Saturday, April 25, 2015

Fashion World and the Drinks World Unite

     Because the spirits industry produces "lifestyle" products it seems to be following along with the trends and what is fashionable with the other "lifestyle" happenings.  What was old and out of date seems to be reworked a little and becomes "Vogue" again.  Many of the classic cocktails have bees tweaked a bit and are being served in big numbers again.  The spirits are just like the cars, the retro revolution is happening now.

     Bacardi recently appointed Akiko Maeda into the newly created role of vice president of fashion.   According to insight from Spiros Malandrakis, senior alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor International, the alcohol industry falls within the lifestyle category and as such follows similar trend patterns as would be found in other industries.   “While trend cycles tend to last longer than six months it is becoming an indisputable fact that drinking patterns evolve much faster and more frequently than they used to,” said Malandrakis.

      “Alcohol is first and foremost, a lifestyle industry. In other words, the drivers of change are aspirational and start with symbolism and the semiotics of style.”   He continued to explain how many consumer choices are formed off the back of celebrity collaborations with specific brands, from Iggy Pop and Sailor Jerry to David Beckham and Haig Club.   Furthermore, he added it was Bacardi’s most recent statement of creating the role of vice president for fashion that “formalized the affair”.

     “From the ‘Mad Men’ effect making Old Fashioned cocktails suitably fashionable once again to immaculate fashionistas sipping Aperol Spritz shortly before it became the ubiquitous, pop culture and the zeitgeist provide the cues for both industries’ future directions, positioning and core message,” he explained.
 

Read More at http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2015/04/evolution-of-drinking-patterns-picks-up-pace/





     I love seeing the fashion world going back to short shorts and skirts and I love to take some of the oldies and revamp them with rum and share them with my friends.   I think that Bacardi was right on with its moves to become a part of the world of fashion.