Ten years ago, I started a design company and our biggest client was Levis. Levis were trendy and they fed the trend by sposoring DJs and independent record labels and bands. We got the gig for Levis, in fact, because my business partner knew the manager of Massive Attack and Levis were involved in promoting Massive Attack’s climb to fame.
Five years Later, when I moved to the US, Levis was in the process of a big fall from grace – and the business guys blamed it on late outsourcing and bad design.
Last month, I noticed that a few trendy people were wearing Levis in NY, in an almost ironic anti-fashion way. A bit like the daft Trucker Hat fad.
When New York bounced back from its 70’s ‘Taxi Driver’ nadir, Giuliani was given credit for its revival, people proposed all sorts of theories, such as a trickle up effect from cleaning subway cars, others pointed out the obvious – perhaps its just a natural cycle.
This week Levis announced a 5 fold increase in profit for the quarter. No doubt people will laud their business acumen, but if the fortunes of an entire city can be cyclical then the fashion cycle of hipster to mainstream to hipster is almost certainly so.
I suspect the cult jean manufacturers True Religion and Seven for Mankind will shortly go the way of designer jeans after the 80s, and be adorning thrift shops everywhere. They are exactly out of phase will Levis.
APP.COM – Levi’s second-quarter profit jumps almost fivefold