tack. The clothes themselves were a fashion disaster. I realized I wasn’t buying clothes, but a brand experience and what it represented. I wanted a piece of cool and it didn’t matter how I got it, as long as I was apart of it.
I guess this is true of most brands – why do you drink Coke and not Pepsi, Starbucks and not Costas? Wear Nike and not Addidas?You’re not buying a product, you’re buying into a brand and hoping that brand will rub off on to you, hoping it will make you seem more crazy, sexy, cool. You would like to think you make an informed, logical decision when making purchases, but all that doesn’t really matter. It’s natural to want to be a part of something and have people view you in a certain light – that’s being human, and so, you’re more a consumer than you realize. So much so, I’ve made a killing on eBay. Who knew the Versace ‘brand experience’ was so sought after?
Gotta love the consumer.
