Musings on Art and Style

Aimé Leon Dore is Blowing Up as a Designer so Why are they Getting into Resale and How are they Doing it so Successfully?

On the morning of Friday, February 4, Aimé Leon Dore (ALD) dropped a new collection entitled Installment II. By the time I checked out the collection – only a few hours after release – the it was almost sold out. The interesting thing about Installment II is that it was not a limited run of new merchandise from the young but rightfully hyped designer or some exclusive collaboration. It was a carefully curated and painstakingly assembled collection of vintage merchandise that embodies ALD’s late-twentieth century NYC vibe. One of the hottest brands in fashion right now dove headfirst into vintage resale and executed it perfectly.

The significance of this accomplishment and what it indicates about the direction in which fashion is heading cannot be understated. While resale and design exist as two halves of the same industry, supporting each other in a symbiotic relationship, they each require very different skill sets to keep the lights on, much less find success. So many people fail at design or resale that when success in either is achieved it seems counterintuitive to attempt the other. Yet at its core level, aren’t they both just selling fashion?

That’s the question that designers are starting to ask themselves.The meteoric rise of the resale market over the past decade has wetted designers appetites to get in on the action. If I’ve built a successful brand selling my designs, why can’t I bolster that success by adding complementary vintage goods into the mix? What’s more, if others are making money reselling my designs then I should be re-selling them. 

It is important to note that designers have practiced resale on a limited scale for a long time. Ralph Lauren has always offered vintage goods at his flagship stores, especially at RRL. When J.Crew opened The Liquor Store in 2008, they offered a wide range of vintage merchandise. However, these attempts were always more an extension of merchandising, peppering in vintage among original products to increase the ambiance. What brands are attempting now requires far more resource investment and risk. Resale is becoming a legitimate portion of their business strategies.

These full blow forays into resale fall under two distinct categories. Designers like ALD are setting up classic vintage resale markets within their brands. They buy old products from other brands that match the vibe and aesthetic of their brands then resell them. The resell can be a gradual, constant offering or they can come in periodic drops. That latter strategy appears to be the secret to ALD’s success as it allows for a build up of hype and comes with less risk of goods ligering. 

The other category is essentially designers attempting to take control of their own brand’s resale market. They procure their own merchandise, either through buybacks directly from customers or from traditional resellers, then offer them for sale alongside new merchandise. This strategy has positive environmental implications because it is the first big step towards a closed loop fashion ecosystem. Other brands want to trade on the resale hype their products carry. It is essentially the same business strategy that Ticketmaster figured out long ago with Stub Hub.

Consumer confidence is also a factor working in favor of brands getting into the resale game. With the prevalence of fakes in the resale industry, buying resale from brands provides a piece of mind for the consumer. There is a certain assurance that they’re getting a legitimate product when they’re buying resale from the brand that produced the product. Despite how much resale companies invest in verification, they will never be able to buy the confidence consumers have in brands reselling their own goods. 

Whether their motivation is altruistic, capitalistic, or some combination of both, more and more brands are testing the resale waters. Conscientiousness is steadily increasing among fashion consumers, especially among the much sought after Gen Z market. Resale is a good look to these consumers and therefore a sound business strategy. Sourcing raw materials, managing production, and the logistics of getting goods to market account for a majority of financial risk fashion brands face. Turning an additional profit on items you or others have already produced is extremely enticing. 

However, there are plenty of logistical concerns to address before brands can make a full commitment. Every brand has a unique size, market leverage, and hype capital to take into account. Large heritage brands face very different challenges than newer, smaller brands but the tenuous line between success and failure is the same for every brand. The move towards in-house resale is slow but building momentum. Brands are increasingly deciding that the juice is worth the squeeze. 

For any designer exploring the idea of getting into resale, the first step has to be changing your mindset on how selling fashion works. Trying to tack a resale division onto your existing company isn’t going to work. Resale and original product have to meld together in a coherent brand aesthetic and business strategy. The decision to stick to your own brand with in-house resale or create a vintage marketplace has to match what your brand is already doing and where it exists in the fashion market. 

ALD found what works best for them in creating a vintage collection drop that fits seamlessly into their brand aesthetic. Even though the entire collection has sold out by the time I wrote this article the following Monday, they still have every piece displayed on their website. This is brilliant merchandising because it makes the collection more than just a set of vintage goods up for sale, Installment II is an interactive art installation that expresses the vibe ALD is curating. That is where the future of resale for designers is heading, using it as a tool to articulate their vision  – i.e. we care about the environment and our products last forever or look at how cool NYC was in the 1980s. More importantly, a tool that consumers can buy. 

Comfort is Fundamental for Fashion Right Now,

So Where Does that Leave Suiting?

Rich Fresh has Some Ideas

The Suit has existed as we know it for approximately 150 years. In that time, the defining details – trousers matching a jacket with a lapel, 3 pockets and buttoned cuffs – have remained intact. However, many secondary details have changed as fabrics and fashions have evolved. 

As menswear went through a back-to-the-fundamentals phase a decade ago, suiting took its most prominent role since the 1960s. Men started wearing suits because they looked good, not because they felt obligated to. Silhouettes were slim, tailoring was king, and fabrics were classic. The whole movement leaned on a vibe that was so timeless it will always work. 

Then, as fashion is wont to do, extreme divergents began to attack the status quo. Designers and stylists introduced baggy silhouettes, minimalist features, and monotone color palettes into suiting. Things began to get messy as we careened back towards the early 90s. Then the pandemic changed everything. 

COVID fundamentally reset how we think about fashion, not least of all suiting. As we take two steps forward then one step back out of quarantine life, suiting’s place in fashion remains undetermined. There is a strong skew towards comfortable fits and fabrics juxtaposed against an intense desire to look stylish and put-together as we reclaim our social lives. Then, there is the stripped down dress code of WFH culture. 

Logically there is no need for suiting in any of it but the suit is an old habit we will never kick. It may never go away but it is going to look different. Perhaps the best example of where suiting may be headed in coming years can found in the work of designer Richfresh. He creates tracksuits using bespoke tailoring methods and design elements. His signature trousers are a hybrid between athletic wear and high end tailoring uniquely fit for the Twenties. 

Richfresh started his garment career as a cleaner and tailor in Memphis. With help from his brother, he hustled his way through tumultuous events to build his brand from concierge tailoring into bespoke suiting for a clientele list littered with celebrities and influencers. In the process he workshopped an athleisure and formalwear combination that looks refined while maximizing comfort. Fundamentally, that’s what we’re all looking for in fashion these days. 

The golden rule of suiting has always been the better the fit, the better the look. If you can’t afford bespoke, which most of us cannot, then a good tailor is crucial. Despite how successful the athleisure movement has been, most garments are either too loose or too tight because performance and comfort have always defined fit. The best fit for the gym or lounging at home is not the best fit for social attire. Richfresh saw this fundamental flaw and fixed it with century old tailoring techniques. 

Suiting has gone down this road before in the 1970s but Richfresh has kept things much closer to the Savile Row than the disco. On a foundational level, his suits are cut from patterns that are indistinguishable from traditional suting. The difference comes in the high end athletic fabric that he uses and the infinite color palette he draws from. Most of his works are on the flashier side and his signature detail  is two parallel lines cutting across the jacket at an angle with matching vertical lines down the side of the trousers. However, every color scheme is unique to the client and they can go as loud or as subtle as desired. 

As things stand now, Richfresh suits aren’t for everyone. Even those who can afford the $3,000 pricepoint, will be hard pressed to get a fitting if they’re not famous. He has dabbled in RTW but those offerings are few and far between. The good news is that it shouldn’t be long until other brands copy the bespoke tracksuit idea and scale it to an affordable level. There will always be a demand and place for traditional suiting but fashion is evolving faster now than it has in decades and suiting will have to keep up. Richfresh is innovating an alternative that will probably become a fundamental part of the suiting landscape in the coming decade. 

*Top Five Lists are Totally Subjective, But I’m Probably Not Wrong.

Of all the names given to various forms of footwear, loafer is by far my favorite. Historically, titles for new garments came from colloquial usage, often referring to where the garments came from or what they were used for. Therefore, loafers were used for loafing around or, as Oxford defines it, “to idle one’s time away.”

A general theme of current style trends is to dress as if you are idling your time away, even when you’re keeping busy. Idle time is associated with comfort and we are all, as a society, too stressed and anxious to not dress comfortably. So we’ve collectively decided to retain the idle comfort of 2020 but fancy it up for 2021 and beyond. That’s why loafers, and their many iterations, are the defining footwear of our current age. They’re formal enough to wear with suiting and black tie but comfortable enough to idle away in. 

With winter bearing down upon us, I’ve put together a Top Five best winter loafers. This list encompasses the broader group of all slip on shoes but putting loafer in the title just sounds better. So here is the totally subjective and absolutely definitive Top Five Loafers (and Slip Ons) for Winter.

5. UGG Tasman

I know that Uggs have a certain reputation but it wasn’t always that way. Ugg was founded by a surfer in Southern California in 1978. The company gradually built up a following in the surf community over the next twenty years. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that they crossed over into mainstream fashion. By 2005, they became synonymous with “basic” culture along with leggings, North Face fleeces and pumpkin spiced lattes (anyone who spent time on a college campus in the late 2000s knows the exact look). 

At the risk of sounding like a hipster, I got my first pair of Ugg Tasmans at a surf shop in 2002. They immediately became my favorite I had ever put on my feet. They were unique, looked cool, and were comfortable as hell. It irritated me to no end when Ugg boots exploded in popularity and gave the brand a bad rep. Still, I couldn’t give up on the Tasmans. I went through three pairs over ten years and they remain one of my all time favorite shoes.

4. LL Bean Wicked Good Slip-Ons

L.L. Bean makes the claim that their Wicked Good line are the “best slippers ever made.” While that fact is very disputable, they are certainly an amazing bargain with all of them priced between $80 and $100. You’re not going to find a better quality shearling slip-on for less without going to New Zealand and searching for a local craftsman hand making them in his shed. 

The Wicked Good line has nine varieties, encompassing scuffs, moccasins, slippers and boot-mocs. The most stylish option in the line is simply called the Slip-Ons. They are essentially shearling loafers with a rubber sole featuring a slight heel. The Slip-Ons look great with jeans or chinos but really pop with plaid wool trousers. 

3. Sabah Shearling Babas 

Babas are a traditional Turkish shoe. They are similar to mules with a backless heel to effortlessly slip them on and off, for when you simply can’t be bothered to bend over. Sabah hand crafts all their shoes in Turkey and ships worldwide; the original DTC business model. They only make two styles of shoes – Sabahs and Babas – in an ever changing variety of colors and textures, and they make them to the highest standard of quality they can. You’ve got to appreciate a brand that keeps it simple and sticks to doing what they do best with complete disregard for capitalist expansion. 

The shearling Babas are lined with fur for winter warmth. A backless shoe won’t be the warmest thing you can put on your feet but they’re ideal for indoor social gatherings, weekend errands, and wearing to the office whenever you actually go there. 

2. Easymoc Cozymoc (Huckberry Exclusive)

Easymoc set out to make the perfect moccasin and I have to say that they nailed it. They took a design that has been around for centuries, produced by Native Ameicans for generations before being adapted by countless American brands, and thoughtfully updated every detail. The upper is boot quality leather, the footbed is Ortholine, and the sole is Vibram. Every pair is hand crafted in Maine and the Vibram sole can be replaced when it wears out. A moc that can be re-soled is unheard of but Easymocs are built to last long enough that it was necessary. 

The Cozymoc is a shearling lined cold weather adaptation of the Easymoc made exclusively for Huckebrry. This iteration will see you through the winter months until you can break out your regular loafers in the spring. Interesting side note: since Huckberry’s head of footwear design also owns Easymoc, this is essentially an in-house colab. 

1.Gucci Princetown Mule

Gucci Mules are decadence exemplified upon your feet. The Princetown version, with overflowing fur lining, was introduced in Alessandro Michele’s first collection in 2015. They were a standout product of Gucci’s ascendance over the following years and have just been reissued. For anyone who can afford the absurd price point of $1,000, there is no substitute for stylish loafing about. 

The grand irony of Gucci’s Princetown Mule is that they are a showcase piece masquerading as a house slipper. Loafers were originally intended for casual attire outside the public eye. Gucci was one of the first brands to create loafers for formalwear in the 1950s, crowned with their signature golden horse bit. The loafer’s transition from modest house shoe to extravagant display of style reached its conclusion with Michelle’s take of the Gucci Mule. They’re the most decadently glorious thing you can put on your feet while remaining as comfortable as a house slipper.