Visual Summary
Consumer & Collection
GCDS (God Cannot Destroy Streetwear) is an Italian brand, founded in 2007 (GCDS.it, 2017) by the Catza brothers, Giuliano and Giordano, who act as creative director and CEO respectively. As of 2017, they retailed in 230 stores with future endeavors focused in Asia. In an article published by Fashion Week Online (2017), the brand is described as being known for “ironic graphics, catchy slogans and unexpected capsule collaborations” which include Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa. (Starr, P. 2017)
Although GCDS don’t explicitly state who their target consumer is, it can be assumed from their online presence and marketing that their consumer is a younger millennial aged roughly 18-25, focusing mainly on Instagram and videography as key forms of promotional techniques. GCDS rely heavily on combining their promotional fashion videos from Vimeo to post on their Instagram feed, which have become a significant angle of their online presence. According to a report published by WGSN (2016), younger millennials and the older quadrant of Generation Z mostly use mobile only apps, with a study suggesting that image and video based apps gain higher usage from this age group, with a 2017 study performed by Ofcom (2017) also showed that 16-24 year olds spend on average 14 hours a day on media coverage – whether that be social media log on or looking at a screen at some point. (WGSN, 2017) Combining these industry findings with the marketing techniques currently in place by GCDS, it becomes clear that the young millennial is their target consumer.
For their SS18 collection, GCDS (2017) described the range as “moody women dressed up for fun in a colourful aesthetic without compromising sophistication.” The collection was unveiled at New York Fashion week in the form of a catwalk show where it was described as “our favorite collection of the week so far” by Fashion Week Online (2017). The Fader (2017) also published an article on the collection, but stated that “Teyana Taylor stole the show”, concluding that the models used to display the clothing overshadowed the range. Similarly, articles published by Harper’s Bazaar (2017) and Glamour (2017) also focused entirely on Taylor rather than the garments in the collection.
The press brought about by Taylor closing the show in itself brought a lot of attention to the brand. Like previously mentioned, the brand is best known for its “capsule collaborations” which bring about a new audience that come from which ever celebrity they collaborate with – in this case, Tayana Taylor. It is an easy assumption to make that the brand would have been disappointed with such a media reaction focusing on the models rather than the clothes, but taking the brand’s “capsule collaboration” element into consideration, this could have been the exact reaction the brand were hoping for, to open themselves up to a potential market in Tayana Taylor fans.
