幾個(gè)月前，隨著亞馬遜服裝業(yè)務(wù)迅速擴(kuò)展，公司代表跟時(shí)尚設(shè)計(jì)師杰姬?威爾森見了面。他們希望威爾森設(shè)計(jì)一款女性針織上裝，貼上亞馬遜的自有品牌銷售，還希望服裝感覺厚實(shí)而且優(yōu)質(zhì)，也就是長(zhǎng)期以來人們對(duì)品牌服裝的印象。

威爾森的公司設(shè)在紐約錫拉庫(kù)扎，為科爾百貨、American Eagle Outfitters和杰西潘尼提供服裝。她說：“他們根本不管能賣出去多少件，也不重視利潤(rùn)。他們關(guān)注的是客戶滿意度，想要五星好評(píng)。”

對(duì)自有品牌的推崇顛覆了銷售額達(dá)2750億美元的美國(guó)服裝行業(yè)。威爾森的針織上裝就走在潮流前列。亞馬遜、沃爾瑪、塔吉特等大型零售商都在擴(kuò)展服裝品類，吸引對(duì)Gap和耐克等知名品牌興趣下降的購(gòu)物者。連鎖超市經(jīng)營(yíng)商克羅格都有所行動(dòng)，因?yàn)槔麧?rùn)率遠(yuǎn)高于香蕉和紙巾之類。

美國(guó)富國(guó)銀行預(yù)計(jì)，今年亞馬遜將超越品牌折扣店T.J. Maxx的母公司TJX Cos.和梅西百貨，成為美國(guó)第二大服裝鞋類銷售商。研究機(jī)構(gòu)NPD指出，在某些品類中，自有品牌的整體市場(chǎng)份額已經(jīng)達(dá)到20%，比如美國(guó)人越來越喜歡的運(yùn)動(dòng)裝，去不去健身房都喜歡穿著。結(jié)果是自有品牌的總量超過了任何一個(gè)單一品牌，露露檸檬、耐克和安德瑪?shù)母邔哟_實(shí)應(yīng)該害怕了。

威爾森說：“運(yùn)動(dòng)裝簡(jiǎn)直太流行”，原因很簡(jiǎn)單，“因?yàn)樵僖膊挥萌ピ嚧椓ρ潯Ｈ绻抑饕獦I(yè)務(wù)是做彈力褲，就會(huì)很擔(dān)心。”

自有品牌服裝并非新生事物。西爾斯和Roebuck & Co.在1894年的產(chǎn)品價(jià)目表中首次推出了服裝，沃爾瑪?shù)淖杂衅放艶aded Glory于1972年問世。但多年來，自有品牌服裝既呆板又俗氣，無法和品牌服裝相提并論。

1990年情況開始有了變化。英國(guó)連鎖超市Asda Stores請(qǐng)?jiān)O(shè)計(jì)師喬治?戴維斯為其打造一個(gè)專門的服裝系列。結(jié)果就是George品牌在英國(guó)走紅，并引起了加拿大零售商Loblaws Cos.的注意。Loblaws在2004年聘請(qǐng)Club Monaco聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人喬?米姆蘭設(shè)計(jì)。米姆蘭的Joe Fresh品牌后來拓展到了專門的服裝店中，還和杰西潘尼建立了合作關(guān)系。但這個(gè)品牌沒能博得杰西潘尼顧客的青睞，米姆蘭在2015年離職，Joe Fresh的業(yè)務(wù)也大幅調(diào)整。

雖然近況欠佳，但咨詢公司柯爾尼合伙人阿德赫爾?巴由卡爾指出，Joe Fresh的嘗試“對(duì)其他零售商來說是個(gè)驚喜，他們會(huì)說‘嘿，要是他們能做得到，我們也可以。’”

隨著零售商加大投資，聯(lián)系上亞洲供應(yīng)商并挖來時(shí)尚達(dá)人負(fù)責(zé)內(nèi)部設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)，現(xiàn)有著名品牌日子越來越不好過，因?yàn)橘?gòu)物中心客流下降，大量庫(kù)存開始擠壓。此外，品牌忠誠(chéng)度也開始下降。

運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋增速放慢后，安德瑪備受打擊，長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行官的米基?德雷克斯勒的離任業(yè)讓休閑服裝品牌J.Crew Group陷入困境，折扣連鎖業(yè)務(wù)Old Navy 變成Gap最近唯一的亮點(diǎn)。就連老牌子耐克也在今年宣布金融危機(jī)以來首次大規(guī)模裁員。

巴由卡爾說：“新一代年輕人的品牌忠誠(chéng)度越來越低。80、90后不太在乎衣服上的商標(biāo)。他們買的東西五花八門，哪兒來的都有，什么價(jià)格都有，這是個(gè)很大的變化。”

品牌忠誠(chéng)度下降對(duì)塔吉特來說是個(gè)福音。這家廉價(jià)時(shí)尚零售商就是靠服裝打響了品牌，主要通過跟艾薩克?米茲拉希、吳季剛等頂尖設(shè)計(jì)師合作。近幾年，該公司利用名氣創(chuàng)立了幾個(gè)自有品牌，其中最知名的是童裝品牌Cat & Jack，上市剛一年多銷售額就超過20億美元。塔吉特的成功也鼓舞了沃爾瑪，最近沃爾瑪聘請(qǐng)了一位曾在薩克斯第五大道精品百貨店和拉爾夫?勞倫工作的資深人士，目的就是提振時(shí)尚業(yè)務(wù)。

如今人們購(gòu)買服裝的第一步往往是在網(wǎng)上搜索。貝恩公司的研究顯示，不帶任何品牌的搜索數(shù)量驚人。比如消費(fèi)者會(huì)只輸入“瑜伽褲”，然后看能搜到什么。

貝恩公司指出，亞馬遜上的商品類別搜索結(jié)果會(huì)出現(xiàn)很多自有品牌。在領(lǐng)尖有鈕扣的男士襯衫等品類中，第一頁(yè)的搜索結(jié)果中有四分之一都是自有品牌。這也是為什么Euromonitor的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，美國(guó)服裝鞋類產(chǎn)品在線銷售額里亞馬遜的份額從2014年23%升至今年的近40%。

亞馬遜的做法具體包括兩方面。首先，力推自有品牌的同時(shí)想辦法把自己打造成時(shí)尚匯聚之所，主要通過吸引希望提高網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷售額的成熟品牌，代價(jià)是要服從亞馬遜的定價(jià)規(guī)則。今年夏天耐克開始在亞馬遜上賣鞋，引起不少注意。Calvin Klein最近在紐約和洛杉磯各開了一家快閃店，試衣間里都配備了亞馬遜的Echo智能設(shè)備，用戶可以上傳試衣照看系統(tǒng)有何推薦。Calvin Klein還專門在亞馬遜上開了店賣自家產(chǎn)品。

也并不是所有時(shí)尚品牌都愿意跟亞馬遜搭上關(guān)系，主要怕影響形象。但高盛分析師預(yù)計(jì)，隨著購(gòu)物中心里的百貨商場(chǎng)日漸冷落，“絕大多數(shù)”品牌都會(huì)選擇這條路，深化跟杰夫?貝佐斯的合作。

與此同時(shí)，亞馬遜推出了Peak Velocity等一系列自有品牌，涉及品類包括襯衫和運(yùn)動(dòng)服飾，選購(gòu)這些服裝時(shí)貼身程度、功能性，以及自由選購(gòu)的便捷性往往比跟上最新潮流更重要。貝恩公司指出，大號(hào)女裝就是其中一例，三年來亞馬遜在該領(lǐng)域的份額已經(jīng)增長(zhǎng)了50%左右。

貝恩合伙人塔瑪?多爾-內(nèi)爾說，大號(hào)服裝“非常欠缺，購(gòu)買大號(hào)服裝的人通常都不喜歡去實(shí)體店，進(jìn)一步增加了亞馬遜的吸引力。”

柯爾尼指出，購(gòu)買服裝的人里有四分之三仍然喜歡買之前去實(shí)際感受和試穿，對(duì)大品牌來說是個(gè)好消息。所以露露檸檬等品牌可以用所謂的展覽式商品推銷來進(jìn)行反擊。這是業(yè)內(nèi)行話，意思是向購(gòu)物者展示某件上裝和某條褲子搭配起來好看。雖然亞馬遜用Echo做了類似嘗試，但實(shí)際效果還是要差一些。

消費(fèi)研究機(jī)構(gòu)WSL Strategic Retail總裁坎迪斯?科利特說：“我還沒聽說過有人在亞馬遜上買衣服會(huì)激動(dòng)。因?yàn)閬嗰R遜上很多衣服都是中等價(jià)位，看起來也很一般。”

但自有品牌并不需要?jiǎng)?chuàng)意。就像杰姬?威爾森的針織上裝，只要滿足某種需求就可以。

柯爾尼的巴由卡爾指出：“我們認(rèn)為自有品牌很難跟上時(shí)尚，但足夠新穎，也能推動(dòng)銷售。總之，跟亞馬遜對(duì)著干肯定是虧本生意。”（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

A few months ago, Amazon.com Inc. representatives met with fashion designer Jackie Wilson as part of the expansion of Amazon’s surging apparel business. They wanted her to make a knit top for women that would be sold under an Amazon-owned private label. And they wanted the fabric to feel heavy and high-quality—the sort of attributes long associated in the shopping mind with name-brand attire.

“They are not concerned at all about how many units they sell, and they’re not focused on margins,” says Wilson, whose company in Syracuse, N.Y., makes clothing for Kohl’s, American Eagle Outfitters, and J.C. Penney Co. “They’re concerned about customer satisfaction. They want five-star reviews.”

Wilson’s knit top is in the vanguard of a private-label push that’s upended the $275 billion U.S. apparel sector. Amazon, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., and other big retailers are beefing up their clothing lines to grab shoppers whose loyalty to established brands such as Gap and Nike has waned. Even supermarket chain KrogerCo. is getting in on the act, attracted by profit margins that far exceed what they earn on bananas and paper towels.

This year Amazon will leapfrog T.J. Maxx owner TJX Cos. and Macy’s Inc. to become the second-biggest seller of apparel and footwear in the U.S., Wells Fargo estimates. In some categories—like the active wear that Americans increasingly wear all day, whether or not they hit the gym—private labels combined account for 20 percent of the market, according to researcher NPD. That makes store brands in aggregate larger than any single brand, which should strike fear in the executive suites of Lululemon Athletica, Nike, and Under Armour.

“Active wear is going like wildfire,” Wilson says, for the simple reason that “you don’t have to try on spandex pants. If I was in those categories, I would be worried.”

Store-brand apparel is nothing new. The Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog first offered clothing in 1894, and Wal-Mart’s Faded Glory house brand began life in 1972 as a department-store label. But for years, private-label apparel was dull and dowdy, no match for branded threads.

That started to change in 1990 when British supermarket chain Asda Stores asked fashion designer George Davies to create an exclusive clothing line. The result, George, was a hit in the U.K. and caught the attention of Canadian retailer Loblaws Cos. Ltd., which in 2004 hired Joe Mimran, co-founder of the Club Monaco chain, to do the same. His Joe Fresh expanded into standalone stores and a partnership with J.C. Penney in the U.S. But the brand didn’t click with Penney’s shoppers, prompting Mimram’s departure in 2015 and an overhaul of the business.

Despite its recent struggles, Joe Fresh “was a nice surprise to other retailers who said, ‘Hey, if they can do this, we can, too,’” says Adheer Bahulkar, a partner at consultants A.T. Kearney.

As retailers stepped up investments, connected with Asian suppliers, and poached fashionistas to head up in-house design teams, the established brands stumbled under the weight of declining mall traffic and heaps of unsold inventory. Brand loyalty began to crater.

Under Armour has been battered by slowing growth in athletic footwear, J.Crew Group has struggled to reinvent itself after the departure of longtime Chief Executive Officer Mickey Drexler, and Gap’s only bright spot lately is its off-price Old Navy chain. Even mighty Nike this year announced its first major layoffs since the financial crisis.

“Every new generation is becoming less and less brand-loyal,” Bahulkar says. “Millennials don’t care as much about logos. They will buy anything from anywhere at any price point, and that is a big change.”

The erosion of brand loyalty has been a boon for Target, the cheap-chic retailer that made its name in apparel via partnerships with top designers Isaac Mizrahi and Jason Wu more than a decade ago. It’s leveraged that success to create its own private labels in recent years, most notably Cat & Jack, a kids’ apparel line whose sales surpassed $2 billion after a little more than a year on the shelves. Target’s winning formula has emboldened Wal-Mart, which recently hired a veteran of Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren Corp. to boost its fashion game.

Apparel shopping these days often begins with an online search, and research from consultants Bain & Co. finds that a surprising number of those queries don’t mention a brand at all—consumers just enter “yoga pants” and see what comes up.

Searching for generic product categories on Amazon turns up plenty of private-label options. More than one-quarter of first-page Amazon search results in categories such as men’s button-down shirts were private labels, Bain says. That helps explain why almost 40 cents of every dollar spent online on clothing and footwear in the U.S. will go to Amazon this year, according to data tracker Euromonitor, up from 23 cents in 2014.

Amazon is capitalizing on this in two ways. First, despite its private-label push, it’s simultaneously trying to create legitimacy as a destination for fashion by luring established brands that want to improve their digital sales, even if it means submitting to Amazon’s pricing algorithms. Heads turned when Nike began selling its shoes directly on the site over the summer. And Calvin Klein recently opened two pop-up shops in New York and Los Angeles whose fitting rooms are outfitted with an Echo, an Amazon device that lets users submit photos of outfits and recommends the best one. There’s also a dedicated Calvin Klein storefront on Amazon.com with exclusive items.

Not every fashion brand is as willing to hop into bed with Amazon, fearing a loss of cachet. But with mall-based department stores falling out of favor, analysts at Goldman Sachs say they expect the “vast majority” of labels to follow that path and deepen their relationship with Jeff Bezos.

Simultaneously, Amazon has introduced a bevy of private labels with names such as Peak Velocity in categories that include shirts and sportswear, where fit and function—plus the convenience of free shipping—are often more important than the latest fashions. One example is plus-size for women, where Amazon increased its market share about 50 percent over the past three years, Bain says.

Plus-size is “radically underserved,” Bain partner Tamar Dor-Ner says. “The thing that made it even more attractive for Amazon is it’s a shopper who traditionally doesn’t want to go into the store.”

Luckily for the big brands, three-fourths of apparel shoppers still prefer to feel or try on the product before buying, A.T. Kearney says. The likes of Lululemon can counterattack with so-called curated merchandising, industry jargon for showing shoppers that this top goes well with those pants. Despite experiments such as the Amazon Echo, the online giant is not there yet.

“I don’t know anyone who is jumping up and down about buying clothes on Amazon,” says Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail. “They’ve put together a lot of midpriced, uninteresting stuff.”

But private labels don’t need to inspire. Like Jackie Wilson’s knit top, they just need to satisfy a need.

“We don’t expect private labels to become fashion houses, but they can create enough newness that they can capture sales,” A.T. Kearney’s Bahulkar says. “Competing with Amazon is a losing proposition.”