Amazon Leaps Into High End of the Fashion Pool

SEATTLE — Amazon is so serious about its next big thing that it hired three women to do nothing but try on size 8 shoes for its Web reviews. Full time.

The online retailer is shooting 3,000 fashion images a day in a photo studio using patent-pending technology.

And it is happily losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year on free shipping — and, on apparel, even free returns — to keep its shoppers coming back.

Having wounded the publishing industry, slashed pricing in electronics and made the toy industry quiver, Amazon is taking on the high-end clothing business in its typical way: go big and spare no expense.

“It’s Day 1 in the category,” Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, said in a recent interview. Though characteristically tight-lipped on bottom-line details, Mr. Bezos said the company was making a “significant” investment in fashion to convince top brands that it wanted to work with them, not against them.

The traditional retail world — and many major brands that want no part of Amazon — are gearing up to fight for their lives.

“It has the latitude to set prices and charge whatever it wants,” Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst for Forrester Research, said of Amazon. “That is a huge threat for brands.”

Amazon has sold clothing for years. But recently it has focused on signing on hundreds of contemporary and high-end brands, including Michael Kors, Vivienne Westwood, Catherine Malandrino, Jack Spade and Tracy Reese, and it continues to prowl for more. On Monday, some of Amazon’s muscle was on display as the company sponsored, and live-streamed, the Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the accompanying exhibit. Mr. Bezos, the event’s honorary chairman, said that he was advised by Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor, to wear a pocket square with his Tom Ford tuxedo (which is not available on Amazon). He did so.

Amazon’s decision to go after high fashion is about plain economics. Because Amazon’s costs are about the same whether it is shipping a $10 book or a $1,000 skirt, “gross profit dollars per unit will be much higher on a fashion item,” Mr. Bezos said, and it already makes money on fashion. While its MyHabit site, started last year, uses a flash-sale model to compete with Gilt Groupe, Mr. Bezos says the company’s new effort is not about selling clothes at deep discounts but at prices that ensure that “the designer brands are happy.”

Amazon has not just size on its side but money. The company has about $5.7 billion in cash and marketable securities, and Mr. Bezos has long taken a stance that investing in the business is the best place to use it. The company can afford to do things that some competitors cannot, like hire a bevy of stylists for the Web site models or investigate replacing the plain brown shipping box with a fancier package for clothes.

Until now, fashion has been one of the few categories that Amazon has tried to dominate without success. In addition to its own site, Amazon bought the shoe site Zappos.com for more than $1 billion in 2009, started the shoe site Endless.com and MyHabit, and bought the boutique Shopbop in 2006.

But many brands stayed away because they said Amazon’s site often looked too commoditized. “It’s not a place where you look at it and are like, ‘Oh, my clothes look and feel really good,’ ” said Andy Dunn, founder of the men’s fashion brand Bonobos, which does not sell through Amazon.

Amazon hopes to fix that problem by going luxe. Mr. Bezos said Amazon.com’s initial forays into the high end had helped raise apparel sales by triple digits.

Amazon’s considerable computing capability, for example, has been turned to fashion and the analysis of enormous amounts of shopping data. The company has also made a “disproportionate” investment in photography, said Cathy Beaudoin, the president of fashion for Amazon. The photography studio, in Kentucky, can shoot more than two images a minute, allowing the company to post new items daily on the Web that were photographed hours earlier.

Most of all, the company is working to improve its presentation, so far most evidently on MyHabit, which Mr. Bezos said represented where Amazon wanted to go with all of its Web design for fashion.

Instead of static product images, for example, models spin and pose to show off the clothing. The model’s body measurements and the clothing measurements are provided to help with sizing. And shopper-friendly advice — does the size 8 shoe run big or small? — is prominent.

The ramp-up has created buzz as the company has hired models, stylists and makeup artists, started using customer data to personalize brand and size search results, and run the first advertisement campaign ever, in print and outdoors, for the Amazon clothing store.

In the retail clothing world, fears are growing that few will be able to compete with a stepped-up Amazon.

For some brands, the company’s size alone makes an overture from Amazon difficult to reject. “The amount of eyeballs and traffic and retail dollars that are generated through their Web site” is impressive, said Alex Bhathal, co-president of Raj Manufacturing, which makes licensed swimwear brands like Ella Moss.

Amazon can also offer brands more attractive terms than many other stores. For instance, Amazon does not ask for “markdown money” when items do not sell, or return unsold product to a brand, said Ron Friedman, an accountant at Marcum L.L.P. who advises brands like James Perse and American Rag.

And to woo brands, Amazon is willing to make big buys. Jason Cauchi, the creative director of Dallin Chase, had been selling some merchandise to Amazon’s Shopbop. Recently Amazon said it would buy items from the entire collection, which Mr. Cauchi said was a rare offer and difficult to refuse.

A retailer like Amazon would typically pay brands a wholesale price for clothes, then set the retail price itself (although more powerful brands often mandate a minimum retail price).

While brands sell some of the same items to different stores, they are increasingly developing exclusive colors or styles to avoid price-comparison issues. “A manufacturer does not want to kill a business, and the best way to kill a business is to have the same product selling for less on Amazon,” Mr. Friedman, the retail accountant, said.

But Mr. Bezos said that, despite having taken a low-price approach in other industries, Amazon would not in fashion. “There’s a sophisticated markdown cadence in the fashion industry that we think makes sense and we’re basically following that established approach,” he said.

There are many disbelievers, given Amazon’s history in other industries. Mr. Bezos, moreover, has to deal with the fact that he is no fashion guy. Asked in the interview about the brands he was wearing, Mr. Bezos could not name the brands of his shirt or shoes, which he said he bought in New York years ago. The jeans, he said, were Prada (not available on Amazon); his blue “Jeff” security badge was dangling from them
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It's so interesting how things are rapidly changing and advancing with the use of technology and the digital world. This article probably is going to affect me very negatively as a former shopoholic before I decided on graduate school. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Amazon is taking over so many industries. They mentioned the company has been hiring models, stylists, makeup artists, etc. while these transitions are occurring but I wonder if people are being laid off on the other end of things. This concerns me. I hope the hiring of people outweighs the amount being downsized. This has been a huge issue America needs to be addressing. Amazon is also stepping up their aesthetic which I am a little excited for. People under estimate good design. I wonder just how really far this makeover of their company will take them. I have a a feeling very much being in such a visually saturated world. 

My Students

For my final project, I put together a short clip representing Community. I volunteer on Saturday mornings, teaching at a free children's outreach program located in Flushing, Queens that provide various classes and activities for the families in the community. Most of our community consists of immigrant families and those who speak english as a second language. This program called Powerhouse seeks to empower kids to pursue their passions and to walk alongside parents in enabling their children to reach their full potential, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

There are other activities that promote community-building throughout the year such as Kid City, Fall Festival, Christmas Spectacular, Princess Tea Party, Great Adventure, and much more. Their purpose is to raise up thousands of NYC kids ages 4-14 to transform their world.

What Kind of Teacher Do I Want To Be?

When I ask myself what kind of teacher I want to be, I think back to the good ones I've had in my lifetime and what made them so good. As a high school student, I remember one teacher who I knew genuinely cared for me. I knew this because of the way she looked at me when we spoke together. Although she was so much older, I felt that she had a sense of respect for me has a human being through her gaze. That was a huge deal now that I think back because I was so young. She had much more wisdom and many more years of lived experience than I. When I talk to some of the high school students that I teach, I catch myself saying things that separate us into levels of "experienced" categories without me knowing. I'd say things for example, when I was your age....or trust me, when you get to college....or you're old? What about me?! Just silly things like that. I recall not feeling too great when teachers would say those things. I think it sets us apart into different paradigms and sets boundaries.

It is definitely important to set student and teacher boundaries, which I've found one of my weaknesses as I always find me wanting to befriend my students. It often prevents the students in learning to respect you as a teacher as opposed to being a friend. I think I’ve realized these things the hard way but teaching is a little forgivable where I know I can learn from my experiences and just do it better the next time. I think the best relationship is when you find that place where the respect is present while trust is built in just enough. I believe gaining a child's trust and respect is one of the hardest and most delicate things in the world. They are so much more intuitive than adults will ever be. Children can sense all types of emotions but can't necessarily figure out why. I think I've felt that way many times as an adolescent.

I think it may actually be easier to know what kind of teacher I want to be by thinking about what kind I don't want to be. I know that I definitely don't want to be one that doesn't listen to the students and is one that just orders or commands what is to be done. I definitely want to make sure I listen to their interests, concerns, and stories. Isn't that what we are about? I am worried though, that as the years go by I would subtly become a type of teacher I do not want to be. I hope that I can remember to keep myself in check and not fall into a jaded place. In order to implement a student-centered learning approach, it's vital that we listen and learn how to meet them in their worlds. I want to be a teacher that sets students up for success in the words that I speak and guidance I bring forth through our conversations.

A quality I would like as a teacher is the ability to be aware of a student's short-term and long-term growth. I want to be able to understand the learning and changes that a student is undergoing and to see how every moment of learning fits into the larger picture of their lives. I want to be in this mindset when developing curriculum and lesson plans; not only the pieces but the whole. I also think it's important for us as educators to be connected to the world they live in. We need to be able to know, see, think, and feel what they are feeling or at least try to get a closer sense for it.

I believe that no matter what, we will have our weaknesses as teachers. We should continually be reflecting on ourselves and endlessly refining our presence in our students’ lives. I also believe it’s important for us to learn from our students and is significant in the role of a reflective teacher. Making sure we are addressing the needs of every child and creating a classroom space where diversity is embraced, is a key component to good teaching.  As an art educator, one of my goals will be to offer imaginative and creative lessons for students to be excited for; not only excitement, but opportunities to identify who they are and are becoming as individuals in society. It is our responsibility to facilitate an environment where all ideas, cultures, and differences are welcomed. I hope that my teaching encompasses all of these things and more. My students will be the judge of that.

New Media in Art Education

I believe New Media should have a presence within Art Education. If educators want to address adolescents in their stages of development and meet them where they are, they need to be delving into New Media and the possibilities it holds in learning. We live in a society where visual culture is rapidly defining and shaping what people think and feel. The type of visual culture and language that we experience today is channeled through much new media. Technology at it's peak of advancement and the rise of the digital era affects the way students live their lives and begin to make sense of their worlds.  I think that in this 21st century era, New Media in the art classroom is a part of child-centered learning.

Taking this class, gave me a taste into the foreign realm of technology as a means to create art. It's like visiting a new place and only having taken a tour of the main attractions and sites. It was exciting to see it all, but I wish we had more time to linger into each area for longer periods of time. It would have been nice to explore as individuals and collectively during class times possibly having work sessions together. It was also great to see how everyone took the same prompt and applied it so differently according to their interests, personal experiences, and thoughts. The diversity within the class cohort made the experience more interesting in terms of learning.

In terms of taking steps further from this point of departure, I'd like to explore what it is that young people find interesting and engaging now. I find myself exploring with social media applications such as twitter and tumblr in hopes to experience and understand better what kinds of connections adolescences are feeling. I'd like to explore more into what kinds of issues they deal with being exposed to their surrounding visual and sonic cultures. Also, I'd like to gain more experience in using different kinds of software so that if students are looking for outlets to project their thoughts and ideas into, I'd have more options to offer insight to best address their concepts.