Amazon wears Prada

Seattle – Amazon.com is not the devil by any means, but the e-commerce giant is reportedly interested in “wearing” Prada and other high-end brand names on its site. According to Bloomberg, Amazon is in the midst of a major push to become a player in the word of designer fashion retailing.



Amazon is now actively selling clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories from top designer brands. The company has traditionally avoided the luxury niche due to its unpredictability, but is warming to selling high-end designer merchandise on the Amazon Fashion section of its main site because the profits per item are greater than those available for less expensive goods.



Only 16 of the top 100 global prestige brands currently use Amazon as an official sales channel, according to reports. However, Amazon is heightening its presence in luxury with recent maneuvers such as signing on as a sponsor of New York Fashion Week in summer 2015 and signing a multiyear sponsorship deal with India Fashion Week.



And in the past four years, Amazon has hired Barneys New York fashion director Julie Gilhart as an adviser, opened a 40,000-sq.-ft. Brooklyn photography studio in Brooklyn, hosted events for fashion students, and sponsored the 2012 Met gala.