Retail Dogma

The Fashion Pyramid

The Fashion pyramid is a market segmentation pyramid that segregates fashion brands based on price, quality and creativity. The higher the segmentation level, the higher are those characteristics in this brand.

The five levels of fashion segmentation are Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear (RTW), Diffusion, Bridge and Mass Market.

Fashion Pyramid
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Haute Couture

At the top of the fashion pyramid comes the Haute Couture. These are exclusive, made-to-measure pieces, characterized by a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail. They are not addressing a large audience, but rather selected few clients and are considered like pieces of art.

Haute Couture collections are often made by luxury brands, such as Chanel.

Ready To Wear (RTW)

Ready-to-wear or Prêt-à-Porter come in more standardized sizes, as opposed to the made-to-measure pieces from Haute Couture. They are still characterized by a high degree of creativity that often embodies the vision of the designer

Ready-to-wear brands are intended to address a wider audience and include designer brands such as Gucci

Diffusion

Diffusion brands are inspired by Ready-to-Wear but intend to appeal to a much wider audience at lower price points, although the price is still at a high level. They are more casual pieces and have a younger target demographic.

Diffusion brands are distributed through different retail and wholesale channels, with the intention of reaching more customers.

Diffusion includes designer and premium brands, such as DKNY & Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Bridge

Bridge brands, as the name suggests, intend to bridge the gap between high end and mass market. They address people who are ready to pay up for the right level of quality .

Bridge includes a number of premium brands, such as Coach & Diesel.

Mass Market

At the very end of the fashion pyramid comes the mass market segment. This is intended to reach the maximum number of people, by providing trendy fashion at affordable retail prices.

This includes a high number of fast fashion brands, such as Zara, H&M, Uniqlo,..etc.

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