In a recent Critical Shopper column, the New York Times’ fashion journalist Vanessa Friedman claims that “J.Crew didn’t need to live forever” and that the brand “lost its way creatively”. I recognize that one of my favorite brands may not live on forever, but as a die-hard fan of J.Crew I’m not ready to say good-bye, and I shouldn’t need to.
Why I’m Ride or Die for J.Crew
Print families (especially Liberty): One of the things I love about J.Crew is that whenever there’s a print, they give you multiple options. One of my favorite outfits features matching scarf, pants, and shoes in their “antiqued floral” print. I also have a Liberty print shirt with a matching scarf. At the very minimum, it has helped me get my hands on a print by at least buying a scarf, if I couldn’t afford anything larger.
Textiles: You can always count on J.Crew for solid textiles: merino wool, lambswool, silk, linen, etc; as well textile blends: linen/cotton, silk/linen, merino/silk, cotton/silk blends, proprietary wool blends, etc. Some people complain about J.Crew quality, but I’ve never had an issue. Plus, I deconstructed a J.Crew piece during my time at Parsons, and it was a surprisingly arduous task!
Saturated colors: who else would give you this RAINBOW???
Friedman’s Criticism
Friedman opens by pointing out that the J.Crew homepage at the time said “Blue skies ahead”, and cited that as an example of how tone deaf the brand has become. But I say, what’s wrong with thinking about blue skies? What’s wrong with thinking about better days ahead? And that’s just figuratively. Literally blue skies ARE ahead. Summer is coming, and that’s a fact – a fact that I daresay is still worth celebrating! Some brands are shilling “togetherness” right now and others aren’t. This irked me because to cite that as a reason a brand is over seemed like quite a reach.
Friedman goes on to say that while J.Crew formerly “occupied a distinct, and valuable, position in the American fashion hierarchy,” it has now undergone a “loss of aesthetic identity; an inability to give urgent, desirable expression to who we are now.” That is the crux of her argument, that J.Crew has become irrelevant and it doesn’t matter if it goes away.
My take
I’ve already explained why I love J.Crew: it’s my go-to spot to find bright, saturated colors, great prints, and well-made clothes in quality textiles. I mean yes, some things about J.Crew have changed, but I prefer the current iteration to the sharkskin skirt, vachetta slide, and sailor pant peddling catalog of yore.
Growing up, the prevailing style was preppy Americana. We begged for clothes from the Limited, the Gap, J.Crew, Banana Republic and Compagnie Internationale Express (remember THAT store)? Later on, stores like American Eagle, Hollister & Co and Abercrombie & Fitch came to the fore and made the look even more suburban. When I was in college H&M and Forever21 were just starting to gain traction. Then came Zara, Mango and Topshop. Dressing preppily went out of style. For the masses, at least. That’s the issue – preppy doesn’t have the currency it once used to. Maybe it’s because black and white, minimalism, and normcore are ever more popular – casual customers are less enticed by the bright and cheery colors that J.Crew offers.
Looking back, I can identify a handful of wealthier friends for whom J.Crew was an erstwhile default. Many of those friends no longer care about shopping. I could say the same for other friends who have aged out of shopping as sport or entertainment, and that’s part of the issue. There is a segment of the population for whom, in your teens and 20s, shopping is new and exciting and a way to explore who you’re becoming and how you want to telegraph that to the world. Whichever stores are trendy will benefit from that. For a long time J.Crew was able to ride that wave. In 20 years Zara might also have to shift to attempt to stay relevant.
Is J.Crew Dead? Long Live J.Crew!
I don’t begrudge these other audiences who don’t like J.Crew. I’m a firm believe that what some people refer to as “market segmentation” is just more individuals finally having options that better reflect their realities. But listen, there are those of us who love J.Crew and who rely on it as the cornerstone of our wardrobes. So please, for the love of God, don’t take that away from us.
What's your opinion?