Second-Hand First

Why Second-Hand Should Be Your First Choice When Shopping for Clothes and Accessories

About a decade ago, there was a specific plaid button-down that could be seen everywhere in New York City. The abundance of this simple shirt, sprinkled across the city like leaves in autumn, became a joke in various fashion blogs and periodicals. Simultaneously, approximately two-thirds of the women in New York City were wearing leather biker jackets with black leggings and Stan Smiths. Ubiquity has always been a curse of the fashion industry as detrimental to the consumer as price gouging. Brands hope to achieve it because it boosts sales but consumers with any sense of style hope to avoid it at all costs. Nothing sucks harder than seeing your favorite look pop up all around you like so many sartorial clones. 

Fast Fashion combined with social media led to an explosion in trend following in the 2010s. A feedback loop was created when any look that trended could be procured on the cheap then just as that look burned out, a new one took its place. The terrible environmental impact of this process wasn’t really considered for years. However, the impact on popular fashion was obvious; shit got boring. Then. as the decade closed out, fashion’s second-hand market – long hovering on the fringes – broke into the mainstream. Years of hard work by a small but growing group of enthusiasts paid off. A national network of independent shops, a few large online marketplaces, and an army of side hustlers on eBay organically cultivated second-hand fashion into a legitimate force. 

Vintage and resale markets have grown exponentially over the past few years. In 2020, traditional fashion retailers were forced to take notice of what was long considered a collection of niche interests. In 2021, second-hand will become a serious contender for increasingly scarce fashion consumer dollars. This newest disruption represents multiple issues that the fashion industry, as notoriously stuck in their ways as an octogenarian, must now recon with or perish. Severe transgressions against the environment and human rights through conventional production and distribution methods are avoided by recirculating fashion. By providing a viable alternative, the second-hand market is forcing fashion retailers to act more responsibly.

Along with a grand comeuppance for the fashion industry, a thriving second-hand market is beneficial to your personal style. Fundamentally, your personal style should be an aesthetic representation of your personality. Thus the more individuality you can achieve with your wardrobe, the better you can represent yourself to the world. The second-hand market, especially vintage, operates on individuality. Where traditional fashion paints with a broad brush, second-hand is a fine point pen. Whether you’re looking for something specific or just stumble upon a perfect piece, shopping second-hand provides a much higher degree of individualized personal style. 

The second-hand market can be divided into two distinct categories: vintage and resale. The decisive characteristic differentiating the two is whether or not the item has been used but the distinctions can get fuzzy. Each category is operated by distinctly different characters yet they are both equally enthusiastic about what they do and the goods they sell. Vintage sellers have a passion of one or multiple distinct genres and time periods. They’re fashion history buffs. Resellers are all about the cutting edge of fashion trends, they’re hypebeasts and they thrive on scarcity. Both of them provide services that traditional retailers don’t offer and in that way they have created their own eco-systems that nurture enthusiasm, creativity, and individuality. 

That enthusiasm, creativity, and individuality is the itch that the second-hand market is scratching. After all, we live in a free market economy, these businesses would not exist without demand for their goods and services. Consumers are more conscientious than ever about the environmental and human rights impact of the clothes they wear. second-hand fashion is essentially a recycling program for clothes and accessories run predominantly by small businesses and side hustlers. The people selling second-hand love what they do and are personally invested in the goods and business (as opposed to conventional retail workers earning minimum wage). Second-hand sellers operate with an artist’s spirit and they want to help consumers express their creativity.

Exclusivity is the other factor driving the second-hand economy. Those who cannot afford high-end brands when they’re new are provided access to that world. Those who can afford high-end brands are drawn to the scarcity factor of vintage high-end goods. Vintage sellers will refurbish old clothes and accessories to create items that haven’t been available to purchase for decades. Up-cycle artists will customize old items to create one-of-a-kind wearable works of art; the ultimate in exclusivity. 

As far as it has come, the second-hand market is still new to most consumers. The stigma about buying used clothing and accessories still exists. Traditional retail isn’t going anywhere and will always have its place even among hardcore second-hand enthusiasts – no one is buying used socks and underwear. High quality new goods will always been needed to keep the system going. But the second-hand market is more approachable than ever and the inventory has grown to the point where you can find pretty much anything you want with a little practice and patience. Individuality in self expression is the ultimate goal of style and the second-hand market has become the best tool in achieving that goal. It also takes a load off your conscience by decreasing the human and environmental impact of your wardrobe. So whenever you’re shopping from now on, check second-hand first.

Have You Ever Been Experienced?

Exploring What Most Fashion Brands Get Wrong About Experiential Marketing, and How to Get it Right

The old bar at J.Crew’s The Liquor Store

Business of Fashion recently examined Experiential Marketing in Episode 4 of their Retail Reborn podcast series. Doug Stephens, founder of Retail Prophet, interviewed Matt Alexander of Neighborhood Goods, Rachel Shechtman, founder of Story and Ben Kaufman, CEO and co-founder of CAMP about their personal takes on the concept. The overall conclusion was that while Experiential Marketing swept through the fashion industry in 2019 as the savior of physical retail, most brands missed the mark.

Somewhere along the way, Experiential Marketing got contorted into a series of frivolous sideshows that did little for sales conversion and customer retention. Millions of dollars were wasted on pomp and pageantry when the industry could least afford it. Focus was misplaced on influencers and events rather than staff and merchandising. Marketing teams across the fashion industry failed to understand that Experiential Marketing should be a foundational value of all retail environments exhibited all the time, not just during orchestrated events and promotional campaigns.

While it may have been lost on most of the fashion industry, this conclusion came as no surprise to me. For years I’ve seen this fundamental misunderstanding play out in both my own job and the industry around me. Employees were hired and trained to execute antiquated KPIs rather than build intriguing shopping environments. The “experiences” were viewed as cookie cutter events and promotions rather than on a customer-by-customer basis. 

As I listened to Stephens explore what makes good Experiential Marketing, I was reminded of the old J.Crew Liquor Store. Mickey Drexler, Todd Snyder, and Andy Spade created The Liquor Store in 2008 – nearly a decade before the concept of Experiential Marketing was even a thing. This venerable triumvirate of menswear set out to create a space where men could come to learn about new brands, geek out with other enthusiasts, and just feel cool. They succeeded beyond their greatest expectations, at least for a while.

The store showcased the cream of J.Crew’s mens line shuffled together with expertly curated import, heritage, and startup brands. The influencers were the  staff – all sartorial experts – and fellow customers. The events took place daily when novices and experts alike would stumble across an item they absolutely loved or had a conversation that kindled their love for style. Common folk could rub elbows with celebrities. A fully stocked bar sat behind the cash register to service customers that played their cards right or just showed up at the right time (for free since they didn’t have a liquor license). Antique books, furniture, and trinkets decorated the store. There was even a tiny picture of a woman flashing in the bathroom. It was more of a hip club that sold clothes than a straightforward clothing store but there was never a line to get in, except during the occasional sneaker launch.

As with most great New York clubs however, The Liquor Store’s time came and went far too soon. Style writer Sam Schube eloquently sums up in this 2019 GQ article how, for a variety of reasons, this innovator of Experiential Marketing was gone before its time. In March of 2019, just as the marketing trend peaked, The Liquor Store closed for good. Ironically, J.Crew was one of the many retail giants steaming full speed ahead with Experiential Marketing while the intricacies that made The Liquor Store special had fallen by the wayside. 

The thing that The Liquor Store got right and most other brands get wrong about Experiential Marketing is authenticity. The fashion industry has pandered to pop culture trends, constructed eye catching totems irrelevant to their products, and placed far too much stock in social media influencers. These disingenuous methods detract from the cultivation of authentic style. While they may garner immediate attention and social media “likes,” they do not grow and retain customer bases. 

So what brands are getting it right? Stephens provides three examples in the podcast – which you should definitely listen to – but I have a few examples of my own. First there is Sid Mashburn. Sid has built a Southern sartorial empire based out of his HQ in Atlanta. He even holds a yearly outpost in New York, taking up residence in a hotel suite to host bespoke appointments. His entire business model is based on expert customer service on an individual level while providing goods of the highest quality. Few brands have adapted to the post-COVID world as well as Sid. His personable experience has migrated to a digital platform with weekly vlogs and daily informative social media posts. Even in these days of isolation, Sid has kept himself face-to-face with his customer base.

Faherty has nailed Experiential Marketing by building a family and community oriented shopping experience. The brand is run by the Faherty family – two brothers and a wife – and they have sewn their values into every aspect of the company while practicing what they preach. Their clothing is produced with transparent sourcing and manufacturing methods. Their stores are set up as community hubs where you can routinely hear live music, participate in yoga and meditation, learn crafts, and meet fellow conscientious shoppers. Most importantly, they have taken active initiatives in environmental protection since their inception. Faherty is a beachwear brand doing everything they can to make sure the beach is enjoyable for future generations. 

Finally, there is Todd Snyder. A year after The Liquor Store opened, Snyder left J.Crew for a solo career. His brand lives primarily online and through wholesale but he opened a retail store on New York City’s Madison Square Park in 2016. This temple to menswear features a fully functional barber shop, a cafe, a bespoke tailor shop, and the level of expertly curated third-party goods that The Liquor Store was once known for. It’s staffed with true enthusiasts that make every shopping experience informative and charming.

In the fall of 2019 Todd Snyder took over the space in TriBeCa vacated by The Liquor Store. Remarkably, he managed to keep the name, only tweaked a bit to The Liquor Store by Todd Snyder. Other than a new paint job, the store looks much like it did a decade ago when Snyder helped create it. Years of neglect knocked the shop far from its former glory. Yet all the attributes that made The Liquor Store a success in the first place still hold sway in today’s market. Now in the capable hands of Snyder and his crew (ask for Walt or Ryan), The Liquor Store is once again a go-to destination for menswear not just for the clothes but for the experience.

A global pandemic may have changed the way the fashion industry does business but shoppers are still looking for an experience – both digital and IRL. None of the silly pageantry is possible any longer but the fundamentals of brand integrity, product quality, and informative customer service are stronger than ever. The pandemic has created an Experiential Marketing sieve where none of the bullshit can get through, only the brands that have or can find those constant fundamentals will survive. Successful Experiential Marketing is built in the staff hiring and training process so that the people your customers are interacting with on a regular basis are providing the experience, not gimmicks. There are a million tricks to get a potential shoppers attention but only an authentically intriguing shopping experience will retain their loyalty.

Honorable Mention: Three more young brands from NYC that are nailing Experiential Marketing are Freemans Sporting Club, The Armory, and J.Mueser (clearly bespoke suiting helps)

J.Crew Mens is Not Dead Yet

The F/W 20 Line Has Given Me Hope for the Future of J.Crew Mens

The New Ludlow Suit: It’s Like 2010 But with Wider Lapels

Obituaries for J.Crew abounded online for the past six months. Some were mournful and some bid good riddance but most were somewhere in-between. After news broke in April that the iconic Americana brand was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to renegotiate their staggering debt, it seemed like everyone had something to say about it. Tragic irony unfolded as so many people suddenly cared about a brand that appeared to be hemorrhaging customers for years. By mid-summer, J.Crew’s dead horse had really taken a beating. The only unanimous opinion that I came across in these articles was that regardless of how the Chapter 11 proceedings played out, the J.Crew we all knew and loved was gone. 

Now, it appears that pessimism may have been premature. First J.Crew came to favorable terms with their creditors. Without diving into the complexities of the situation, the bankruptcy negotiations shaked out as well as could be expected. Some stores were closed (which probably should have been closed anyway), leases were re-negotiated on others, payrolls were cut back, and ownership shifted. But the customer facing side of the business was allowed to pretty much carry on as they were. Then I took a look at the Men’s F/W 20 line and a pleasant thought crept up on me: this stuff is good… like really good. While I cannot speak for the Women’s line, I can say for sure that J.Crew Men’s is not dead yet.

Now for a quick disclaimer: This subject is personal to me because I spent over seven years working for J.Crew in their Men’s line. When I joined the company in 2012 they were one of the most respected clothing brands in the world. Then a chain of events unfolded that saw a gradual decline in the quality of the product and sharp drop-off in profit margins. I was as harsh a critic as anyone as I watched the decline from within. Mistakes were made at all levels, fingers were pointed from both inside and outside the company, and eventually heads rolled. 

The designers, merchants, and planners that created J.Crew’s current Men’s collection are several degrees removed from the brand’s peak at the beginning of last decade. From one perspective, they had the easy task of just not making a bigger mess than they were left with. A series of calamitous decisions were made during the previous CEO’s administration that alienated many of  J.Crew Mens’ core customers. From another perspective, they faced the daunting task of winning those customers back by recreating the glory days. To the benefit of menswear enthusiasts everywhere, they took on that latter challenge by leaning heavily on J.Crew’s vast archive.

The F/W 20 line plays like a mixtape of the Men’s lines greatest hits from the past decade with some 80’s and 90’s classics peppered in.  A chunky cardigan, a vintage-style military jacket, and heavy pairing of denim and suiting are some of the homages paid to former Men’s creative director Frank Muytjens. Cable knit cashmere sweaters, 100% cotton selvedge denim, and peak lapel jackets, are back after missing from the lineup for far too long. If you squint a little bit, you can hardly tell the current line apart from the vaunted 2011, 2012 and 2013 F/W lines. 

Frank at J.Crew’s Spring 2011 FW Show

Before we get ahead of ourselves though, there are some crucial differences between old and new J.Crew. The two key factors are material quality and price point. After all, the fashion world has changed completely in the past decade and J.Crew’s failure to keep up is what got the company in trouble in the first place. Prices have been lowered almost across the board to make the brand more approachable. For example, the Japanese selvedge denim is now $158 compared to the $205 it used to cost and cashmere cable knits have dropped from $225 to $188. The catch is that with those price drops come a drop in material quality compared to a decade ago. Market factors have made it impossible for a traditional retail brand to offer top quality materials at mid-tier prices. The good news is that garment quality has improved compared to the previous few years. It appears that the creative teams have struck an acceptable balance in quality and price, which is no small feat in today’s fashion world.

Another obvious difference from a decade ago is the lack of third party items. During Mickey Drexler’s reign as CEO, J.Crew Men’s became known for partnerships with elite heritage brands like Alden and Belstaff, hip start-up brands like Hillside and Billy Kirk, and hard to find foreign brands like Engineered Garments and Private White. These kinds of elite third-party relationships are expensive to maintain and do more for a retailers image than their profit margin. Almost all of these partnerships (with the notable exception of Alden) ceased as their contracts expired after Drexler stepped down from CEO. For the past few years, J.Crew has maintained a “marketplace” on their website in which they offer goods sold directly from other brands, much the way Amazon does, but with very mixed results. Given J.Crew’s ongoing predicament, it was a smart move to focus on reviving their own brand for the time being.

J.Crew Mens played a leading role in the Menswear Renaissance a decade ago. They were the gateway drug for American men who got hooked on fashion, myself included. That iteration of the brand lives only in nostalgia now and dwelling on the past had never done anyone any good. The men who obsessively shopped J.Crew back then have graduated onto designers like Todd Snyder and Billy Reid while getting their import fix from End. The F/W 20 menswear line is not for them, it’s for the next generation of men to seek out and stumble upon as they discover their own style. From what I’ve seen in this new line, this new generation is in capable hands. 

As for us grumpy old menswear enthusiasts who wrote J.Crew off months or even years ago, it’s time to reconsider. I admit that, for a long time now, I’ve had little hope for the future of one of my favorite brands. Now the future looks promising and I hope that the current Men’s team can keep up the good work. I also might have to pick up that espresso peak lapel corduroy suit. 

J. M. W. Turner’s The Slave Ship

When the Romantic and Eccentric Artist Used His Platform to Make a Statement Against Slavery

J. M. W. Turner’s The Slave Ship, Now lives at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

J. M. W. Turner, or Will as he was know, is probably my favorite painter of all time. While his works are some of the most celebrated pieces in the history of British art, I appreciate him as much for his character. Turner was an eccentric who spoke his mind and disregarded the frivolities of his age. Despite the wealth gained from his work, he dressed plainly and gained a reputation for tattered garments. His prolific work and endearing personality provided him access to London’s elite society at the height of the Empire.

Turner’s work was both progressive and vast. He joined the Royal Academy of Art in 1789 when he was only 14 years old. Against the advice of his professors, Turner chose to focus out-of-vogue medium of landscapes to express his love for architecture and reverence for nature. During his subsequent sixty-two year career, Turner produced at least 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolors, and 30,000 sketches.

The evolution of Turner’s career can be paralleled to a fellow pillar of British art, Radiohead. He began by mastering a contemporary art form early on – Romantic Landscapes – and went on to push the boundaries of his medium beyond anything that had come before. His exploration of how light and shape can be depicted through paint created a proto-impressionism then went on into the realm of abstract. All the while, garnering critical acclaim and financial success.

Most of Turner’s work held a mirror up to the society in which he lived, as any great artist does. His career coincided with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and many of his prominent works depicted industrialization’s cold, unfeeling shadow falling over Britain’s heritage. A broad view of Turner’s work portrays nature’s pristine beauty and awe-inspiring power. Humans are often miniscule and placed helplessly at her mercy. One can infer Turner’s distaste for humanity’s attempt to overpower nature during the industrial revolution. He saw the hubris in this mistake and heedlessly attempted to warn the industrial age about nature’s wrath. Now that wrath is upon us two centuries later.

Harrison Ford: Style Icon?

Tracking the Rise of Harrison Ford’s Vintage Style

The year 2020 has been defined by unexpected things happening, almost all of them bad. However, one totally unexpected occurrence that has delighted me is the rise of 1970s/80s Harrison Ford: Fashion Icon. Ford has always been revered for his swagger but his personal style remained predominantly overlooked until this year. His breakthrough role came in 1973’s American Graffiti, directed by scrappy up-and-comer George Lucas. In a film that revolved around 1950’s car culture, Ford played the guy with the coolest car while rocking a cowboy hat.

When Lucas was casting his space-western hero’s journey four years later, Ford was chosen over several notable actors to play Star Wars’ anti-hero Han Solo. The space-hotrod driving, smuggler cowboy instantly became the coolest character in the history of sci-fi. Lucas and Ford teamed up again four years later, this time with Steven Spielberg, and redefined our popular conception of archeology forever. Indiana Jones was so badass that he has inspired generations of college students to take archeology classes, only to be sorely disappointed when they learn the reality of archeology (yup, I did that).

Harrison Ford in American Graffiti, 1973

Raiders of the Lost Ark not only put another blockbuster under Ford’s belt, it also cemented him as one of the coolest leading men in Hollywood. While he has firmly held that title for four decades now, why has Ford’s style never been widely recognized? Revelry has always been placed on contemporaries like Robert Redford, Richard Gere, and Pierce Brosnan. Before we figure how we’ve overlooked Ford’s nonchalant swagger for so long, lets analyze how it seemingly popped up out of nowhere a few months back.