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Spanish fashion brand <keyword id="6377147" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Zara">Zara</keyword> is the first apparel brand to cross the $100-million sales mark in India, reported the Economic Times. <keyword id="1548550" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Inditex-Trent">Inditex Trent</keyword>, the joint venture between Zara brand owner Inditex and <keyword id="6355725" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Tata-Group">Tata Group</keyword>'s retail arm Trent, registered 24% annual growth in sales for the year ended March 2015 at Rs 721 crore ($114 million), Trent said in its annual report released on Thursday. 

	Trent recorded sales of Rs 580 crore in 2013-14. However, its growth has nearly halved from a year ago period when, it was 43%. 
 

	Moreover, it took five years for the company to reach this stage in India. 
 

	According to the report, there is a plan to open more Zara stores in India in the next 3-4 years in the major cities. However, the availability of high quality retail spaces is one challenge before the company. 
 With 16 stores now, average sales per store of Zara is about Rs 45 crore a year, far more than top apparel brands such as Louis Philippe, Levi's and <keyword id="113593" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Marks-Spencer">Marks &amp; Spencer</keyword>, and even slightly higher than department store chains Shoppers Stop and <keyword id="15482" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="lifestyle">Lifestyle</keyword>. 

	Its closest rivals in India — Benetton (wholesale) and Levi's — had recorded about Rs 599 crore each in sales last year and have not declared their FY14-15 figures so far. 
 

	"Zara has set a benchmark in terms of both growth and profitability. What has helped it is the brand's desirability and connect with consumers," said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive at retail consultancy Third Eyesight. 
 Most of Zara's back-end and merchandise sourcing are handled by Inditex, while the Tata expertise is mainly for identifying <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> and locations. 

	Inditex Trent has replicated in India a model that has worked for Zara globally — creating affordable, copycat versions of the latest fashions or designer wear and making them available to shoppers in double-quick time. 
 

	Inditex controls almost every bit of its operations, from design to distribution. 
	 
	(Image: Reuters)

Everyone in India is loving Zara! Sales cross $100mn mark

At a nascent stage, the eCommerce industry in India is still to gain the break-even point. While plenty of money is pumped in to boost the sector, gross loss is something that’s making the companies grumpy. While gaining in bulk has been the formula for the online retailers, it’s certainly not the key to success. 
 Lifestyle eCommerce major <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>.com has felt the heat of giving too much discounts. While it has doubled its revenue to Rs 811 crore during calendar year 2014, discounts have led to to a five-fold increase in losses toRs 160 crore. 
 As per a news report by <keyword id="77091" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Economic-Times">The Economic Times</keyword>, in the year before, the RockInternet-incubated company had posted a gross loss of Rs 32 crore on sales of Rs 344 crore, as per its annual report released on Tuesday. 
 The EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) loss counts to about 55 paise to get one <keyword id="6355302" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rupee">rupee</keyword> of sales. This has come down from 68 paise loss for every rupee earned in 2013. Ecommerce in India is at an early stage -- companies have to go through years of operating losses, given high initial <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> as well as the incentives they provide in the form of discounting to attract consumers online. 
 "We believe there is s<keyword id="6365707" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UBS">ubs</keyword>tantial potential for operating <keyword id="382268" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="leverage">leverage</keyword> over the next few years to bring down losses. We assume etail gross merchandise value (GMV) to reach $50 billion by 2020, in line with our multi-factor approach-based estimates. We expect operating costs to fall 400 basis points, as a percentage of GMV, as operating leverage kicks in, by 2020," said a recent UBS report on Indian ecommerce. As per the ET report, Jabong, which is in its fourth year of operations, managed to cross the Rs 1,000-crore sales mark in terms of GMV or sale price charged to consumers at Rs 1,320.6 crore, up from Rs 511.4 crore a year before. 
 With this, Jabong's topline has outperformed those of brick-andmortar fashion retailers such as Zara, Levi's and <keyword id="113593" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Marks-Spencer">Marks &amp; Spencer</keyword>, which have been in business in India for five to 10 years and clock around Rs 400-600 crore in annual revenue. The company noticed a rise in its sale, tahnks to host of factors including new brand launches and innovation in last-mile delivery. Its cash position, however, depleted from Rs 85 crore in 2013 to Rs 29 crore last year.

​Jabong is losing 55 paisa to gain Re 1. It’s burning a hole in its pockets

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">REUTERS/Gustau NacarinoProtesters catch clothing thrown out of a clothing store by their colleagues during a general strike in central Barcelona September 29, 2010.</div></div></div>The world's biggest jeans-maker makes an unfashionable bet on the middle market
LEVI'S, the oldest and most popular brand of jeans, has seen better days, such as when Bruce Springsteen wore a pair on the cover of his 1984 album, "Born in the USA".
It has also seen worse ones, such as in the mid-1990s, when it failed to make jeans that were defiantly baggy enough for urban teenagers. Sales of Levi Strauss, the 161-year-old parent company, peaked at close to $8 billion in the 1990s; by 2009 they were about half that.
Things have since stabilised. In 2013 both revenues and profit grew for the first time in five years. But troubles that have dogged Levi's since denim stopped being a statement and became merely a fabric have not gone away. Consumers are defecting to cheaper jeans, sold by "fast-fashion" retailers like Zara and H&amp;M, and to trendier labels like Diesel and True Religion.
Among American men, Levi's most important customers, there is a trend to greater formality at work: they are wearing tapered trousers to the office rather than 501s. There is another, more menacing trend, "athleisure"--wearing gym kit as everyday attire.
Its main practitioners are women, who would just as soon lounge around in yoga pants as in jeans. On July 8th Levi Strauss reported that net sales dropped by 2% in the second quarter, compared with a year earlier, partly because of a sharp fall in sales to American women.
With its gold-rush pedigree and rock'n'roll resonance, Levi's exudes the sort of authenticity that most brands crave. But tradition is also a curse. A jeans-maker is unlikely to become a sportswear powerhouse like Nike, which has more than five times the sales. Nor can it easily branch out into dresses and blouses like its San Francisco neighbour, Gap. The brand is "trapped in its denim heritage," says Ashma Kunde of Euromonitor International, a market-research firm.
One answer would be to redouble its bet on tradition by emphasising Levi's American roots, shifting production back home and moving upmarket. That seems to have helped another Californian rock'n'roll legend, Fender, which moved production of some guitars back to its home state after a soul-destroying spell in the clutches of a media giant, CBS.
But that is not Levi's plan. It is loth to raise prices, which would cede the middle of the jeans market to rivals like Wrangler. Instead, it is taking almost the opposite tack: a new marketing strategy shifts the brand away from rust-belt edginess and toward a cheerier mainstream.
For the past several years Levi's has been urging consumers to "go forth" in chiaroscuro adverts that mention death, rough roads and a glimmer of light to show the way forward. In a Springsteenesque touch, Levi's adopted a dilapidated steel town, Braddock, Pennsylvania, as the campaign's mascot.
But it spoke more to a moody minority than to the fun-loving middle that Levi's wants to reach. It has now dumped the campaign. A new one will focus on customers' biographies rather than the company's. People just wear jeans but they "Live in Levi's", it will say.
It will take more than a marketing fix to bring back the glory days. Chip Bergh, the chief executive, is chopping costs, perhaps to prepare the family-owned firm for the stockmarket. Just a quarter of its sales come from outlets it owns, including its websites; rivals sell women two tops per pair of jeans; Levi's sells less than one.
Levi's is trying to correct these imbalances, by opening more stores and by striking deals with sports teams like the San Francisco 49ers, hoping to sell more men's shirts. There is growth to be had in China and India, tracts of which are still denim-less. Having tried and failed to launch a cheaper Denizen jeans brand in Asia, Levi's is putting all its chips on the main brand, which is pricey by local standards.
It is also trying to become more "athleisurely". New jeans for women add yogic stretch to the denim. A sporty cyclists' version has cuffs that roll up to reveal reflective tape. Such innovations may keep Levi's on trend. You won't catch The Boss wearing them on his next album cover.
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Levi Strauss: The Boss and the yogi

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Taylor Swift is a billionaire, but her style still reflects a girl-next-door aesthetic. </li><li>That's all strategic. </li></ul>In December, Taylor Swift — <a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/6342806/person-of-the-year-2023-taylor-swift/">Time's Person of the Year</a> — glittered in front of the camera in a black bodysuit, a floor-skimming chenille dress, and a studded bustier gown. At first blush, you wouldn't know that the chenille dress was one of Alaïa's most beloved recent offerings or that the bustier gown was the product of NYC-based brand Area, infamous for their campaigns featuring <a target="_blank" href="https://area.nyc/blogs/resort-24/resort-2024">fake eyes</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2023-couture/area/slideshow/collection#10">bejeweled death masks</a>. Everything edgy about these original pieces had been sanded and smoothed, rendered inoffensive — just how Swift likes it.It is easy to forget that, despite selling <a target="_blank" href="https://chartmasters.org/taylor-swift-albums-and-songs-sales/#taylor_swifts_album_sales:~:text=In%20total%2C%20Taylor%20Swift%20has%20garnered%20an%20immense%20162%20million%20units%20sold%20in%20downloads%20and%20ringtones%20combined.%20She%20is%20one%20of%20the%20most%20successful%20digital%20artists%20of%20all%2Dtime.">a whopping 162 million records</a>, Swift is a normal person with normal taste. It is also easy to forget that those record sales allow her <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/10/27/taylor-swifts-new-era-the-pop-star-becomes-a-billionaire/?sh=6f29f3915dee">an estimated $1.1 billion fortune</a>, enough to wear any designer piece she wants or hire any stylist across the industry.So why, then, does she insist on mismatched outfits? A swipe at several Taylor Swift style blogs will reveal <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/739279673316524032/out-and-about-new-york-city-ny-january-11">trail sneakers with muddy fleeces</a>; <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/739232433015242752">Ren Faire-approved dresses with Jean Paul Gaultier boots</a>; and high-heeled Reformation loafers <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/731931986406555648/at-arrowhead-stadium-kansas-city-mo-october">worn oddly with Chiefs sweatshirts</a>. But these outfits aren't the result of middling taste or fashion faux pas — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-everyone-is-obsessed-with-taylor-swift-football-outfits-2023-10">they're 100% strategic.</a><h2>Crafting Swift's public image</h2>The Swiftian brand philosophy revolves around one essential idea: Taylor Swift is everyone's best friend. In practice, that's endearing positivity (like<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-says-friendship-bracelets-taylor-swift-eras-tour-made-thousands-2023-8"> friendship bracelets</a>), starry-eyed intimacy (like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-midnights-lyrics-easter-eggs-2022-10">coded messages in her videos</a>), and a strong emphasis on personal relatability (like her fashion choices).<div type="image" title="Taylor Swift wearing a short black jess with a belt on the left; Taylor Swift wearing an oversized T-shirt and bike shorts on the right." height="1080" width="1440" msid="107585002" hostid="261" sizebytes="109118"></div>Luxury isn't relatable. Your best friend probably isn't wearing Balmain. She's wearing <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/731712473467699200/out-to-dinner-los-angeles-ca-october-19-2023">a crochet top from H&amp;M</a>, or trends, <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/730187475591593984/out-and-about-new-york-city-ny-october-3">like bike shorts and oversized t-shirts</a>, well past their expiration date. Your best friend <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/730023579516911616/out-and-about-new-york-city-ny-september-30">keeps adding a belt</a> to everything she owns. Your best friend doesn't know what line or proportion means and doesn't seem to care.In that, Swift can transcend ideas of celebrity and instead directly mirror the lives of her fans. Swift sings about the interior worlds of young women; she speaks like them; she even dresses like them, too. To imagine Swift taking aesthetic risks and opting for glamour is to imagine a Swift who actively rejects her audience.Swift also shops where her fans shop, from <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/56428729908">Zara</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/648225627596587008">J. Crew</a> — a strategy that has evolved smoothly from era to era. During the release of her<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-red-taylors-version"> 2012 album "Red,</a>" she was frequently spotted in indie-twee polka dots and saddle shoes from then-giants <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/59986472523">Urban Outfitters</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/55445971288">ModCloth</a>. During "Reputation," she wore <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/176648687532">Madewell</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/175173705617">Forever 21</a> hoodies; during "Folklore," <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/666123132150628352/basic-autumn-lovers-rise-x-october-26">Free People</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/post/624542922250059776">Doên</a> cottage dresses. These choices are attainable, predictable, and unthreatening — purchases made by your best friend during a mall shopping spree.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/lapresmidi/?hl=en">Lauren Sherman</a>, Fashion Correspondent at <a target="_blank" href="https://puck.news/">Puck News</a>, astutely labeled Swift's style as "Anthropologie Gone Wild" — mismatched, outdated, pedestrian, but instinctual. "She knows her audience, and everything she does is, in some way or another, catering to that audience, whether it's purposeful or subconscious," Sherman tells me.<h2>Swift's wealth is an aesthetic tool</h2>One of the criticisms frequently levied at Swift is that her wealth allows her to dress lavishly, yet she infrequently does.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/24/style/taylor-swift-eras-tour-looks.html">The New York Times</a>, Swift's onstage and red carpet stylist is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/josephcassell1/">Joseph Cassell Falconer</a>, who dressed Swift for the Eras Tour in bedazzled <a target="_blank" href="https://en.vogue.me/fashion/taylor-swift-zuhair-murad-bodysuit-eras-tour/">Zuhair Murad bodysuits</a> and high-performing <a target="_blank" href="https://us.christianlouboutin.com/us_en/discover-taylor-swift-the-eras-tour">Louboutin boots</a>. However, there's no evidence to suggest he's solely responsible for her candid, off-duty outfits — meaning that Swift's every day, anodyne choices are her own.Cookie Cohen, who runs the Instagram account <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/youbelonginthis/?hl=en">@youbelonginthis</a> — which re-styles Swift's candid and red carpet outfits — says that Swift's quiet approach to wealth is doing more harm than good. "Seeing Taylor, someone I feel aligned with, time and again forgoing the resources at her fingertips, feels like a disservice," Cohen tells me. "From a streetwear standpoint, it's comforting seeing her in fast fashion we can afford, but with today's environmental crisis, it's hard to watch her sometimes promote fast fashion instead of wearing sustainable or substantial vintage pieces that her team could source for her."Swift is no stranger to claims of anti-environmentalism, most notably her persistent private jet usage, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vulture.com/2022/08/taylor-swift-private-jet-emissions-response.html">which led to 8,000 tons of CO2 emissions in 2022</a>. With that in mind, downplaying her wealth is essential to Swift's public goodwill. A photographed shopping spree here or a ride in a sports car could call her entire brand into question. By dressing blandly, Swift can hide all of that — even if it means <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/tagged/candid/page/15#:~:text=Out%20and%20about%20with,print%20no%20longer%20available)">wearing Aritzia</a>.<h2>How Swift's style may change — or not</h2>In recent months (or, if you track things in Eras, since the release of her 2022 album Midnights), Swift has experimented with designer garments and textures, from <a target="_blank" href="https://shopstyle.it/l/b3qHT">The Row</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://taylorswiftstyle.com/tagged/candid/page/2#:~:text=Saint%20Laurent%20%E2%80%98Le%205%20%C3%A0%207%20Hobo%20Bag%E2%80%99%20%2D%20%242%2C650.00">Yves Saint Laurent</a>. Despite the higher price point of these pieces, they're still styled errantly — from floppy proportions to abominable color palettes. The Swiftian brand philosophy churns onward: even your rich best friend can't build a good outfit.Cohen makes note of where Swift is lacking. "For red carpet looks, I want simple, elegant, flattering — she constantly misses on all these marks. I don't want any more silver on her, it washes her out," she says. "She needs to utilize her long lean body and wear gowns that flatter her. She also over-accessorizes, and it doesn't even distract from her ill-fitted clothes."<div type="image" title="Left: Taylor Swift in a sequined red turtleneck and khaki slacks. Right: Taylor Swift in a patchwork denim dress." height="1080" width="1440" msid="107585004" hostid="261" sizebytes="113974"></div>Many celebrities have ditched the face-of paradigm and opted to act as brand owners, creative directors, and tastemakers, like <a target="_blank" href="https://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/magazine/articles/pharrell-williams">Pharrell at Louis Vuitton</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lvmh.com/houses/perfumes-cosmetics/fenty-beauty-by-rihanna/">Rihanna at Fenty</a>. Swift's entrepreneurial spirit and recognizable-if-polarizing style proffer an idea: what if Swift launches her own brand?Sherman suggests that it's a matter of when, not if. "The reason Pharrell is working is because it was so convincing. He's been running <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbcicecream.com/">his own fashion brand for 20 years</a>. Something at that scale is a real job, not just a dip-in and dip-out situation. But I could see her launching her own brand, or doing something along the lines of what <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thecut.com/2023/10/the-first-atelier-jolie-collection-is-here.html">Angelina Jolie is doing</a>."The nature of Swift's eras behooves Swift to pivot quickly, adopt different personas, and shroud herself in costume. But if this is the end of her capital-E Eras — then it's high time for Swift to show us where her aesthetic sensibilities truly lie.

Taylor Swift's bad fashion isn't bad taste. It's strategy.  

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Emma Carrasco says she bought a $31 pair of <keyword id="11974707" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="shein" source="Orion">Shein</keyword> <keyword id="11937561" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="shoes" source="Orion">shoes</keyword> that melted while she was wearing them.</li><li>She uploaded a video of the alleged incident to <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@eacarrasco/video/7098231024546483499?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7094431410924881409">TikTok</a>.</li></ul>Emma Carrasco did not expect her brand-new shoes to melt while attending a festival in Las Vegas — but that's exactly what she says happened.Carrasco shared the experience in a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@eacarrasco/video/7098231024546483499?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7094431410924881409">TikTok video</a>. The video has since garnered more than 653,000 likes on the social-media platform.In the video, Carrasco wrote that she spent weeks planning her outfit for the Lovers &amp; Friends festival on May 15. She said she bought a pair of black shoes from Shein, the Chinese-owned fast-fashion giant, for $31. But the shoe appears to have been no match for Las Vegas' 100-degree weather: In the video, Carrasco can be seen walking around in uneven Mary Janes."My heel melted and did 'deflate' so to speak," Carrasco told Insider of the experience."My friends were wearing $2 flip-flops from Old Navy and nothing happened to them. I usually visit Vegas once a year and wear $10 shoes since I know I'll get them dirty and nothing has ever happened to them," Carrasco added. "I will not be buying shoes from Shein again."Carrasco's video has drawn reactions on Twitter, with many users saying they're not surprised by the low <keyword id="12212889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="quality" source="Orion">quality</keyword> of the shoes."I'm shocked when ppl say they bought shoes from Shein like bby with that quality y'all are brave lol," one Twitter user wrote.Another user on Twitter wrote that Shein was "collecting victims." Two images of girls wearing heels that appeared to have folded over onto themselves accompanied the caption.Carrasco told Insider she threw the shoes away two days later: "I usually keep shoes for years or donate them, but the heel was still deflated when I tried putting them on."As of May 27, the shoes no longer appear to be available on Shein's website."Shein has strict quality control standards for its suppliers. When we learn that a Shein item may have a quality issue, we will immediately remove the item from our website and app," a Shein spokesperson told Insider.On consumer review website <a href="https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.shein.com">Trustpilot</a>, 33% of customers rank Shein as "bad" or "poor." Most of the negative reviews surround the quality of Shein's products. "Clothes were see-through and tacky looking, bought a blazer with gold bottoms and all the bottoms fell off within days will never buy clothes from there again," a woman from the UK <a href="https://www.trustpilot.com/users/628ba12efe78960012bd4162">wrote</a>. Shein was <a href="https://www.insider.com/shein-100-billion-value-worth-more-zara-and-hm-combined-2022-4">valued at $100 billion</a> in April. The company has been accused of various unethical practices, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/apr/20/ultra-fast-fashion-giant-shein-accused-of-copying-zara-designs#:~:text=The%20Chinese%20ultra%2Dfast%20fashion,garments%20from%20the%20two%20outlets.">copying</a> designs from companies including Zara and Levi Strauss. In November, Swiss advocacy group Public Eye accused Shein of violating labor laws in China, per the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59245708">BBC</a>. Shein told the BCC it would initiate an investigation among suppliers and take immediate action against suppliers who are non-compliant with local laws.

A woman says she bought a $31 pair of shoes from Shein and they melted while she was wearing them at a Las Vegas festival

Several clothing retailers such as Puma, Adidas, Zara, Allen Solly, Levi’s, etc are offering great discounts, all thanks to <keyword id="6359833" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goods-and-Services-Tax">Goods and Services Tax</keyword> (<keyword id="6354679" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="GST">GST</keyword>), which is expected to rollout from July 1. The sudden discount season comes after the GST Council decided that man-made apparel above Rs 1,000 will attract a 12% levy, higher than the existing 7%. "The difference in the tax will be a big hit for the brand, so we want to keep the channel clean with lower inventory dues. We are doing this to liquidate merchandise before the new designed regime (GST) kicks in on July 1,” Kavindra Mishra, managing director of Pepe Jeans, told Economic Times. Puma is offering 50% discount at stores, Allen Solly has a buy one-get-one offer, Levi's is giving two items free on the purchase of two, Flying Machine is giving up to 50% off, Pepe Jeans is running a buy-three-get-three offer, etc. Retailers say GST is quite complicated and brands have no idea on opening stock. "The impact of tax won't be more than the discount which they are offering. But there is not much clarity yet around the existing stock and hence certain brands and retailers are pushing the panic button and rest are following,” Rajagopalan Kumar, president of the <keyword id="113282" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Retailers-Association-of-India">Retailers Association of India</keyword>, told ET.

This is the best time to go shopping as clothing brands are offering discounts up to 50%. Here’s why

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Shutterstock/VastramLevi's bought back its vintage jeans to compete with vintage stores.</div></div></div><ul><li>Millennials are ditching fast-fashion retailers and flocking to thrift stores.</li><li>The resale market in the US has outperformed the overall <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> market in the past five years and is now worth $20 billion, according to research firm <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-trends/market-research-reports/retail-trade/miscellaneous-store-retailers/used-goods-stores.html">IBISWorld</a>.</li><li>Brands are responding by bringing back archive collections and embracing vintage styles.</li></ul>Secondhand shopping is booming, and it shows that customers are growing tired of fast-fashion retail. In the past five years, the $20 billion resale market in the US has outperformed the overall retail market, according to research firm <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-trends/market-research-reports/retail-trade/miscellaneous-store-retailers/used-goods-stores.html">IBISWorld</a>.The trend for secondhand shopping gained momentum in the post-recession period, when shoppers were looking to be more frugal with their spending, according to IBISWorld research. But its popularity today isn't only motivated by a desire to be more cost-conscious. Millennials are becoming increasingly aware of the negative environmental impact of cheap fast fashion, and they're growing tired of the low-quality, throwaway styles being churned out by certain retailers. H&amp;M's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hm-business-is-struggling-photos-2018-1">slowing sales growth</a> in 2017 is a good indicator of this. The company is being hit from several sides. It's been undercut by online stores such as ASOS, Boohoo, and Missguided, which have reduced supply-chain times to as little as one week and are able to roll out new styles extremely quickly. It's also losing out to rival fast-fashion stores such as Zara, which offer better quality clothing at a higher price point.In H&amp;M Group's most recent <a href="https://about.hm.com/content/dam/hmgroup/groupsite/documents/en/cision/2018/01/2110334_en.pdf">quarterly</a> results, reported in January, total group sales decreased by 4% overall in 2017 and sales were up by 3%, which was below expectations. CEO Karl-Johan Persson said that the "disappointing performance" stemmed from weak sales in its H&amp;M stores, while online sales and newer brands, such as &amp; Other Stories and Cos, performed well.Cos, which markets itself as offering higher-priced and better-quality clothing, has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hm-secret-weapon-cos-store-photos-details-2018-2">exceeded expectations</a>. According to Persson, Cos will reach a turnover of around $1.2 billion in 2017, and its profitability is in line with H&amp;M, despite having 95% fewer stores."The value of Cos today already far exceeds the amount we invested in it and this is just the beginning of the journey," Persson <a href="https://about.hm.com/content/dam/hmgroup/groupsite/documents/masterlanguage/cision/2017/06/1981354.pdf">wrote in the company's six-month report, released in May 2017.</a>"There is a market for a customer that wants design and quality for an affordable price," Cos' managing director, Marie Honda, said during the company's <a href="https://about.hm.com/en/investors/capital-markets-day-2018.html">Capital Markets Day</a> in February. "These are timeless products that last longer - beyond that season."Teen retailer Forever 21 is also being impacted by a general trend away from fast fashion.Since it's a private company, Forever 21 doesn't release its sales numbers. But in 2016, there were signs that trouble could be brewing when the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2016/04/28/forever-21-is-having-problems-paying-the-bills/">reported that Forever 21 was struggling to pay the bills</a> and lenders were withholding credit. It also closed two of its biggest stores in California.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Facebook/H&amp;MSales at popular fast-fashion retailer H&amp;M slowed in 2017.</div></div></div><h2>Thrift-store shopping takes off</h2>Meanwhile, thrift-store shopping is booming, and new concepts are cropping up. Online thrift store <a href="https://www.thredup.com/">thredUp</a>, which sells a range of secondhand clothing from stores such as J.Crew and designers like Chloe, launched in 2009 and has since opened two brick-and-mortar stores. The company told Business Insider that it now sells nearly 30,000 items every day, and a million were sold in 2017 alone. Though thredUp wouldn't disclose sales growth numbers, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2017/06/27/online-clothing-thrift-store-thredup-opens-first-retail-location/#39ad7a404c13">Forbes</a> estimated in 2017 that its revenues were on track to eclipse $100 million. A craving for vintage fashion has created a resurgence of '90s clothing in stores, with some brands such as Calvin Klein, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gap-is-selling-one-of-a-kind-sweatshirts-for-200-dollars-2018-1">Gap</a>, and Ralph Lauren reviving their archive collections. Noticing that consumers were willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of old Levi's jeans in a vintage store, the denim company decided to create a new collection called Levi's Authorized Vintage, which consists of 50,000 Levi's jeans from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. The jeans were priced at $300 a pair."We were sitting on an aged icon," James 'JC' Curleigh, president of Levi's, told <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/levis-sees-women-and-its-past-as-the-keys-to-its-future-1510254585">The Wall Street Journal</a> in 2017.But millennials aren't only shopping for vintage styles in thrift stores - they're also donating to them. Earlier this month, Business Insider reported that thrift-store chain <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-fill-goodwill-stores-with-donations-photos-2018-2">Goodwill had seen an uptick in donations</a> from millennials who were looking to offload unwanted products.Blogger <a href="http://www.goldwilldigger.com/">Betsy Appleton</a>, who is an ambassador for Goodwill in Tennessee, said she had noticed an influx of donations because of the movement towards trendy, cheap clothing that goes out of style quickly."People are more willing to donate as it's not expensive. People were more invested before," she told Business Insider.Appleton frequently sees fast-fashion clothing appearing in Goodwill six to 12 months after it launches in stores, which she says makes her less inclined to shop at stores that sell overly trendy clothes. In some cases, fast-fashion retailers are donating directly to these stores to get rid of unwanted stock. "When I go to a mall I feel defeated," she said. "So many of these products are going to end up in a landfill, in the trash, or at Goodwill."Fast-fashion clothing has created a big issue with waste. According to the <a href="https://www.savers.com/sites/default/files/reuse_report_2017_sav_0.pdf">US Environmental Protection Agency</a>, 26 billion pounds of textiles end up in a landfill each year. The fashion business is the second-most polluting industry after oil. According to <a href="https://www.weforum.org/about/world-economic-forum">The World Economic Forum,</a> it takes 2,700 liters of water to produce a T-shirt. "Millennials are becoming more conscious about sustainable living and preserving the environment," Erin Hendrickson, a minimalist expert who runs the blog <a href="https://minimalistrd.com/">Minimalist RD</a>, told Business Insider.Then there's the thrill of the bargain hunt. This shopping mentality has helped off-price stores such as TJ Maxx to explode in popularity in recent years as customers flock there for one-off pieces. Appleton describes shopping at Goodwill as being a similar adventure."I go in with a different mindset; I'm not going if for something specific," she told Business Insider. "The adventure and the hunt is an adrenaline rush."<div id="categorypromo" style="border:1px solid silver; min-height:90px; padding:10px;vertical-align:top;box-sizing: content-box;"><a href="http://read.bi/retail-2018"></a>EXCLUSIVE FREE SLIDE DECK: The Future of Retail 2018 by the BI Intelligence Research Team. <a href="http://read.bi/retail-2018">Get the Slide Deck Now »</a></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-go-new-store-retail-innovation-technology-2018-2">What it's really like inside Amazon's new no-line grocery store.</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Millennials are dressing more like their parents - and it's terrible news for H&M and Forever 21

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://news.nike.com/news/p47b1acb62f69fd131494aac0439043a7/sneak_peek">Nike</a>Nike targets women - and women have been abandoning J. Crew.</div></div></div>J. Crew may have an unsuspecting competitor hiding out in a dark corner.Brands like Nike, Lululemon, and Under Armour are eating into the brand's market share as customers seek out atheletic wear, Moody's analyst Mike Zuccaro told Business Insider. J. Crew has been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/j-crews-sales-fell-13-2015-8" target="_blank">struggling</a>, with sales declining in the double-digits from the previous year. "Some [retailers] may be shifting some [of their] spending towards an alternative type of clothing - it's a difficult environment," he said. J. Crew is known for its traditionally preppy clothing and its basics. Recently, the company has come under fire for not even offering solid classic attire - the company has<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/women-are-turning-away-from-j-crew-2015-5" target="_blank"> been criticized for straying from its core customer.</a>Nike is continuing to expand its clothing assortments, especially for women.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Hollis Johnson/Business InsiderA sweater at J. Crew.</div></div></div>But if J. Crew returns to basics, will people even want to spend their money on preppy clothes?American shoppers are becoming more casual, with some Americans even wearing athletic clothes to work. As sales of yoga pants rise, denim sales are declining. Another brand, Levi's, has<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/levis-and-athleisure-pants-2015-7" target="_blank"> already suffered</a> from opting not capitalizing on athletic apparel."We're scrambling," <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-levi-strauss-confronts-the-yoga-pant/" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> notes Levi's CEO Chip Bergh told analysts last year. "I mean, there is a big difference between the product that we've got on the floor today and what the consumer is looking for. And we just flat-out missed it."J. Crew can't afford to scramble. The retailer's sales have been steadily declining for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trouble-is-brewing-for-j-crew-2014-6" target="_blank">over a year</a>, and this past quarter, comparative <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/j-crews-sales-fell-13-2015-8" target="_blank">sales were down 13%</a> from this quarter last year. That said, J. Crew has started taking some action. The brand dipped its toe into activewear in fall 2014 when it launched a collaboration with Outdoor Voices, according to <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/11/jenna-lyons-loves-this-new-activewear-brand.html" target="_blank">The Cut.</a> Outdoor Voices' <a href="https://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/ingoodcompany/Outdoorvoices/PRDOVR~A9936/A9936.jsp" target="_blank">leggings go for $100</a>, a price point that is comparable to <a href="http://shop.lululemon.com/products/category/women-pants?mnid=mn;USwomen;bottoms;pants" target="_blank">Lululemon</a>. Outside of that collaboration, the brand sells some <a href="https://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/sweatshirtssweatpants/sweatshirtssweatpants/PRDOVR~B3609/B3609.jsp" target="_blank">sweats</a>.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/iMcXotSmzz/?modal=true">Lululemon</a>Lululemon is a mainstay in the athleisure sector.</div></div></div>Meanwhile, athleisure remains an incredibly popular category, and many brand have been trying to jump on the bandwagon. The <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/yoga-poseurs-athletic-apparel-moves-out-of-the-gym-to-every-day-1408561182" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal </a>reported last year that wearing trendy athletic wear was more popular than the actual act of playing sports. It seems the activewear trend is here to stay. The number of people participating in running events has grown an average of 9% every year since 2005, according to Morgan Stanley. Data also shows that millennials believe exercise is essential for health, while their parents only focused on diet. "Increased activity leads to increased athletic apparel and footwear spending," the analysts write. "We see athletic footwear and apparel as more than a fashion trend." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zara-dominating-beating-competition-fashion-industry-2015-7">The one reason Zara is dominating the fashion industry right now</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RtMWI0djra013JV4Ff9AoHoTLKMzvgNg" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

How Nike is killing J. Crew's business

<div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="Victoria's Secret / Facebook" title_caption="From Victoria's Secret's Facebook page." class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/518558acecad049651000015-960/victorias-secret.png"></a></div>Victoria's Secret / FacebookFrom Victoria's Secret's Facebook page.</div>Which apparel retailers really know what they're doing in social media, and who is just phoning it in?
Our friends at <a href="http://www.expion.com/company/">Expion, a social media marketing management company</a>, looked at the top 50 companies listed in Apparel Magazine’s social media report for the first quarter of 2013. Those brands included Burberry, H&amp;M, Levi's, Macy's, Nike, Target, Victoria's Secret, Walmart and Zara.
Expion then took a look at the top 100 Facebook posts in Q1 2013 to see which brands were getting the most buzz on the social platform. Of the 10 brands measured, only three made a significant splash with Facebook fans – Burberry, Victoria’s Secret and Walmart.
(And no, it's not simply the case that VS succeeds because of all the bikinis. Although that is part of it!)
Here's why those stores are getting it right and everyone else is getting it wrong.

Why Victoria's Secret And Burberry Win In Social Media -&#160;And Other Fashion Brands Fail

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthphoto/4867638171">LaChicaPhoto/Flickr</a>
			
				Erbil, Kurdistan at night.
		
		
	

The Islamic State, or ISIS, has been taking down swaths of territory in northern Iraq and Syria in recent weeks. Between taking the city of Mosul, targeting the Yazidis (an ethno-religious minority in Iraq), and battling the Kurdish peshmerga, ISIS has moved increasingly towards Kurdistan, the de facto state of northern Iraq's Kurds.


	Amid the chaos, U.S. officials and northern Iraqis have fled to Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. President Obama <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-speech-2014-8">authorized military strikes against ISIS should they threaten Erbil</a>.

	With a population of 1.5 million, Erbil is the largest city in Kurdistan. It is also one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with life in the city dating as far back 6000 BC.

	Since the winding down of the Iraq War, Erbil has become a hub for development, leading some to question <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/05/kurdistan-next-dubai-iraq">whether it could become the next Dubai.</a>

	We gathered some photos of the progressive city that ISIS has in its sights.
<h3>
	This is where Erbil is located on the map. It is far north of Baghdad, but just 55 miles from ISIS-controlled Mosul.</h3>

	
		
			
			
				Mariwan Salihi/Flickr
		
		
	

<h3>
	Erbil is very liberal city, compared with the rest of the Middle East. As Kurdistan is both largely secular and religiously diverse, Erbil <a href="http://www.kurdishglobe.net/article/3CE2C8BCDF21143E66E97D4F83E36F0E/-The-Other-Iraq-enjoys-a-bustling-nightlife.html">has a busy nightlife scene, with dozens of bars, liquor stores, clubs, and restaurants</a> opening in the last 10 years. Many consider its busy nightlife scene to be rivaled only by Dubai and Beirut in the Middle East.</h3>

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/12458178214/in/set-72157640829011505">Jeffrey Beall/Flickr</a> This is Erbil <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">International</keyword> Airport. Though an airport has been located on the site since the 1970s, a brand new one with modern amenities was built in 2010. 
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/12458178214/in/set-72157640829011505">Jeffrey Beall/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

This is downtown Erbil, the main hub of development in the city. In 2013, Dubai's Emaar Properties announced that <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/property/erbil-now-the-place-to-build-new-hope">it was investing $3 billion into downtown Erbil</a>. The proposed investment would go towards building houses, apartments, offices, hotels, and parks.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/12457746863/in/set-72157640829011505">Jeffrey Beall/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

This is what downtown looks like at night. In the distance are a number of the towers that are currently being built or have just opened in downtown Erbil.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67895763@N02/6180047445">Mariwan Salihi/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

Erbil's major tourist attraction is the Citadel, the historical city center of Erbil. It was been inhabited since the 5000 BC and has been a major cultural center numerous different cultures. It <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1437">is a UNESCO Heritage site</a>.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthphoto/4468092450">LaChicaPhoto/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

This is what it looks like closer up. The Citadel is located on a mound that archaeologists think conceals the remains of ancient cultures. It features a continuous wall with 19th century facades, giving it the look of a fortress.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/12457356335">Jeffrey Beall/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

This what it looks like inside the Citadel.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/james_gordon_losangeles/7377956534">James Gordon/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

There is a wealth of development at the base of the Citadel. Shar Park features numerous fountains, brick arcades, and a clock tower. It also features numerous cafes and teashops.

	
		
			
				<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erbil#mediaviewer/File:Erbil_city_center.jpg">Diyar Se/Wikimedia Commons</a>
		
		
	

The Mudhafaria Minaret is nearly 120 feet tall. It is all that remains of a massive mosque built in the 1100s.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/james_gordon_losangeles/8614276321">James Gordon/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

The Quaysari Bazaar in Erbil <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/iraq/erbil/sights/markets-bazaars/qaysari-bazaar">is one of the oldest in the world</a>. It wraps around the entire southern half of the Citadel.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_jones/5624527816">Adam Jones/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

The Bazaar is a bustling center of life in Erbil. You can literally find anything there from food to clothes to books and electronics.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/12457273443/in/set-72157640829011505">Jeffrey Beall/Flickr</a>
		
		
	

Like other economic hubs in the Middle East, Erbil has recently begun opening mega-malls. The Family Mall Erbil <a href="http://www.familymallarbil.com/">opened in 2010 with over 100 retail stores</a> that carry major Western brands like Zara, DKNY, Rolex, Armani, and Levi's. Family Mall is also located directly next to a new amusement park.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="http://www.familymallarbil.com/">Family Mall Erbil/Facebook</a>
		
		
	

The mall is extremely popular. It also features an indoor ice-skating rink and a 14-screen movie theater.

	
		
			
			
				<a href="http://www.familymallarbil.com/">Family Mall Erbil/Facebook</a>

14 Beautiful Photos Of Erbil, The Capital Of Iraqi Kurdistan That ISIS Is Targeting

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>J. Crew is in the middle of a crisis.&#xa0;Sales have been sliding amid criticisms that the company is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/women-are-turning-away-from-j-crew-2015-5" target="_blank">alienating its target customer</a>: young, professional women.The brand is currently working to overhaul its business by offering better designs. Management recently&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/j-crew-just-laid-off-10-of-its-staff-2015-6" target="_blank">laid off 10% of its corporate employees</a>, and iconic creative director Jenna Lyons has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jenna-lyons-role-in-j-crews-slump-2015-6" target="_blank">receded from the public eye</a>.&#xa0;But during J. Crew's recent layoffs, a victor emerged - its sister brand Madewell, which under J. Crew, opened its first store <a href="https://www.jcrew.com/help/about_jcrew.jsp" target="_blank">in 2006</a>.While J. Crew is sold to professionals who crave clean lines, Madewell has maintained a more hip and artsy look, emphasizing its denim line. Madewell also strictly focuses on women.&#xa0;As women leave J. Crew, citing its poorly fitting<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/j-crew-blames-sales-slump-on-sweaters-2015-6" target="_blank">&#xa0;sweaters</a>&#xa0;(one&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sweater-shows-whats-wrong-with-j-crew-2015-6" target="_blank">in particular</a>) and&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/women-are-turning-away-from-j-crew-2015-5" target="_blank">allegedly poor quality</a>, Madewell's sales are soaring, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-04/j-crew-sales-decline-blamed-on-women-s-knits-and-sweaters" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>&#xa0;reports. And J. Crew has 283 stores, while Madewell has a surprising 88, according to <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jcrew-group-inc--announces-organizational-changes-and-business-improvement-initiatives-300097357.html" target="_blank">a recent release</a>.As part of the company's management shakeup, Madewell design chief&#xa0;Somsack Sikhounmuong is taking over J. Crew's women's business, a move that seems like a logical choice given his success with the company's coveted demographic.Here's what Madewell is doing right.&#xa0;<h3>Madewell's unlikely past and ascent to being "cool"</h3><div><div></div></div>The Madewell brand has been around since 1937, a year still emblazoned on the brand's tags.But it wasn't always a trendy choice for women.<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/dannosowitz/how-madewell-bought-and-sold-my-familys-history#.vyx1amyVq" target="_blank">The company</a>&#xa0;was founded in&#xa0;New England by Russian immigrant&#xa0;Julius Kivowitz. It originally sold bib overalls, jeans, and dungarees for factory workers and fishermen.Madewell went on this way for decades, until 1989, which <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/dannosowitz/how-madewell-bought-and-sold-my-familys-history#.jgbJAneyp" target="_blank">Buzfeed </a>reported was the year the last factory shut down.&#xa0;But this history was largely unknown until&#xa0;<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/dannosowitz/how-madewell-bought-and-sold-my-familys-history#.id8N5bjM4" target="_blank">Buzzfeed</a>&#xa0;published an eye-opening essay by Dan Nosowitz, the great-grandson of Madewell's founder, highlighting how J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler purchased the brand name nine years ago and spun it into a story of his own."It [Madewell]&#xa0;traces the evolution of how Americans shop, and how Americans shop heavily informs how Americans see themselves; we, as a country, are what we buy," Nosowitz&#xa0;wrote in the Buzzfeed essay. "Mickey Drexler, in creating J. Crew's new womenswear stores, shrewdly read the market and realized that stocking nice clothes wouldn't be enough: He'd have to tell a story along with them. Drexler didn't have any stories, so he bought ours."&#xa0;Madewell turned heads in the <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> industry <a href="https://www.jcrew.com/help/about_jcrew.jsp" target="_blank">in 2006</a>&#xa0;when J. Crew acquired the brand.&#xa0;Drexler told&#xa0;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/fashion/at-madewell-mickey-drexlers-third-act.html?_r=0">The New York Times</a>&#xa0;this winter that he "[loves] the vintageness" of Madewell.&#xa0;It's not the first time Drexler launched a successful "sister" brand to a well-known retailer.When he was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mickey-drexler-turnaround-2011-6?op=0#drexlers-ultimate-downfall-at-gap-was-his-overly-ambitious-plan-for-growth-6" target="_blank">CEO of Gap three decades ago</a> (he was let go in 2002), Drexler successfully <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mickey-drexler-turnaround-2011-6?op=0#when-it-hit-drexler-that-half-of-america-makes-less-than-45000-he-created-old-navy-13" target="_blank">launched the lower-priced Old Navy brand</a>. (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gap-needs-to-be-emulating-old-navy-2015-6" target="_blank">Old Navy is now also outpacing</a>&#xa0;its larger namesake).&#xa0;&#xa0;A few years after acquiring Madewell, Drexler decided to focus his energy on making the brand huge.&#xa0;One of his most prominent moves was promoting&#xa0;<a href="http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a23969/madewell-somsack-sikhounmuong/" target="_blank">Sikhounmuong to design chief</a> of Madewell in 2013.<h3>A style that resonates with customers&#xa0;</h3><div><div></div></div>&#xa0;Sikhounmuong's career trajectory is similar to that of J. Crew's famous creative director, Jenna Lyons.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jenna-lyons-role-in-j-crews-slump-2015-6" target="_blank">Like Lyons</a>, Sikhounmuong started working at J. Crew after graduating from the Parsons School of Design. More than 12 years later, he started leading the design team at Madewell, according to&#xa0;<a href="http://www.whowhatwear.com/madewell-fall-2013/" target="_blank">WhoWhatWear</a>.&#xa0;At the time, he described his plans to "refresh" Madewell's aesthetic and move away from jumping on fast-fashion trends."We are cleaning and simplifying, so we're steering the collection towards the classic, straightforward, and effortlessly sexy design and taking the things Madewell has done best - tomboy pieces, denim, and leather - and giving them a bigger platform," he told <a href="http://www.whowhatwear.com/madewell-fall-2013/">WhoWhatWear</a>.&#xa0;His strategy obviously worked;&#xa0;<a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jcrew-group-inc-announces-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2014-results-300052043.html" target="_blank">profits jumped 35%</a>&#xa0;in 2014's fiscal year to $245.3 million.&#xa0;As of March 20th, Madewell planned to open 15 new stores, totaling 100, reported&#xa0;<a href="http://www.net-a-porter.com/Shop/Designers/Madewell/All?pn=1&amp;npp=60&amp;image_view=product&amp;dScroll=0" target="_blank">Digiday</a>. As of <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jcrew-group-inc--announces-organizational-changes-and-business-improvement-initiatives-300097357.html" target="_blank">June 10</a>, there were 88 units. This will still be smaller than J. Crew's <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jcrew-group-inc--announces-organizational-changes-and-business-improvement-initiatives-300097357.html" target="_blank">283</a> units. Madewell is now in partnerships with&#xa0;<a href="http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/madewell" target="_blank">Nordstrom</a>&#xa0;and&#xa0;<a href="http://www.net-a-porter.com/Shop/Designers/Madewell/All?pn=1&amp;npp=60&amp;image_view=product&amp;dScroll=0" target="_blank">Net-A-Porter</a>. And young women - Madewell's intended demographic - are going crazy for the brand.Hopes are high that&#xa0;Sikhounmuong&#xa0;can repeat his success as he returns to J. Crew. He repaired Madewell when its audience felt alienated; perhaps he could do the same by identifying J. Crew's target customer.&#xa0;After all, Madewell has been an expert at speaking to the customer.As Drexler continues to helm both brands,&#xa0;it seems likely that he could pull from Madewell's hits.&#xa0;"The consumer wants to know that they can depend on the brand to address their needs, and I think that is something Madewell is doing so well and has J. Crew probably lost its way a bit," Robert Burke, retail and branding expert and chairman and CEO of Robert Burke Associates,&#xa0;told Business Insider.&#xa0;"But I will say all of that and say that Mickey Drexler's very quick to recognize these things. He understands the importance of having brand consistency."&#xa0;<div><div></div></div>Sikhounmuong's success with Madewell can be largely attributed to how well he knows and understands his audience.Madewell "has been very focused on who the consumer is, and it's been strategic in how they expanded their business and the product categories,"&#xa0;Burke told Business Insider.He added that people turn to established brands during times of financial crisis, which made it easy for Madewell to take off during the recession."People went to heritage brands, and this one happened to be a very, very good heritage brand that could tell a very focused and compelling story," he said.&#xa0;On the&#xa0;<a href="http://blog.madewell.com/2014/01/09/10-questions-for-somsack-sikhounmuong-madewells-new-head-of-design/" target="_blank">Madewell blog,</a>&#xa0;Sikhounmuong&#xa0;described his 2014 line as "effortless, cool, creative and unfussy - the same words I'd use to describe the Madewell girl." He said that Madewell girls "prefers authenticity over trends. She wants clothing and accessories that add to her already well-rounded wardrobe, not trendy clothes that make her easy to label.""I think there's an interest in authenticity right now, and when people spend money, they want to feel that they're buying something with longevity," Burke said.&#xa0;"When you look at the heritage moment or "made in a America" kind of moment, it transcends fashion ... it becomes a lifestyle."Sikhounmuong&#xa0;also explained that he knew what&#xa0;not&#xa0;to put on the rack.&#xa0;"What you won't see in the stores is just as important as what you will. It's all about the edit,"&#xa0;Sikhounmuong&#xa0;said on Madewell's blog..&#xa0;And at best, Drexler and Sikhounmuong are innately tuned into what women want to wear. "Madewell is just really capturing the moment right now of how women wanna dress," said&#xa0;Lauren Sherman, fashion writer and Fashionista's editor-at-large to Business Insider.<h3>Quality is key to Madewell's success</h3><div><div></div></div>&#xa0;But there's no witchcraft or secret insight into the trends that makes it so great. The real secret to Madewell's success is fairly simple. The product is true to its namesake: the clothes are made well.This also illustrates a stark contrast between Madewell and J. Crew, which has been rife with quality complaints. "At present, Madewell's product is better than J.Crew's," Fashionista's editor-in-chief Lauren Indvik told Business Insider. She pointed to the company's denim line as a prime example.&#xa0;"They have a great staple in $130 jeans, which fit better and are more trend-driven than Gap, and more affordable than designer denim," Indvik said.&#xa0;She also noted that Madewell sells at a competitive price point - "in league with Zara, but better quality. Sales are infrequent, so I trust the value of the product more."&#xa0;This is where sister brand J. Crew has stalled."J.Crew, to me, has gotten boring, at both a product and styling level. There is very little that is new," Indvik said. "They keep churning out too many of the same silhouettes, in different colorations and prints, season after season. Fit is challenging for a lot of women, and as many have pointed out, sizing is off."&#xa0;Madewell company has the added prestige of being the go-to non-runway brand for celebrities.&#xa0;<a href="http://www.whowhatwear.com/celebrities-wearing-madewell/slide3" target="_blank">WhoWhatWear</a> dubbed the brand "the affordable brand almost every celebrity is wearing." J. Crew may have had Michelle Obama, but Madewell has Sarah Jessica Parker, Taylor Schilling, Amy Adams, and Emma Stone - hot names for younger clientele.Madewell also has something else: a curated aesthetic with a heritage influence, without being pegged as a heritage brand.&#xa0;"It's a brand for cool girls," said Fashionista's Sherman.&#xa0;<h3>Can Madewell stay hot?</h3><div><div></div></div>Madewell has primarily thrived by truly trapping into current trends. "That's what Mickey Drexler is really good at." Sherman said to Business Insider.&#xa0;"Tapping into something and capitalizing on it."But in the meantime, can Madewell continue to keep its audience?&#xa0;After all, as with all trends, the heritage-esque look - the vintage, curated, mason-jar aesthetic - can only stay cool for so long. Then again, all trends fade at some point. It's the ebb and flow of fashion.Fortunately for Madewell, the brand primarily prides itself on authenticity and connecting with its audience rather than focusing on its "heritage" alone.&#xa0;"I think that Madewell has reason for success - that it's stayed absolutely focused. I don't think it's made too many mistakes and I don't believe from my perspective it's confused the consumer or neglected the consumer, said branding expert Burke. "It has evolved, which is very important for a brand to continue to evolve, but not at a pace that leaves the customers behind."As for Drexler, he believes in the brand and thinks it has the potential to be a staple in women's closets for decades to come."I would like Madewell jeans to be the Levi's of its generation," he told the&#xa0;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/fashion/at-madewell-mickey-drexlers-third-act.html?_r=0" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>&#xa0;earlier this year. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jcrew-decline-jenna-lyons-sales-fashion-low-sales-2015-6">The ugly secret behind why J. Crew's sales have tanked</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RpcDVydTpNn_Y-_LjBn_Hjl-0dGgmptw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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