Prep Luxe

Let's free associate! I say "J.Crew" and you say... Hmmm. Let me guess. Headbands? Cashmere cardigans? A-line shifts? Peacoats? Retro prints? Sunwashed palettes? Necktie belts? Colorful flip-flops? Little embroidered ducks and frogs? Well...

Last week I read this post on StyleFile about J.Crew's latest brand expansion... A $3000 sequin jacket from a retailer to be found on almost every shopping promenade in America? Now that's interesting. It seems that where luxury brands are attempting to disseminate into ever-broadening "middle" markets, a middle-market brand wants to go in the opposite direction and take their products to the luxe level.

So much for the embroidered menagerie!

J.Crew is already the mallwalking prepster's brand of choice; it's the starting line on the way to Milly, Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, and ultimately Oscar de la Renta. More accessible than Rugby, more classic than Abercrombie, J.Crew has gone through the uniformity of collegiate retail in the 1990s and into the new millenium with a vivid palette, luxurious fabrications, and consistent seasonal batch of coveted must-have items that drive it's brand. J.Crew is certainly the "little brand that could"; everyone thought it would have tanked like The Gap by now, yet extensive retail restructuring of the Mickey Drexler variety a few years ago have helped propel it forward and keep it a step ahead of its ubiquitous mall-rat neighbors.

And now, the $3000 jacket worn with a white tee and ripped jeans. What do we think? Either it's totally wrong or it's totally Blair Waldorf - and we know she usually gets it right!

Along with this couture-quality item, the brand will be opening a J.Crew Collection shop somewhere in Manhattan later this Fall with more of the same.  I must say you could kind of see it coming. Instead of falling-back on it's Ivy League-Eastern sensibility, J.Crew went out West and reinvented their image earlier this year. The spring-summer catalog was shot with especial care and attention, setting an aesthetic of retro-mod-California style with its images from the Neutra-designed Kaufmann house in Palm Springs. The blogosphere went nuts-o with that one! It was just SO pitch-perfect and on-trend: Steven Klein, Palm Springs, Jonathan Adler, The Parker, Brangelina in W a few years ago, California dreamin', mother's little helpers, mid-century modern, and clothes we all wanted to buy instantly.

Talk about aspirational brand! Louis Vuitton should be so clever.

Timing things ever-so-perfectly, J.Crew is now following-up the luxury image presented this spring with a whole new product assortment that fits the bill. Apart from the tortoise jacket, J.Crew Collection will also feature fine jewelry and a full line of coutoure-crafted clothing. Just the thing for the debutante set. After all, the tween market is huge and today's preppy is tomorrow's luxury buyer.

Finally! A mall standard is setting the pace with creative, intelligent branding AND a quality product. A marriage made in heaven. Now how will they incorporate all the embroidered ducks?

Comments

[Material Girl]

I have to say, J.Crew really does consistently get it right. Their sweaters were the most coveted back in high school, and now their higher-end stuff is still covet-worthy; I'm even wearing one of their bridesmaid's dresses in a wedding soon, and it's the antithesis of the normal unwearable satin horror. I bet anything, though, that the $3,000 jacket is their equivalent of crazy runway looks; no one really buys them, but they get lodged in people's memories and drive them to the brand. the people who admire the $3,000 jacket are shoppers in a generally lower price bracket who therefore won't actually buy it; the ones who CAN afford it will spend that money on a swankier name item instead, I predict.
Unless you're Serena van der Woodsen, who totally mixes D&G with Payless (and don't you think that outfit is way more Serena than Blair??).

[WendyB]

I love the look of the jacket but I definitely would not be motivated to spend that much money at J. Crew. Give me a McQueen for that much!

[Genevieve]

This is *the* watercooler topic at work! All the fashionistas here have all noticed J. Crew's hip makeover. They've figured out the formula of luxe + preppy. And their colors! I love it. And their wedding gowns are spectacular too.