What kind of brand are you?

In the current fashion landscape, there are 4 types

Welcome to the Sociology of Business. For those new here, in my last analysis, The other vibe shift, I looked into what our cultural products, like movies and TV, reveal about our social and economic times. You can subscribe below, find my book The Business of Aspiration on Amazon and find me on Instagram and Twitter.

There are brands for Tribeca mommies. There are brands for aging hipsters. Then there are brands for arrivistas, rebels, debutantes or traditionalists. Sometimes, archetypes are obvious and, always, they are useful.

A quick look at the womenswear landscape (operative word being quick) gives us four archetypes. J.Crew is for good girls - they live in Tribeca or in the suburbs and are perfectly reflected in the persona of the J.Crew’s head of design, Olympia Gayot, who is tall, blond, skinny and a mom (she also lives in Tribeca). Good girls are not risk-takers, they are happy with the 100th iteration of kitten heels and they aim to please in the form of the moderately fashionable, mostly classic shapes and silhouettes. Materials are cashmere and cotton, and sequins are for parties. Other personas are Anine Bing, the anonymous French girl at Ba&Sh and Sandro and the creative-professional girl at COS and Arket. Archetype is Emily Cooper. Emphasis is on merchandising and catering to the loyal customer.

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