J. Crew Gets Fashion-Relevant Again
Preppy House of Cashmere A Favorite With Fashionistas
Aug 8, 2009
If there’s any woman in America who can literally wear whatever she wants, whenever she wants, it’s Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour. Under her designer suits, this freemason of fashion reportedly wears cashmere shells from J. Crew.
Vogue contributing editor and Marshall Field heiress Marina Rust Connor is also a J. Crew cashmere fan, comparing their T-shirts with those sold at Hermès. Lucie Sykes, Emilia Fanjul-Pfeifler and Lulu de Kwiatkowski have also expressed their devotion to J. Crew cashmere.
What has these style makers so keen on J. Crew cashmere? Simple: J. Crew’s cashmere comes from Loro Piana, the Italian textile company that is the DeBeers of cashmere, having vetted these fine goat fibers since the 19th century. Unlike other clients of Loro Piana, J. Crew sells cashmere sweaters and tees for about $150. Hermès? Slightly more.
J. Crew wasn’t always so beloved by the fashion set. When the company began as a mail-order concern in 1983, it served up essential preppy gear like madras shorts and chinos, ultimately opening retail stores and an online component.
But since 2003, J. Crew has undergone a radical reconstruction of reputation. Always respected for its quiet attention to quality, J. Crew has become increasingly fashion relevant.
Drexler, Pfeifle Tailor J. Crew to the Fashion Crowd
The change coincided with the arrival of CEO and chairman Millard “Mickey” Drexler and, a few months later, President Jeff Pfeifle, both of whom came from what was then the sinking ship of Gap, Inc.
In a telephone interview with the author for another publication, Pfeifle said of the new interest in the quarter-century-old company: “We’ve been adding a whole other layer of customer. Our assortments are much more dimensional.”
The new customers are responding to a series of new lines—crewcuts, the children’s line for ages two to 10; a lower-priced J. Crew line called Madewell; a wedding dress line; and the upscale, black-label J. Crew Collection.
“We are a company with a design team that travels the world for inspiration,” says Pfeifle. “Quality is our philosophy. We’re not as trendy as others but we are subject to trends. Everything we have has a twist—colors, zipper pulls.”
While the clamor of the past few years has been for the tongue-in-cheek allure of hipster designers and icons creating downmarket, disposable fashions, J. Crew has quietly stuck to what it knows best: quality construction. “The trend of quality at any price point, that’s what customers are responding to,” says Pfeifle.
Limited Edition J. Crew Collection Moves Fashion Forward
The J. Crew Collection introduced luxe fabrics and artisan-crafted styles of men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories, available only in limited edition. J. Crew has various partnerships with high-end European textile makers, including couture beading house Shameeza and Italian print makers, Ratti.
Drexler and Pfeifle are both very much involved in the creative aspects. “We have a collaborative team in the management,” Pfeifle says. “We all bring different ingredients to the mix.”
Doo-Ri Chung, for example, a designer who won the 2006 Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, was mentored by Drexler as she created wedding dresses for J. Crew; Pfeifle oversees all aspects of the creative side, including design, product development, branding and marketing.
Drexler, Pfeifle are Veterans of American Casual Fashion Houses
In fact, between them, Drexler and Pfeifle have spent their careers defining American casual wear. Drexler worked as president and CEO of Ann Taylor before joining Gap, Inc., where during his 18-year tenure he launched Old Navy.
Pfeifle’s uncle was president of Sears; he himself was director of merchandising for Ralph Lauren; he joined Gap, Inc in 1993, working as VP of men’s product and design for Banana Republic and in 1995, executive VP of product and design for Old Navy.
It’s clear that Pfeifle is most in his element designwise when he’s discussing men’s wear, which accounts for, by some estimates, about 17 percent of J. Crew’s revenue. Pfeifle is partial to cashmere, which at J. Crew comes in multitudinous hues and styles ranging from shells to hoodies, and to the J. Crew legacy blazer. “I’m a blue blazer guy,” he says.
He also loves the company’s “broken-in chinos” and declares, “We have the best men’s shorts assortment in the world.”
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