by Freedonia Industry Studies
September 1, 2020
Lowe’s and NY Fashion Week…an unusual pair of collaborators. Recently, Lowe’s announced that it would be coordinating with fashion designers Jason Wu, Rebecca Minkoff, and Christian Siriano. Each designer will select lighting, flooring, patio furniture, and other building materials (all of which were already available in stores and on lowes.com) to curate a look for their outdoor runway sets. Lowe’s will then livestream each show.
This is an interesting collaboration because home improvement is doing so well during the pandemic, but fashion is not. People are not buying clothes because they aren’t going anywhere. However, people are redecorating and renovating their homes because they’re staying home.
This collaboration allows fashion designers to extend their aesthetic to products used in and around the home and to get their own name and designs in front of an audience that might not otherwise be connected to the apparel industry. It also allows Lowe’s to capitalize on some high-end cache, perhaps encouraging fashion-minded customers to consider shopping its stores instead of or in addition to specialty home designers and boutiques.
For more information and discussion of opportunities, see The Freedonia Group’s extensive collection of off-the-shelf research, particularly in the Construction and Building Products and Consumer Goods. Freedonia also offers an expanding catalog of COVID-19 Economic Impact reports, which highlight how various industries are responding to the current crisis with a comparison to recent recessions. Freedonia Custom Research is also available for questions requiring tailored market intelligence.