Stores definitely go through growing or “existing” pains and change their trajectory. Look at GAP and Old Navy. Mainstays and then randomly they have fell off the fashion wagon! They are apparently both in a good place now - I am back loving GAP again - and I’ll credit Zac Posen who is Creative Director (and more) for both right now.
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I haven’t shopped from Gap in a long time (I do however shop Athleta). I need to see the Gap stuff in person and since the pandemic (and more so after becoming an empty nester), I am mostly an online shopper. Two Gaps near me have recently closed and unless I am in the area of another Gap, it’s unlikely that I’ll make a special trip. Malls are a hard no except for Nordstrom. I do like PJ’s from Gap and can buy those online. All the Old Navy’s near me are always a disheveled mess (as are the Kohls) and I don’t have the patience to sort through. I have luck online with JCrew and Madewell.
I do agree that brands go through phases. JCrew especially. Anthropologie, I hope, is moving past it’s crop top phase 
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Ditto. I’m looking forward to the return of longer tops, but I’m afraid I’ll have to wait quite a bit longer.
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I hear ya. I rarely enter a mall and our 2 local GAPS both closed. I have visited ones out of town at an outdoor store situation.
I also am someone NOT looking for high end clothing - but still stylish!
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Seconding the short top trend. It needs to end now. It has become impossible to buy work clothes because all the shirts and sweaters are only 20 inches long!
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Crop tops and my over 60 body just don’t go together.
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I was just listening to a TikTok from a young businesswoman who works on Wall Street. She was highlighting many of the fashion retailers who have been bought by private equity firms and how that definitely affects their product quality and changes the variety of product they put out. The private equity firms assume a company’s massive debt and need to immediately take drastic steps to recoup funds.
She specifically mentioned JCrew as having been bought by a PE firm in the mid 2000’s and how that directly affected their product line - which I definitely noticed (loved them in the early 2000’s and never knew what happened but started to notice that their product quality, styles and variety suddenly went way down. Probably after Jenna Lyons left). She also mentioned Reformation as having been bought by a PE firm and how the quality of their fabrics and construction of their pieces is now sub-par, while their prices continue to be on the higher side.
She did say that JCrew had been purchased again by another party and their style and quality is getting back to what they used to be (which I’ve also noticed and have begun to purchase from them again).
Anyway, interesting commentary. She says many fashion retailers are now owned by PE firms, and you can always tell when the quality of their products drastically change. I’ve also heard about PE firms buying food franchises and the same thing happening there.
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Retail is difficult. Some brands with traction with a certain cohort may try to “age” with them because customer loyalty is valuable. (Personally, I would put Talbots in this category.) Others continue to serve the same demographic (Abercrombie?), who in turn “age out”. In every case, there may be misses in terms of meeting customer tastes and budgets. Some stores have done better with their Misses cost money and sometimeseven reputation. . All this makes brands vulnerable to takeovers by competitors, PE firms, etc. It also makes them reexamine costs.
Which is all to say that new ownership may not entirely be the driver behind changes in quality –something else was likely going on as well. It’s all intertwined.
And yes, it’s so disappointing when a brand you’ve liked starts consistently missing the mark in style and or quality.
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Another situation is the effects of the tariffs and how that impacts manufacturing and the countries they manufacture in.
Private equity isn’t as concerned with keeping a brand open as they are with getting as much money out of that business as they can in a short period of time.
The people who sell to PE know that they are going to make a lot of money.
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I hope this post isn’t too off track, but I saw a post yesterday that was interesting. That many popular brands of clothing share the same factory/production space as off brands. Case in point: the clothing thrifter/seamstress I follow was shopping in a NYC thrift store and came upon 2 1/4 zip somewhat cropped pullovers - both the same (Amazon) brand but different colors. One was fully the Lululemon Dupe - different brand tag, zipper pull, etc. The other was branded like a dupe - brand tag, material tag, etc. - BUT the zipper pull had not been duped - it was the Lululemon zipper pull.
Just interesting to note.
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I ordered a Reformation dress from Nordstrom. I never write reviews, but this dress compelled me to write one. Several others wrote similar reviews after mine! Horrible quality.
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Now you know why. The young woman used to be a regular Reformation customer and went into great detail about how the cashmere, silk and other fabrics were now being infused with cheaper manmade fabrics. They are also allegedly sourcing cheaper labor. Yet their prices are still high.
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Yup. I’ve heard of PE buying up retail and destroying quality, just did not know about Reformation. The dress was so bad it looked like something that came from a cheap Chinese seller on Amazon. Uneven hem, super short, cheap rayon fabric - not even close to the product images. And it was not cheap! The SA taking my return was also shocked.
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Luxury borrows from fast fashion:
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Derek Guy (dieworkwear.com) on BlueSky is the expert on menswear. He’s had a number of articles and posts about manufacturing quality (and lack thereof). PE, offshoring, fast fashion are the primary culprits.
Again, while he’s menswear, he gives a lot of insight into what looks good and bad, the importance of fit, and a recent article on developing good taste — all which can be applied to women’s wear.
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I highly recommend reading “The Kingdom of Prep" by Maggie Bullock. It is the fascinating story of JCrew from the beginning.
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