What happened to Brooks Brothers? - Page 2

There's already plenty of other makers doing Broni sportswear and casualwear on Taobao.

Looks phony as a $3 bill.....

You mean "Briphony"

(sorry, could not resist)

Yup, it's completely phony, but maybe a vision of Brioni in the future? Just like Armani now.

I'm sure a lot of people who've never seen the real mccoy, probably think that's what Brioni does, heavily branded T-shirts.

I could probably convince some of the local population about $3 bills, many of them will have never actually seen real US currency.

Remonds me of Fiorucci in the 80's

Outlet or retail/general merchandise?

that was the shit back then..gotta admit I had a couple of their "the safety" jeans

Well, I for one agree with OP that BB's style offerings are trending more modern and trendy, I'm sure to match competitors like Abercrombie and Banana Rep.  It's still got some traditional offerings geared towards middle-aged conservatives like me, just probably not as many.  

 

I think what is more of a muddy discussion is their overall quality.  I suspect several parts of their overall quality is slipping, although some types of articles still seem well-made.  I assume their strategy is to push the older, wealthier (and traditional) customers who can afford it into their Country Club/Saxxon/Golden Fleece lines, which are still pretty good quality. 

 

For the younger crowd who is looking for hip, trendy designs and in-your-face colors, they can also introduce those but do so thru lower-cost production means overseas.  They're betting that demographic doesn't know or appreciate the quality of construction or fabric, just what it looks like and the price. 

Would you want to buy a an expensive piece of clothing if everyone and their brother tried it on? if there is no line -- then there is no line.  6 shirts seems like you might have been pushing it

Actually, " back in the day" ,maybe 35 years ago, Brooks Bros and Abercrombie & Fitch did compete with each other,
at least in sportcoats, tweeds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Abercrombie_%26_Fitch

I see nothing wrong with Brooks Brothers pursuing the Justin Beiber crowd. They'll have to play dress up one of these days too.

I think unless a garment is sealed in a packet, whatever you see on display in a store could well have been tried on by many people.

You try on a pair of trousers, jackets, sweaters, coats, shirts, shoes, or whatever in the fitting rooms. You find they don't fit you or you don't like them, they go straight back on the hangers or shelves don't they? If you like an item, you go straight to the cashier with garment you tried on. They don't go and get another garment, you're buying the item you tried on.

What happens if a garment is sealed in a packet or you bought it mail order? You try it on at home. If it doesn't fit or whatever, you take it back or send it back. They probably re-package it and it goes back on sale, probably more so if it's an expensive item. They probably won't destroy them.
Edited by MikeDT - 7/12/12 at 12:05am

Isn't the hoodie timeless American style? That's why I posted the classic Stallone "Rocky Balboa" picture earlier. Anyone remember the hoodie and varsity jacket wearing Georgetown priest from The Exorcist(1973)?

BB is probably doing what it needs to do to stay in business in a modern world.

In the UK, there used to be famous menswear retailer called Dunn & Co, their style was always traditional and not trendy. I always thought of them as an old man's shop. They're no longer in business. Aquascutum collapsed recently, I always thought they where traditional and conservative. BB's former owner, Marks & Spencer "limey department store", was always rather traditional and untrendy, they had to change.
Edited by MikeDT - 7/12/12 at 4:01am

 

This.

 

We may not like it, but perhaps the majority of professionals in the developed world no longer wear suits (or even jackets) to work these days. Nor do they choose to get dressed up when going out, on weekends, or in any other situations beyond weddings and funerals. The suit is dying, albeit slowly. The hoodie is becoming acceptable business attire in some industries -- especially the tech industry, which happens to be one of the only industries in the US that's doing phenomenally well right now, and whose employees have stable, secure jobs (and lots of disposable income to spend on, among other things, clothing). And it's certainly supplanted, say, the sport coat as popular casual and weekend attire.

 

This is the world in which we live. Brooks Brothers didn't create this world. But Brooks Brothers finds itself in this world, just the same as we do. We can dress as anachronistically as we want to, but then, we're not trying to earn a profit by selling clothing to the masses.