Brands that are coasting off their reputation

Ray Ban.

Originally Posted by antirabbit

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Brook Brothers....wow, totally slid, perhaps they will come back but I wont continue to purchase their wares.

I think BB has improved markedly under their new ownership.

Originally Posted by antirabbit

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Zegna, they used to be top notch. Now it is rare to find anything made in their homeland. Some of the swiss made stuff looks ok, but the mexican stuff is not.
Brook Brothers....wow, totally slid, perhaps they will come back but I wont continue to purchase their wares.
Nordstroms house labels.

How can you put zegna in this category? All my zegna conists of top quality fabrics. Sure it's expensive, but you can't really put it in the same boat as TH lol.

I would say D&G and Prada. Sure they make some great items that even I own, but charging 800+ for a white dress shirt that doesn't match up to the quality of something you can find for 125 and getting away with is the definition of coasting off of reputation.

Coach built their good name through extremely nice leather goods that would last a lifetime. Now they crank out hideous fashion **** for the masses at exhorbitant prices.

Attolini
Rubinacci
Vass

Originally Posted by contaygious

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How can you put zegna in this category? All my zegna conists of top quality fabrics. Sure it's expensive, but you can't really put it in the same boat as TH lol.

I would say D&G and Prada. Sure they make some great items that even I own, but charging 800+ for a white dress shirt that doesn't match up to the quality of something you can find for 125 and getting away with is the definition of coasting off of reputation.



My point is both BB and Zegna have slid.
Looking at an older Zegna blazer vs. a new one, there are huge differences in the quality of construction....this is a fact.

Brooks Brothers....I havent been in one very recently, and frankly they have lost me.



I would also add the American auto industry.

I haven't seen huge increases in the quality of Brooks' stuff, but I do think the mainline stores are moving in the right direction. Most of their merch I find pretty sturdy, and of reasonable quality for the price. (At Brooks' pricepoint, I don't expect garments lovingly handstitched by little ladies in the Italian countryside.) And in terms of brand identity, I think Brooks has a much better grasp of what it is than it did a few years ago. Say what you will about Thom Browne, but the Black Fleece line is the most interesting offering from Brooks in years.

Having heaped all that praise, I do think they're making some grave errors with the outlets/diffusion efforts, but that's another topic.

Originally Posted by antirabbit

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My point is both BB and Zegna have slid.
Looking at an older Zegna blazer vs. a new one, there are huge differences in the quality of construction....this is a fact.

Brooks Brothers....I havent been in one very recently, and frankly they have lost me.



I would also add the American auto industry.

Are you sure this doesn't just have to do with which lines you are looking at? Originally, it was just "Zegna," but now there's the Zegna Sport, Z-Zegna, etc. While I have mainline suits made in Switzerland, only my Z suits are from Mexico. I've only recently started buying the mainline stuff, so I cannot comment on its past quality. However, while they've expanded into the realm of lower-quality, lower priced apparel and have sold that by trading on their image as one of the world's finest suit makers, that doesn't mean that the original line has dropped in quality.

Originally Posted by KObalto

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I think BB has improved markedly under their new ownership.

+1

Originally Posted by Soph

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Attolini
Rubinacci
Vass
I'm actually surprised no one has said Kiton yet.

Originally Posted by DGP

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Are you sure this doesn't just have to do with which lines you are looking at? Originally, it was just "Zegna," but now there's the Zegna Sport, Z-Zegna, etc. While I have mainline suits made in Switzerland, only my Z suits are from Mexico. I've only recently started buying the mainline stuff, so I cannot comment on its past quality. However, while they've expanded into the realm of lower-quality, lower priced apparel and have sold that by trading on their image as one of the world's finest suit makers, that doesn't mean that the original line has dropped in quality.

My point exactly....what they were is not what they are now. Coasting off of the rep. as one of the finest suit makers in the world. I am not saying they are crap, just not what made the name the titan they have become, and have not held to the high standard that brought them there.
I am only speaking of their mainline.


Oh, Lands End. I just found a bunch of shirts I bought in the early 90's, most of them had shell buttons!

NY Yankees.

Originally Posted by Bradford

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I'm of the same opinion regarding Hilfiger.

As for the "H" line, the ads in the magazines looked great, but I never actually found any clothing in the stores. Was it even distributed outside of New York/LA? OK, I'll admit, I didn't look that hard

It was relatively widely available in Atlanta, actually, at Macy's!

Believe it or not, at one time Hugo Boss used to have very high quality clothing, say circa 1985. I bought an oxford cloth shirt, made in Switzerland, that had the most amazing oxford fabric. I'd love to have another like that. They also used these wonderful concave pearl buttons that I have never found again.

I guess, that is the way most of these major brands start, isn't it? They have quality, design, style and then they become diluted as they grow, take on financial investors and seek to cut costs a little bit here and a little bit there. Eventually those little bits add up and they end up coasting on a previous rep.

I dont know about you guys but i've never really been impressed with brooks brothers.