Accessories: fashion and product quality

A woman and her style are expressed by the accessories she wears. Bags, shoes, eyewear, a fur…an appealing and fascinating world of fashion that is certainly not an “accessory”, but an indispensable way of conveying style.

The research carried out by Brandvalue at the request of Mido, Micam, Mipel and Mifur and presented last Monday during a Fiamp press conference will help to understand how tastes, desires and expectations are changing in this sector’s main categories. The survey covered a substantial sample of international buyers of branded accessories in 6 countries: Italy, France, Russia, USA, China and Japan.

The sample in each country consisted of one thousand 18- to 45-year-old male and female interviewees with high levels of media exposure and mid-high to high income brackets, the financial resources that allow them to freely express their tastes and brand choices. A sample of “influencers”: in other words, the spontaneous opinion leaders within a reference group living in urban areas.
The categories analyzed were bags, footwear, eyewear and furs, with important focus also on preferred and purchased materials (leather in particular). Since the research was carried out on the Web, it was possible to stimulate the interviewees by showing them large numbers of visuals of models, styles and materials, which also facilitated comparison with the other countries.

The first figure that emerged concerned brand loyalty. Buyers of bags, footwear and eyewear are loyal and regular: over 80% of the sample regularly bought accessories during the past 2 years. The figure for furs is more rarefied compared to the dynamism of other products; however, furs showed an excellent 10% for purchases by young, contemporary consumers, a figure that rose to 18% over the past two years.

The second interesting figure was found in the chapter on prices. The interviewed consumers expressed their ability to link price to product and craftsmanship quality, and they stated they are willing to spend up to a fairly high maximum for a really important accessory (from € 220 to 3,780 for bags; from € 461 to 458 for shoes; from € 78 to 318 for eyewear; from € 600 to 8,320 for furs).

Footwear and sunglasses are largely impulse purchases because the sight of the product immediately generated a desire to buy it in over 70% of the sample. For purses and furs, the desire was milder and tempered by a rational evaluation by over half the sample.

Consumers are then loyal to accessories, but less to outlets, except when it comes to footwear (in this case, outlet loyalty is 70%). The figure for online buying is impressive: 68% of handbag buyers said that they are willing to buy online over the next 2 years; for footwear the figure is 30% against 20% for eyewear.
The Web is not used just for saving: it is also, and above all, a “precise” medium where the exact model with the desired personalization can be found (45% of the reasons for buying bags), where the buying experience is new, modern and engaging and in no way inferior to the tangible and direct experience in traditional outlets.

A section of the research devoted to the most desired types of product in the near future revealed an internationally consistent scenario and numerous shared criteria for the categories analyzed.

Among the footwear buyers, next season 32% intend to buy ballerinas and 22% pumps. Marginalized and decreasing are clogs, maxi boots (cuissard) and sculpted footwear with thick soles and elaborate heels: high engineering objects to be admired but not as easy or, perhaps, as “pleasant” to wear.
An important result in the handbag category was recorded for clutches, which are desired by 26% of the sample, and for purses with two handles (23%): a return to the classic-precious style, to smaller sized models that are mainly for the evening or special occasions.
The most desired furs are small, a precious touch of warmth given by waistcoats and jackets.
Eyewear buyers prefer classic shapes and colored frames.

The research also revealed messages that were common to the entire accessory world. There were numerous indications of a shared desire for more formal balance, more harmony and shapes that are less exaggerated: a revival of the noble concept of classic understood as expressing balanced elegance that is less provocative and gratuitously eccentric, with more attention to overall product quality that guarantees more durability over time. Emerging in parallel is the new concept of a woman with new values and attitudes toward consumption. A woman who is more genuine and real and wants to freely make decisions when buying.

Emerging in footwear is the desire for more classic shapes that convey harmonious construction (the main choice criterion for 36%), for comfortable fit (18%) and for footwear that isn’t just an artistic creation to be exhibited.

A significant trend appearing on the international accessory scene is that of valuable materials combined with “user friendliness” and naturalness.
This is demonstrated by an analysis of the materials. On the one hand, there is considerable fascination for the most valuable leathers (for the next handbag model, crocodile, iguana and exotic skins are desired by 27%), on the other hand, there is also a desire for natural fabrics (20%).
Emerging in the fur sector is the desire for long, valuable fur, which must also be natural and untreated and made “easier”, more accessible and played down in casual models (jackets and capes) that can be worn every day.
Lightness of fur implies an easy-to-wear apparel. Identified as the most important characteristic by half the sample, lightness means that it can be used as everyday apparel (21%) that “blends harmoniously with a person” (37%), “that protects like a warm cocoon” (18%). The main transversal message seems to be based on a return to the beautiful understood as high quality combined with more usability.
Female consumers of the second decade of the 2000s want products that give them pleasure and create a relationship with the consumer. These features prevail on any message that epitomizes and conveys the outward image.
Companies are required to carry out marketing operations combining exceptional quality with an everyday product. This is a reverse operation compared to pre-crisis days when “everyday” or trivial quality was pretended to be excellent, perhaps by resorting to surprise or unusual shapes.

In the eyewear world the quality of the lenses is now almost as important as the ability to enhance a look (30% and 38%, respectively). This shows that consumers seek balance between the “inside” and the outside aspect of a product, between their look and real benefits. The desire now is for softer shapes (round and sinuous) that tend to be smaller in a market that is still dominated by oversize (54%) models. “Lightness” also emerges in this category and is a fundamental factor of choice for 25% of the sample. A very much higher result than that recorded for certain purely aesthetical elements, such as color (9%) or futuristic look (8%).

A final interesting element emerged is represented by public information channels. Real life becomes the real stage on which brands and products are assessed.
Star endorsement and advertising still are the favorite means for conveying information and creating “coolness”, but real settings are growing in importance as they are more direct and closer to daily life. The Internet and blogs are emerging as spaces for real and truthful product comparisons. Spontaneous statements by the interviewees showed an increase in the role played by their group of selected friends. A model worn and recommended by a friend is the best advertising and the best guarantee of product quality. Consumers search for “real” and innovative products that are based on a concept of novelty to hide less investment in the real value of an accessory.