The fashion retail business in Cyprus may have evolved over the past 35 years but it has never lost its appeal to both consumers and business. For a well-founded overview of the market and how it continues to change, we spoke to Olympios Toumazou, Executive President at RAI Consultants Public Ltd., who is widely acknowledged as one of the most enlightened and informed observers of fashion business trends on the island and abroad.
How has fashion retailing in Cyprus changed over the years?
It can be divided into different eras. First of all, we had what I call the era of the boutiques – the small boutique style of fashion outlet that dominated the market in the 1980s. Then, in the 1990s, the era of the department store arrived, with Woolworth, Marks & Spencer and so on. The third era is the one I call the era of the megabrands – the first decade of the 2000s –when brands like Zara, Mango, etc., entered the market and started doing very well. And now we are in what I call the FMF era – that of Fast-Moving Fashion with brands like Zara and H&M which are able to copy the new trends and get them out to the market very quickly. The growth of the Internet has helped people buy online, giving more choice much faster.
How has fashion retailing in Cyprus changed over the years?
It can be divided into different eras. First of all, we had what I call the era of the boutiques – the small boutique style of fashion outlet that dominated the market in the 1980s. Then, in the 1990s, the era of the department store arrived, with Woolworth, Marks & Spencer and so on. The third era is the one I call the era of the megabrands – the first decade of the 2000s –when brands like Zara, Mango, etc., entered the market and started doing very well. And now we are in what I call the FMF era – that of Fast-Moving Fashion with brands like Zara and H&M which are able to copy the new trends and get them out to the market very quickly. The growth of the Internet has helped people buy online, giving more choice much faster.