Michael Kors Needs To Watch Out For Kate Spade

If you have a teen in your life, here's what you should get them for their birthday: something Michael Kors. According to Bloomberg, Michael Kors has been rising in popularity amongst teens, stealing the spotlight from Coach. Coach used to be a teenager's go-to luxury brand, because it was considered affordable while still being "high-end." Even though Kors is sitting pretty at the top, the brand shouldn't get too comfortable. The fact that there are more up-and-coming “affordable luxury” brands on the rise, such as Kate Spade and Tory Burch, means that Michael Kors is going to have to start upping their game in order to stay relevant.

Keeping an eye on the teen demographic is always important, especially if they’re the company’s sales target. According to Erinn Murphy, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, companies often look to teens to see which brands are “in” and which ones are not. It makes sense because teens tend to feed off of each other’s styles and brands in order to stay “in.” And although their easily swayable characteristics may seem like a negative aspect, this factor is actually what makes them a great audience to capture.

As long as you get a trend going amongst teenagers, it seems that they all will follow one another and hop onto the trend. But it’s also super tricky to hold the attention span of a teen. Remember back in high school? A fashion trend would be considered "cool" if a fair amount of people were a part of it. However, once literally everyone and their mother started to hop onto the bandwagon, then the cool factor died out and it quickly became labeled as "overrated."

Although they are no longer at the the top, Coach is attempting to hop back into relevancy. Back in 2013, they appointed Stuart Vevers as the new executive creative director. But according to Murphy, it's still not enough. “You’re just not seeing that turn yet with the teens,” she said to Bloomberg. “They’re still looking at Michael Kors.”

Can Michael Kors continue his reign as the cool brand among the teens? Will Coach make a comeback, or will Tory Burch or Kate Spade steal their thunder? A couple of things are certain: 1. Only time will tell, and 2. Teens are so unpredictable— we will have to just wait and see!

Image: Getty