Chanel, the first luxury fashion house to enter the App Store, zeroes in on its runway shows and ad campaigns, and it’s a similar story chez Fendi and D&G. Currently, the latter has no m-commerce plans, but that doesn’t dissuade Stefano Gabbana from justifying his app. “We don’t do clothes for ourselves,” he says, “so we value the opportunity of having a dialogue to better understand what people want.”
Besides, Gabbana and Domenico Dolce are ahead of the game, since most designer houses still fall into the have-not category (we’re talking to you, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Prada and Yves Saint Laurent). CreateThe Group’s Gardner thinks the fashion set is simply taking a “more considered approach to apps,” while others say that, for newer designers at least, it’s all about the Benjamins—the average app launch costs anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000.
Jason Wu, however, just needs time to do his homework, which includes adding new content to his Web site and bringing e-commerce into the mix. After that he’ll think about keeping up with the Joneses. “Right now we’re building the groundwork,” he says. “I don’t want to do something overnight just because everyone else is doing it.”
As for Richard Chai, he’s enjoying the calm before the storm. “There’s a certain intimacy that I would like to keep with my brand, and we’re still young, so I feel an app isn’t appropriate yet.” In other words, he prefers to keep it old-school. “There is a classic side to me,” he says. “I still draw with a No. 2 pencil.”
