Runways profit from weak dollar
New York's Fashion Week was bigger than ever. American designers are doing well in general because overseas customers are taking advantage of exchange rates and shopping here. Sally Herships reports.
A model walks the runway at the Marc Jacobs Spring 2009 fashion show during Fashion Week at the NY State Armory. (Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images)
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Bob Moon: Today's is the final day of Fashion Week in New York. The stylistas round here at Marketplace tell me that purple is the "in" color this fall. But it's green that's pushing sales at Fashion week -- a rather pale green. From New York, Sally Herships reports.
Sally Herships: The U.S. dollar looks a little washed out these days. That may be a blow to American national pride. But Arnold Karr of Womens' Wear Daily says it could be good for U.S. designers' bottom lines.
Arnold Karr: American goods do become more affordable to European buyers and, you know, buyers in other markets that have seen their currencies strengthen against the dollar.
Designers could sell more clothes as overseas shoppers take advantage of exchange rates, says Maryellen Gordon of Glamour Magazine. But she says, many American collections are produced in Europe and Asia, so the clothes are getting more expensive to make.
Maryellen Gordon: So it's not as though they should be running around throwing parties, thinking they're millionaires suddenly because they've got bigger orders from existing retail customers, or perhaps they have orders for the first time from some stores in Europe or Asia that they had never dealt with before.
Gordon says smart designers are taking the global economy's measurements and preparing for the effects of a slowdown on the fashion business.
In New York, I'm Sally Herships for Marketplace.
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