Mghart
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2014
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Stopped by Blue In Green today. I spoke with an SA who was pretty cool. She told me they've shifted away from stocking the Japanese repro brands at present because they expose BiG to more risk during uncertain times: brands like Kapital are popular among the hypebeasts, so they've moved to stocking them, but Toys McCoys – which they stocked until recently – does not come with the same assurance of product moving off the shelves. I also have to imagine the minimum buys/cost of initial capital is different. They're apparently considering stocking RMC again in 2022, but it sounds very much in the air. Because of the sort of non-compete agreements that come with stocking these brands, there are politics around transitioning from buying from one of them to another.
Interesting to hear their perspective but makes sense. Streetwear is still a huge market and something like Kapital and other adjacent brands are growing in popularity with that crowd (which is funny because Kaptial has been around for quite some time). My friend who regularly visits Manhatta in nyc has also told me that the owner sells through their Kapital stock rather quick.
I'm not surprised that their just isn't a demand for these niche repro brands. I'd imagine if even shops like SE don't stock them its because the inventory would just sit. It seems brands that have a strong Western/EU presence (I think Iron Heart is the best example of this) really flourish with the denim crowd. I just don't particularly have any interest is most of these brands or whatever slim or straight tapered pants are in right now which is why I haven't really purchased any clothes locally in the US for quite some time.