Foreign Fashion Investments To Explore US Market

In my last post on high end fashion brands facing possible economic crunch, I briefly mentioned the possibilities of foreign brands who will try to take advantage of the downturn in the US economy to establish some presence or even a more powerful one in the country. The South Korean giant, Samsung, is now assessing the possibilities of that in the same state that was used as an example yesterday, California, and the two Americans heading the project will determine if it could be used as a launchpad for several budding South Korean fashion apparel brands who are hoping to expand internationally.

Cari Redington and Lyra Jakabhazy are trying to benefit from advice and consultation provided by Frances Harder, president and executive director of Los Angeles–based Fashion Business Inc., who has been instrumental in other established fashion apparel makers' success such as that of Kellywood Co.. They are helming Samsung Group's interest in learning more about the fashion trends that Americans follow, so that they are able to assess if their own country's fashion designers and apparel can be exported to the US and establish a strong presence and following. The learning gleaned from the experience will also indirectly help to expand Samsung's fashion retail operations in the long run as they try to include a more global approach to their business.

It would be interesting to see how this develops, as more foreign fashion brands are brought into the US and external fashion trends seep more into the general public. It will also provide competition to local brands and existing foreign high end fashion companies that are already established here. Whether this eventually makes the whole fashion industry stronger remains to be seen, but competition usually results in that, so despite the gloomy financial outlook, there is still a silver lining in the clouds.