Retail Confessions: Selling Couture to Very Important Clients

"I like to order caviar for the table so it looks pretty."

Behind the paywall in today’s issue:

• How much clients have to spend to become a VVIC (very very important client).

• How Dior and Chanel pamper their best clients (airport concierge, anyone?).

• What a Dior couture wedding dress really costs.

Luxury fashion has long been a service industry for wealthy people. Today, high-fashion brands are leaning into that role harder than ever as they court the 2 percent of spenders that account for 40 percent of luxury fashion sales. Brands now provide 360-degree concierge service in way they didn’t 20 or 30 years ago. It used to be that luxury clothing buyers found out about new styles in Vogue, then went to a boutique and bought a slew of dresses for that year’s charity fundraisers.

But today, no one really discovers new styles or hot brands in the pages of Vogue, the charity gala circuit has diminished, and everyone dresses much more casually. This has left fashion brands to market directly to their best customers, while also creating events like fashion shows and dinners so that these clients have a place where they can wear these clothes. Clients used to buy these pieces to go to fundraisers and parties — now they buy this stuff to go to brand activations that exist in part to get them to buy more fashion.

To get a window into this new world, I talked to a stylist at Bergdorf Goodman in New York about how the store and brands court the world’s biggest fashion spenders, otherwise known as Very Important Clients or VICs.

If you work or have worked in luxury retail and want to confess for a future column, reach out at amy (at) amyodell (dot) com, or reply to this email.

What is it like to receive personal styling services at Bergdorf?

You go to a private, beautiful wing of the store. There's a private bartender, there's a waiting room. You come in, everything's your size. You don't leave the fitting room. All of the catering is delivered, your alterations come to you. You have caviar and champagne in the fitting room. You order lunch to the fitting room. I like to order caviar for the table so it looks pretty. A lot of clients aren't sitting down and eating everything, but they'll take little bites of things.

What’s the average that people spend when they come in to shop with you?

If I haven't seen the client in a while, around $50,000 to $60,000 for an in-store appointment would be pretty standard. We get really fixated on how much clients spend when honestly, they’re not thinking about prices.

Retail Confessions: Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf is the only store I’ve interviewed people about for this column where the clientele doesn’t come in shopping for mistresses. Did you see that at your past jobs?

Oh my god, all the time.