Vancouver Fashion week has come and gone with businesses in the area counting their cash from the event.
According to Pacific Centre employee Maeve Fernandez, who preferred not to say which store she works for, her clothing retailer experiences an increase in business of about 10 per cent during fashion week.
“We definitely see increased volume,” she said. “I think fashion week makes people more conscious about what they are wearing, and we all know that an increase in fashion sense is needed in Vancouver.”
Fernandez has worked at her high-end clothing retailer for the past four years and said the more fashion week grows in Vancouver, the more business her retailer sees.
“We definitely see more business anyway during the back-to-school season, but that volume usually dies out around the second week of September. After this time, we usually see another increase in business during fashion week, so it is clear that the increase in customers is because fashion week is taking place.”
Fernandez said the higher volume of people affects her clothing store more because it is a high-end retailer. Generally, the types of clothes shown at Fashion Week attract people who don’t spare expense when it comes to fashion.
At another store at Pacific Centre, The Bay, an employee who did not want to be identified, said he does not generally see a higher volume of sales during fashion week.
“We’re pretty much the same volume as we were before fashion week,” he said. “Actually, I think it is even a bit less, because the back-to-school shoppers tend to stop coming.”
The Bay prices its clothing much lower than Fernandez’s store, indicating that Fashion Week tends to influence shoppers who are looking for higher end items.
While a study has not been completed to calculate the economic impact of Vancouver Fashion Week, the New York City Economic Development Corporation stated in 2012 that Fashion Week in that city contributed $850 million each year to the local economy. That is about twice the economic impact that the 2014 Super Bowl had in East Rutherford, N.J. New York Fashion Week runs twice per year – once in February/March, and again in September/October.
Fashion Week has been held in Vancouver since 2001 and was founded by Jama Abdourahman. The event is also held twice each year.
