As is I’ve always found J. Crew to be overpriced given the lack of luxe fabrics (though admittedly, they do have some nice cashmeres), and lack of any real design in their collections.
So, I was surprised to learn from WWD that the brand was opening a Collection store. Located on 79th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, the store, like their lower-priced counterparts, encourages mixing modern pieces with vintage. In this case however it’s actual vintage, not J. Crew’s take on a vintage piece.
In fact, the store carries both J. Crew and non-J. Crew finds and in an attempt to break away from the good-girl-prep/WASP image they’ve come to be associated with they’ve taken risks with styling pairing, for example, a brocade evening dress with a thin handmade belt and a cashmere scarf. Who exactly is this supposed to appeal to? It seems to me that they are alienating their core customer with little hope of attracted new ones. Of course, whether or not they will succeed in attracting the more fashion forward set remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely that mismatched pairing of sportswear and eveningwear is the key.
Images courtesy of the Fashion Spot forums.
