Every suit-dress sold by the likes of Gucci or Givenchy is billed as a must-have that season. But, it turns out, some are more m

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问题     Every suit-dress sold by the likes of Gucci or Givenchy is billed as a must-have that season. But, it turns out, some are more must-have than others. For all the advertisements they generate, even leading fashion brands struggle to shift much more than half their wares at full price. The luxury world is desperately searching for new ways to find a worthy closet for this unwanted inventory.
    Dealing with "end-of-season" merchandise is a particularly thorny problem for luxury brands. Offering discounts to off load ageing wares is a time-tested trick among retailers. But cutting prices to clear the shelves is a bad look for labels whose reason is to manifest exclusivity.
    Fashion brands used to bin last year’s clothing quietly rather than sell them cheap. That changed after July 2018, when Burberry, a British supplier of upscale macs, faced a furore as it disclosed having destroyed $38m of clothes and fashion accessories. France will ban the practice entirely by 2023.
    Luxury groups are reluctant to reduce production, given that goods can be sold for ten times what they cost to make. But putting up "Sale!!!" signs is considered unacceptable. Plus, says Luca Solca of Bernstein, a broker, "you have to weigh cash made from discounted sales with the damage done to the value of the brand." Prada, a posh Italian label, said last year it would end all in store discounts.
    Some brands’ offerings are so timeless—a Hermes handbag, say—that seasonality is not an issue. Others manage to get rid of old stuff by offering discreet "sample sales" to staff and their friends. Many of the clothes used to end up on the internet, sold cheaply on sites like Yoox and Saksoff5th.com.
    None of this will be enough to get rid of an outmoded collection. To really shift stocks, brands now look to outdoor malls that group together "factory outlets". The concept is booming. Out of an estimated €281bn in personal-luxury sales last year, €37bn were in such physical off-price stores, according to Bain, a consultancy. The figure has shot up by 85% in five years. But using the outlets for anything beyond liquidating inventory—for example by stocking them with cheaper, second-tier collections—is a way to dent a brand’s prestige permanently, warns Mr Solca. Best to keep only the most questionable styles and weirdest sizes in stock, and to push a brand’s real fans to Regent Street or Avenue Montaigne.
    Two things may come to the rescue of exasperated inventory liquidators. The first is the rise of second-hand-clothes sales online: expect to see many "used" frocks on offer that are in fact brand new. The second is "up-cycling", when an unsold dress gets trimmed, combined and dyed into a new fabulous outfit. For luxury brands, these two trends are unmissable.
It can be inferred from Mr Solca’s warning that________.

选项 A、factory outlets will eventually replace stores
B、personal-luxury sales weakened the market
C、chic brands are declining on a gradual basis
D、turning to factory outlets is not a magic drug

答案D

解析 根据题干关键词Mr Solca可定位到文章第六段。该段第六句提出But using the outlets for anything beyond liquidating inventory—for example by stocking them with cheaper, second-tier collections—is a way to dent a brand’s prestige permanently, warns Mr Solca. (但是索尔卡先生警告说,除了清理库存以外,利用工厂直销店进行任何其他活动会永久削弱一个品牌的声望),也就是说他认为虽然工厂店形式目前蓬勃发展,但是过分使用这种形式其实对于品牌本身是有害的,由此可知,D项“转向工厂直销店形式并不是灵丹妙药”是最符合题意的。文中并未提到工厂店最终会取代商铺,A项属于无中生有,应排除;第六段中提到个人奢侈品销售额高达2810亿美元,绝对不会起到削弱市场的效果,选项B应排除;C项“时尚品牌正在逐渐衰落”并不是对索尔卡先生警告内容的解读,也应排除。
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