Introduction to Fashion Part 2: Collections to Diffusion Lines and Collaborations

As mentioned in my first post of the series Introduction to Fashion the schedule of the fashion industry is dependent on the different season and collections in the industry of high-end fashion however, within those collections there are further differences between a fashion houses' main line and diffusion lines.

Diffusion lines are effectively the more upscale and high-end version of the fast-fashion concept of couture for the masses. There is no limit to how many lines a fashion house can produce although, while they may all carry essentially the same brand name as in the case of Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange (they both carry the Armani name), the difference in price between the two brands and the rate of consumption as well as production and design process of the two both differ immensely.

Photo by Sarah De Wee

Main lines
A fashion houses' main core collection is usually pret-a-porter (though some designers have opted to be remain as purely couture designers). Compared to haute couture, pret a porter collections are more economic sense, they are presented and targeted to a larger client base with larger availability while couture collections are specifically marketed to the fabulously wealthy who can afford to drop large amounts on dresses and fly to Paris for fittings. While pret a porter collections may not be sewn in ateliers by artisans, they are still of extremely high quality, often manufactured in Europe (as in the case of most of the big names in high-end fashion).

Diffusion lines
Diffusion lines are more economically sustainable collections as opposed to pret-a-porter. They are cheaper options of the main line for the consumer, you're essentially still buying into the luxury and namesake of the label but at a more reasonable and affordable price point. However, it is important to note that while the diffusion line may still carry the same brand name, they are often produced in a different country than the main line and overseen by a different designer. In that way as the consumer you're really only paying for the brand name. They are essentially another source of income for the fashion house to ensure the survival of it's main line. There are countless designers and labels with diffusion lines such as Marc by Marc Jacobs, MM6 by Maison Martin Margiela, See by Chloe, T by Alexander Wang and Burberry Brit just to name a few.

Collaboration Collections
The second type of diffusion lines are collaboration collections. In this way, it makes somewhat still high-end fashion available to all. We've seen from the past few H&M collaboration collections with Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Lanvin, Maison Martin Margiela and more that the success of a collaboration collection really does depend on the namesake of the brand and the worth it holds not to the fashion elite, but to the public. This was one of the problems of the Maison Martin Margiela x H&M collaboration collection. While H&M was able to generate interest through the silent protests and launch parties, Maison Martin Margiela still remains a relatively unknown brand to the public. I also stated before that collaboration collections are only somewhat high-end fashion, the reason for this is that high-end fashion placed a lot of it's worth on both the design and production process. Collaboration collections while still contain the essence of a label, the pieces must be commercial in order for the collection to earn a profit as they are targeting a much more commercially aware audience rather than avant garde in the case of Maison Martin Margiela x H&M. The pieces themselves are also usually reproduced pieces from past collections, adapted to become more commercial.

It is also important to note that collaboration collections aren't just limited to collaborations between a high-end fashion house or label and a fast fashion company such as H&M or Target. Most recently there was J.W. Anderson for Versus Versace as well as Christian Lacroix for Schiaparelli. Both designers whilst not the official designers of the brands Versus and Schiaparelli, designed one off collections for the respective brands.