Warring Retailers, and the Sky-High Prices of Shoes
女鞋貴翻天 店家海撈錢
By Eric Wilson

The designer shoe industry, to some extent, relies on the willful suspension of rational thinking, the giving over to a more primal urge (to shop, that is) in order to move merchandise that common sense would suggest is patently, obscenely overpriced.
設計師品牌女鞋產業在某種程度上，依賴的是消費者自甘暫停理性思考，向更原始的欲望（就是購物欲）靠攏，以便賣出按常識判斷就知道實在貴得離譜的商品。

It is only since the late 1990s that shoes have become what they are today, with warring retailers, an influx of new players each season, and very little price resistance demonstrated by consumers.
鞋業一直到1990年代末期，才變成如今這種情況：零售商競爭激烈，每季都有許多對手湧入，且消費者對於價格似乎也無意抗拒。

A pair of suede espadrilles, among the most basic styles available at a luxury store like Bergdorf Goodman in New York, can cost $495. The soles may be mere rope, but they’re made by the British designer Jimmy Choo. Prices for pumps now commonly range from $600 to $1,400, and boots can cost $2,000 or more. At the top of the hierarchy of luxury footwear designers, the French designer Christian Louboutin makes a platform pump for $1,595. Versions of his shoes in exotic skins, like crocodile, can cost $4,600.
一雙麂皮平底涼鞋，紐約市古德曼精品百貨供應的基本款之一，可賣到495美元（台幣1萬4900元），它可能是麻繩鞋底，但由英國設計師Jimmy Choo（周仰傑）設計。一雙無帶高跟鞋現在大致介於600到1400美元之間，靴子更可能從2000美元起跳。法國頂級女鞋設計師Christian Louboutin（陸鮑廷）的厚底細跟高跟鞋，1595美元，使用鱷魚皮之類奇特皮革的陸鮑廷鞋款，4600美元。

For luxury retailers, expensive shoes have become a lucrative business, among the most profitable at Saks Fifth Avenue, for example. At Barneys New York, sales of shoes are three to four times higher per square meter than in any other department. The average purchase in the shoe department there is about $850.
對精品零售商而言，賣高價女鞋獲利豐厚，薩克斯第五大道百貨公司即為一例，高價女鞋是他們最賺錢的商品之一。在巴尼斯紐約精品店，高價女鞋在店內每平方公尺的業績，比其他產品高出三到四倍，平均購買金額約850美元。

So it is not surprising that shoe salons in Manhattan’s fanciest stores have expanded at a frenzied pace over the last five years, or that the battle to become the ultimate showplace for shoes has gone global. Macy’s in New York, with its 3,600-square-meter shoe department introduced last year, has claimed the title of “world’s largest” from competitors like Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Selfridges in London.
因此，曼哈坦最高檔百貨公司的設計師品牌女鞋部門五年來紛紛以瘋狂的速度擴充，且成為女鞋極致展場的爭奪戰甚至延伸到全球，也就不足為奇了。紐約市梅西百貨去年推出3600平方公尺（編按：約1100坪）的鞋部門，超越巴黎老佛爺百貨及倫敦塞爾福里奇百貨等對手，奪下「世界最大鞋賣場」頭銜 。

In 2007, when Saks introduced a footwear department on its eighth floor so big that the store, in a clever marketing move, gave it its own vanity postal ZIP code, 10022-SHOE, it set off what would ultimately become the great shoe wars of retail. Barneys introduced its floorwide shoe department last year, with shoes displayed in large gilded cages and copious cushy seating, drawing comparisons to Saks. And now Bergdorf Goodman has announced plans to expand its department by 20 percent this fall.
2007年，紐約市薩克斯第五大道公司在八樓推出一個相當大的女鞋部門，出於明智的行銷策略，他們以該公司虛榮的郵遞區號來稱呼這個部門－「10022-SHOE」，此舉點燃了後來的女鞋零售大戰。巴尼斯去年推出整層鞋部門，有些鞋子放在很大的鍍金箱內展示，展場隨處都有許多座位，讓人拿來與薩克斯相提並論。現在古德曼百貨已宣布，計畫今年秋天把鞋部門擴大20%。

The stores are just as competitive about carrying the top designers, like Mr. Louboutin, who, on his 20th anniversary in 2011, was feted with a star-studded dinner by Barneys and then a blowout store party by Bergdorf. Saks responded again in June, opening a 150-square-meter shop dedicated to Mr. Louboutin, the first of its kind.
這些百貨公司競相出售像陸鮑廷這樣頂尖女鞋設計師的產品，陸鮑廷在2011年慶祝創業20年，當時巴尼斯為他設下眾星雲集的晚宴，接著古德曼又在店裡為他辦了一次盛宴。薩克斯今年六月也有了動作，開設第一個150平方公尺的陸鮑廷專櫃。

At Barneys, the strategy has been to bring more exclusive new labels, or products designed just for the store, which now account for a third of its department, said Daniella Vitale, the chief operating officer of the store.
巴尼斯的營運長丹尼愛拉．凡泰里說，該公司的策略是增加獨家專賣的新品牌，或專為該公司設計的鞋款，這些產品目前占他們鞋部門的三分之一。

One successful example has been Marsèll, a collection of androgynous slip-ons by the Italian designer that cost around $665, which has shot up to a $1 million business for the store in a year.
一個成功的例子是義大利設計師設計、男女皆適穿的馬塞爾便鞋，一雙約665美元，一年為巴尼斯零售店帶來100萬美元業績。

The competition to stand out among designers today is fierce, said Charlotte Olympia Dellal, the chief executive of Charlotte Olympia, because newer companies have to fight for the same factory space as the big brands.
英國品牌夏洛特奧林匹亞的執行長夏洛特奧林匹亞．戴拉爾說，如今設計師品牌女鞋之間競爭激烈，因為新公司必須與知名大公司爭取相同的代工工廠。

“It is more expensive to make shoes now,” Mr. Louboutin said.
陸鮑廷說：「現在製作鞋子成本比過去高。」

The cost of producing shoes in Europe has increased substantially. More recently, facing competition from Asian factories for quality materials, some luxury houses are buying their own tanneries.
歐洲製鞋成本已大幅上漲，部分高檔製鞋公司面對亞洲製造商爭購高品質材料，現已自行購置製革廠。

George Malkemus, president of Manolo Blahnik, said that prices of shoes have generally gotten “out of whack.”
名鞋馬諾洛布拉尼克公司總裁馬可莫斯說，設計師品牌女鞋的價格基本上已「不正常」。

The risk is that customers will associate higher prices with better shoes.
此中風險是，消費者會認為好鞋一定高價。

“A customer might like what they see,” he said, “and then she turns the shoe over, looks at the price and walks away.”
穆堪莫斯說：「消費者可能喜歡看中的鞋，然後她把鞋子翻過來，看了價錢就走了。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/fashion/shoe-battles-going-toe-to-toe-in-stilettos.html

Graphic：Shoe Battles: Going Toe-to-Toe in Stilettos
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/19/fashion/shoewars.html

2013-07-09聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 馮克芸譯 原文參見紐時週報八版下