J.Crew at 40:“Heritage”
J. Crew the American Legacy brand turns 40 years-old this spring. What started as a mail-order catalogue in spring 1983 has turned into a multi-billion dollar fashion brand.
Its designs are mainly “preppy chic” with muted colors with the occasional splash of bright palm leave green or hues of pretty pink and there mainstays including a muted khaki and royal navy and the stripped bateau.
Despite a bad financial spell in the early 2000’s, it filed for bankruptcy protection, closed a few low performing bricks and mortar stores — and with that the brand survived and went back to its design roots.
Reinventing itself as “heritage,” to a generation that came of age in the 1980’s and 90’s — they flocked back revisiting J. Crew for the “classic-preppy” looks with a laid back sensibility that seems to escape the vanilla flavored fashion moment of other mid-range brands.
Diversity and inclusion for J. Crew has always meant models of every size and color. They were one of the first brands to debut multicultural models in there billboards and the sought after seasonal catalogue. In the 1990's the “ivy style,” catalogue was a must read across small college campuses. The catalogue, still in print, however has lost most of its cache.
Personally, as a brand I can identify with, I still gravitate to its clothing and laid back style. One that I can afford, though I balk at times because its factories are in China. To have an act of conviction and not buy made in China has become more and more difficult. Though, when the article of clothing is well made, I probably would think twice.
The clothes with its stitching, cut and embellishments like the skirts I purchased in the early 2000's, would probably be labeled ‘vintage,’ with its screen printing fabric, sewed in shantung silk and 100 percent cotton are a rarity now with the brand. I will not give them up. They’ve aged well.
From_ J. Crew 40th Anniversary
Back in spring 1983, the very first J.Crew catalog launched a new era of American style. Forty years later, we’re celebrating all the hallmarks of our heritage — elevated classics, mood-boosting color, rugby stripes — with some familiar faces and new friends.
As we look forward, our mission remains the same: to create clothes of quality that you’ll wear and love for decades, and maybe even pass down one day.
Here’s to heritage, for right now.
