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Fashion retailing时装零售
Passé传统的时装周模式是否已经过时
The fashion industry grapples with bad timing
时装产业正在经历一个艰难时期
Sep 10th 2016 | From the print edition 2016年9月10日 印刷版
NEW YORK CITY has just begun its sacred rites of retail. For its fashion week, which started on September 7th, tents go up, guests emerge from black cars, models sulk down catwalks and the wealthy and celebrated clap in unison. The point of all this is for designers to declare what will be “in” next spring. But for much of fashion retail, it is increasingly clear that something is out of place. 9月7日纽约时装周开始，神圣的零售盛典揭开了帷幕。公园的帐篷支了起来，受邀嘉宾步下黑色轿车，模特潇洒地在台上走着猫步，富豪名流一起为其鼓掌欢呼。这一切是为了让设计师们展示2017年春季的流行趋势。但是对于大多数时装零售而言，越来越明显的是有些东西已经过时了。
in unison 一起
For a sense of the problem, consider what happens when the week-long schedule of shows ends. Designers start making the clothes that retailers have ordered, with delivery scheduled four to six months later. But consumers see collections online instantly. “Fast fashion” shops such as Zara, which is part of Spain’s Inditex, rapidly produce clothes “inspired” by what appeared on the runway. When the originals arrive in stores, they feel tired.想一想一周时装秀结束后会发生什么，就能察觉到这里面出了问题。从时装周结束后设计者开始制作零售商订购的服装起到发货，需要4-6个月。然而时装周期间，消费者就可以立即在网上欣赏到设计者的作品。例如，西班牙Inditex旗下的“快速时尚”商店Zara，可以迅速生产那些受到在时装周秀场“启发”的衣服。就这样当原设计师的衣服终于挂到商店里出售的时候，顾客们已经审美疲劳了。
This has produced clear winners and losers. The world’s two biggest clothes retailers are now Inditex and TJX, according to Euromonitor, a research firm. TJX buys excess inventory of brand-name clothes and resells them at low prices. Traditional department stores, meanwhile, are struggling, partly because outdated frocks and coats languish on racks and then have to be sold at a discount.这样输赢立见分晓，据调研公司欧瑞信息咨询公司的调查，西班牙Inditex和美国TJX是全球最大的两家服装零售公司。TJX公司购买大量品牌服饰，再以低价大量出售。而与此同时，传统百货公司仍在苦苦挣扎，部分原因是由于货架上的连衣裙和外套都过时了，不得不打折出售。
frock n 连衣裙
The challenge is widely understood. Now the industry is finally starting to deal with it. In March the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and the Boston Consulting Group suggested alternatives to the current, slow retail cycle, some of which have been championed by fashionistas. A small band of designers are testing new business models this week in New York, or plan to at fashion week in London later in the month. The idea is to show clothes and sell them at the same time. It may seem obvious, but the shift is not easy for designers, suppliers, fashion magazines and retailers that have worked for so long around the old calendar. Most designers are sticking to it, with minor adjustments. During February’s fashion week in New York, for example, Michael Kors and Tory Burch showed only a very few looks that were available immediately.(读者试译) 这一难题众所周知，如今服装市场终于开始着手解决这一问题。三月美国时装设计师协会和波士顿咨询公司，建议采用一些被时尚狂热者所追捧商业的模式来代替如今缓慢零售模式。在这次时装周期间有些设计师正在尝试，或是计划在一月后的伦敦时装周开始尝试一种新型商业模式，即即看即买模式。期待您的翻译，留言在下方，第二天有解析。
Others are going further. On September 7th Tom Ford staged not a “spring” runway show, as is customary, but a party streamed live online, featuring clothes from his autumn 2016 collection that are available for sale now. Rebecca Minkoff, another designer, will present her collection on the street outside her Manhattan store, with guests invited to shop for the runway looks immediately. Because retailers have already decided which of its clothes to stock, the fashion show can promote specific items to boost their sales. It becomes a more closely co-ordinated activity, says Uri Minkoff, the company’s chief executive.有些设计师走得更远。9月7日汤姆·福德并未按照惯例推出一场“春季”时装秀，而是举行了一个2016秋季特色服装派对现场直播，这些衣服顾客现在就可以买到。另一设计师瑞贝卡·明可弗，在其曼哈顿专柜路边展示了其设计服装，受邀嘉宾可以现场购买秀场服装。明可弗公司首席执行官尤里·明可弗表示，因为零售商已经决定了要对哪些服装进行备货，所以时装秀可以推销特色物品促进销售。因此服装周已成为越来越紧密协调的活动了。
British designers are adapting, too. Burberry’s show in September will for the first time present only clothes that are available immediately. The company has pulled its entire fashion-design process forward by about six months, with clothes conceived, samples produced and presentations to editors and retailers all concluded much earlier. The catwalk event will not be a business event for the garment trade but a marketing event for consumers.英国设计者也在不断调整。9月的博柏利时装秀将首次只展示可供即时即买的服装。该公司将全部时装设计过程，包括时装设计、样品生产，向杂志编辑和零售商展示说明，都提前了6个月。时装秀场将不再是以往的服装贸易商业项目，而是成为一个围绕消费者的市场营销活动。
But old habits die hard. The CFDA is exploring whether retailers might stock more clothes when people like wearing them. But many stores and designers still expect them to buy fur coats in July. And some in the industry are sceptical. Pascal Morand, who oversees Paris’s fashion week, approves of selling clothes that consumers can wear now. But he also worries about designers listening too much to what people want. “Consumers favour incremental innovation,” he says, whereas the most exciting designs defy the norm and are often adopted by consumers only gradually.然而旧习难改。美国时装设计师协会正在调查零售商是否会囤积那些当下顾客喜欢的服装。许多商店和零售商猜测消费者今年7月还会购买皮草服装。但是有些业内人士对此表示怀疑。紧盯巴黎时装周的帕斯卡·莫兰德认为应当销售消费者应季穿的服装。但他也对设计者过多考虑消费者的需要而深感忧虑。他说，“尽管那些最令人激动的设计都是那些打破常规新潮的设计，但是消费者喜欢渐进性创新，所以这些设计只能慢慢地被消费者所接受。”
incremental adj 渐进的