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How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

wsj.com

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Re: How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

#11

Post by edblarney »

gue5t wrote: post #5

Coats are somehow relevant to computing, but the political implications of computing aren't? What is this doing on Hacker News?

It has nothing to do with coats.

It has to do with 'fast business' approaches, which is very relevant to entrepreneurialism.

I can absolutely guarantee you that were you to get a tour of their facilities and see their processes, you'd be shocked and amazed.

Zara, H&M, IKEA are in many ways much better than the Silicon Valley at doing a lot of things, particularly when it comes to supply chains, materials, brick and mortar, esp. consumer-facing marketing.

Re: How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

#12

Post by ch4s3 »

gue5t wrote: post #9
sailingparrot wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN isn't just about "computing". This article is a very good example of how even big companies that are dealing with physical products can go from idea to production in a small amount of time.

Big companies are diametrically opposed to the practice of hacking. Hacking consists of making computers and other more-or-less formal systems (sometimes—as a joke or in security—ones which include the responses of human operators) perform unexpected tricks. The status quo is established by the actions of large-scale corporate and political actors, among them the computing industry. It's important for hackers to be a…

Since it seem to bear repeating: "Hacker News Guidelines

What to Submit On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.

Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic."

At least for me, logistics gratifies my intellectual curiosity.

Re: How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

#14

Post by mydpy »

alexdumitru wrote: post #4
mydpy wrote: post #2

In before 'wah wah paywall'. Here's how you bypass it: 1. Open a Google Chrome Incognito or Sarafi private browsing session 2. Paste the URL 3. #boom

Easier workaround: 1. Click web under the title on the HN page. 2. Click the first Google result.

I posted mine because this didn't work (the first link directed back to WSJ). Also, your suggestion is missing the boom. That's no fun.

Re: How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

#16

Post by petra »

There's also Lesara, a German startup, that sells online, and in 10 days from seeing a fashion item, can manufacture it, in Asia, and have it availble on it's online store(probably shipping by air from Asia). And they say it is cheaper.

The only question: is the future of fashion retail online ?

Altough even if it's not, they can probably change the business model, and sell to stores.

Re: How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

#17

Post by tekklloneer »

mmosta wrote: post #15

One way they turn designs around so fast is by stealing from indie artists [0], [1]. [0] http://shoparttheft.com/ [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/zara-stealing-artist-1.36890...

If it's any consolation, non "indie" artists including large clothing manufacturers also maintain a baseline lividness usually reserved in the industry for counterfeiters.

Re: How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

#18

Post by Theodores »

mmosta wrote: post #15

One way they turn designs around so fast is by stealing from indie artists [0], [1]. [0] http://shoparttheft.com/ [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/zara-stealing-artist-1.36890...

This is why clothing is branded. You can make a T shirt with 'Hello World' on it and anyone can copy that, with a different font not even being necessary. However, if you don't go for the 'Hello World' and have your brand name on the T shirt then anyone copying it will have some lawyers to deal with (potentially). Therefore the only things you can sell in fashion retail that are not going to be blatantly ripped off are things with a brand name or logo. Hence our tediously branded clothes.

There is the other matter of counterfeit goods, if you make a T shirt and put three stripes on it and stitch 'Adidas' on there then that is a counterfeit. In the examples above where Zara have stolen someone's hard work, this is definitely copying, not counterfeiting.

So long as nobody is counterfeiting stuff then all is good. I also think a lot of artists would be delighted if Zara stole their ideas, at least they get some validation which is better than being ignored.

Re: How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days

#20

Post by alphonsegaston »

Theodores wrote: post #18
mmosta wrote: post #15

One way they turn designs around so fast is by stealing from indie artists [0], [1]. [0] http://shoparttheft.com/ [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/zara-stealing-artist-1.36890...

This is why clothing is branded. You can make a T shirt with 'Hello World' on it and anyone can copy that, with a different font not even being necessary. However, if you don't go for the 'Hello World' and have your brand name on the T shirt then anyone copying it will have some lawyers to deal with (potentially). Therefore the only things you can sell in fashion retail that are not going to be blatantly ripped off a…

As an artist who is friends with people who've had their work ripped off by companies like Zara, I can assure you that we would rather be ignored. I'm sure out on the street, you'd rather be left alone than be mugged because you have a nice looking watch.
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