齋月消費成新趨勢了嗎？
喬治·阿瑪尼(Giorgio Armani)在自己的糖果品牌Armani/Dolci的線上和中東各地的實體店推出一款巧克力糖，它不含酒精，有大棗和蜂蜜填心。
But his gracious gesture has nothing on that of Monique Lhuillier, who is selling a selection of caftans on the upscale Moda Operandi site, including a version in virginal white embroidered with cascades of field flowers.
但是與莫尼克·魯里耶(Monique Lhuillier)相比，阿瑪尼這一親切舉措都不算什么。魯里耶正在高檔的Moda Operandi網(wǎng)店銷售一系列精選寬松束腰長袖長袍，其中一款是繡著野花的純白色長裙。
Nor can it compete with Tommy Hilfiger, whose 11-piece capsule collection, available at Hilfiger stores in the Middle East, incorporates temptations like a cowl-neck black satin evening dress and a long-sleeve teal gown slit, a bit indecorously, from instep to knee.
阿瑪尼的舉措也無法與湯米·希爾費格(Tommy Hilfiger)相提并論，后者在自己的中東店鋪里銷售11件膠囊系列，包括胸前皺領黑色綢緞晚禮服和藍綠色長袖開叉長裙(從腳背開到膝蓋，有點不合禮節(jié))。
Mr. Hilfiger is among the latest in a handful of designers and merchants seeking to capitalize on the advent of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic lunar calendar. (It ends this year on July 17.) A time of fasting and contemplation alternating in the evenings with festive gatherings of family and friends, it has emerged in recent years as a month of extravagant spending that is rivaled, some say, only by Christmas.
希爾費格是最近的幾位想要充分利用齋月的設計師和商人之一。齋月是伊斯蘭教歷中最神圣的月份(今年是7月17日結束)。在齋月里，人們禁食冥思，晚上與家人和朋友歡聚。近些年，齋月已演變?yōu)檫^度消費的月份，有人說，齋月消費僅次于圣誕節(jié)消費。
As far back as 2012, Euromonitor International, a market research firm in London, took note. “Like Christmas, a religious context serves as a reason for families and friends to come together,” Ilse Thomele, an analyst, observed, predicting, “a typical ‘Ramadan consumer’ is likely to emerge in the same way as the Christmas shopper as a global phenomenon.”
2012年，倫敦的市場調(diào)查公司歐睿國際(Euromonitor International)已經(jīng)注意到這種趨勢。該公司的分析師伊爾絲·湯米利(Ilse Thomele)說，“和圣誕節(jié)一樣，宗教習俗給家人和朋友提供了一個相聚的機會”。她預測，“與圣誕節(jié)購物成為全球現(xiàn)象一樣，可能會出現(xiàn)典型的‘齋月消費’。”
That notion was not lost on Net-a-Porter, which last month heralded the month with the online announcement of a “Ramadan Edit,” featuring two fair-haired models glamorously posed in flowing garments against a backdrop of parched earth.
電商Net-a-Porter沒有錯過這個機會。上個月，它在自己的網(wǎng)站上發(fā)布“齋月特輯”(Ramadan Edit)，宣告齋月的到來——兩位金發(fā)模特身穿飄逸的長裙擺出迷人的姿勢，背景是干燥的土地。
The gambit was a bold one. “It’s the first time we’re talking to Ramadan so directly,” said Holly Russell, the senior ready-to-wear buyer for Net-a-Porter. Thus far feedback on Facebook and other social networking sites has been positive. “We haven’t gauged quite yet the impact that it’s going to have,” she said.
這是個大膽的舉措。“這是我們首次如此直接地談論齋月，”Net-a-Porter網(wǎng)站的高級成衣買手霍莉·拉塞爾(Holly Russell)說。到目前為止，F(xiàn)acebook等社交網(wǎng)站的反饋都是正面的。“我們還沒有估量它會產(chǎn)生怎樣的影響，”她說。
One thing is certain: Such appeals to a deep-pocketed segment of the Muslim community have rarely been more pointed or direct.
有一點是肯定的：很少如此有針對性迎合穆斯林富人的訴求。
In London, where the annual influx of Middle Eastern shoppers has been termed the Ramadan rush, “Ramadan has long been every big store’s unspoken secret,” said Ed Burstell, the managing director of Liberty of London. Referring to the Net-a-Porter edit, he added, “This is the first time I’ve seen the Ramadan shopper so blatantly profiled.”
在倫敦，一年一度中東購物者的涌入被稱為齋月熱潮。倫敦利伯提百貨公司(Liberty of London)的總經(jīng)理埃德·博斯泰爾(Ed Burstell)說，“很久以來，齋月一直是所有大型百貨公司心照不宣的秘密。提到Net-a-Porter的特輯時，他補充說，“這是我第一次看到如此公然取悅齋月購物者的宣傳。”
Such efforts are bound to raise eyebrows, he said.
他說，這樣的舉動一定會引起質(zhì)疑。
Indeed, the retail courtship of free-spending Muslims is being greeted skeptically in some quarters. The thing about corporations, said Fareeha Molvi, a young Muslim-American, in an essay on the Racked website, “is that they rarely do things out of sheer human goodwill.” For stores, Ms. Molvi observed, “Financial gains are a far greater motivator.”
的確，在某些地區(qū)，零售業(yè)對出手闊綽的穆斯林的奉承正遭到質(zhì)疑。美國穆斯林青年法麗哈·莫勒維(Fareeha Molvi)在Racked網(wǎng)站發(fā)表的一篇文章中說，公司“做的事情很少完全是出于善意”。莫勒維認為，對商場來說，“經(jīng)濟利益是一個更重要的刺激因素。”
But profiling, to some minds, is just another word for canny marketing, the strategic, and progressive, attempt to identify consumers, women in particular, who have traditionally greeted Ramadan in their most lavish finery.
不過，在某些人看來，專門面向齋月顧客只是一種精明的市場營銷方式，是用巧妙、革新的方式吸引那些一向用最奢華的服裝迎接齋月的顧客，尤其是女顧客。
Many of them are ready to part with sums estimated to range from $300 to several thousand dollars in a single online or store visit, temporarily setting aside their abayas and burqas for ornately embroidered caftans, colorful gowns, loosefitting dusters and all manner of gilt-edged refinements to wear in the evening and through Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festivities to observe Ramadan’s end.
其中很多人在單次網(wǎng)購或?qū)嶓w店購物中愿意花費三百至幾千美元。她們暫時拋開阿拉伯長袍和布卡，購買有著華麗刺繡的束腰長裙、色彩鮮艷的禮服、寬松的罩衫以及各式各樣的上等華麗服飾，以供在晚上和開齋節(jié)(慶祝齋月結束的三天節(jié)日)穿著。
Ms. Russell describes those women as worldly, tech savvy and fashion aware. “They will look at the runway images, and if they see something they want, they will ask for it,” she said. Many are partial to items like an embroidered Oscar de la Renta caftan ($2,890), an amply proportioned bib-front silk Valentino midi-dress ($3,790) or, on the sportier side, a zip-front Stella McCartney stretch-crepe top ($665).
拉塞爾說，那些女人比較世俗，熟悉技術，了解時尚。“她們會觀看秀臺造型，如果看到想要的服裝，就想得到它，”她說。很多人偏愛奧斯卡·德拉倫塔 (Oscar de la Renta)的刺繡束腰長裙(2890美元)、華倫天奴(Valentino)的圍裙式前胸寬松絲綢中長裙(3790美元)，或者更具運動感的斯特拉·麥卡特尼(Stella McCartney)帶拉鏈彈力縐綢上衣(665美元)。
Shoppers visiting Moda Operandi, which introduced an online pre-Ramadan trunk show as early as February, expect exclusivity, said Jamie Freed, the vice president for customer experience. Though luxury labels like Naeem Khan, Oscar de la Renta, Monique Lhuillier and Badgley Mischka have been popular, clients — “women who dress for other women,” as Ms. Freed observed — are “less concerned with labels than with having something that no one else has.”
Moda Operandi網(wǎng)站的客戶體驗副總裁杰米·弗里德(Jamie Freed)說，該網(wǎng)站的顧客想要的是獨一無二的東西。該網(wǎng)站早在2月份就推出了齋月前非公開在線時裝秀。雖然Naeem Khan、奧斯卡·德拉倫塔、莫尼克·魯里耶和Badgley Mischka等奢侈品牌很受歡迎，但是顧客們——“妝扮給其他女人看的女人們”(弗里德的原話)——“不太在意品牌，更在意擁有其他人沒有的東西”。
Others have been more tentative in their marketing efforts. Indeed, even fashion houses like Hilfiger and DKNY, which is offering, for the second consecutive year, a special Ramadan collection, have scarcely dipped a toe in the water, their capsule lines sold strictly in the Middle East.
其他一些品牌在市場推廣方面更為謹慎。的確，甚至連希爾費格和DKNY等時裝公司(該公司連續(xù)第二年推出齋月特選系列)都幾乎是淺嘗輒止，他們的膠囊系列僅在中東銷售。
Some may view such cautious efforts as missed opportunities. According to a study released last year by the American Muslim Consumer Consortium, of two billion Muslims worldwide, about nine million are in North America. Sabiha Ansari, a consortium founder, puts Muslim spending power in the United States at $100 billion. Her hope, she said, is that American retailers will recognize Muslims in this country as a strong economic force.
有些人可能認為這樣的謹慎是錯失良機。美國穆斯林消費者聯(lián)合會(American Muslim Consumer Consortium)去年發(fā)布的一項調(diào)查稱，在全球的20億穆斯林中，有大約900萬生活在北美。聯(lián)合會創(chuàng)始人薩比哈·安薩里(Sabiha Ansari)說，穆斯林在美國的消費額大約是1000億美元。她說，她希望美國的零售商們能意識到本國的穆斯林也是一股強大的經(jīng)濟力量。
That message has dawned haltingly on high-end merchants. Neiman Marcus has yet to court the Muslim shoppers deliberately, but during a promotional calendar meeting at the headquarters last week, “Ramadan came up as an opportunity we need to understand better,” said Ginger Reeder, a spokeswoman for the store.
高端商場開始隱約意識到這一點。尼曼·馬庫斯百貨公司(Neiman Marcus)尚未刻意取悅穆斯林顧客，但是在上周公司總部的推廣日程會上，公司發(fā)言人金杰·里德(Ginger Reeder)說，“齋月是我們需要深入了解的一個機會。”
Was it a time for gift-giving, one that includes but is by no means limited to fashion?
它是一個互贈禮物的時機嗎?禮物包括衣服，但絕不僅限于衣服。
“Possibly,” Ms. Reeder said. “We need to dig deeper to find out what the opportunities are.”
“可能是的，”里德說，“我們需要深入挖掘，找出機會在哪里。”
