Brooks Brothers Black Fleece website now online...

[Jovan]

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/blackfleece/default.tem

Thoughts?

I wish the website wasn't all Flash based, and more like the rest of the BB website, personally. The prices are not very low, despite being lower than Browne's own line. Still, looks nice. Being a sucker for grey suits, this is heaven for me. I don't much care for the crazy stuff.

A note: Keep the ad hominem attacks on Mr. Browne away if you've nothing constructive to say. The Pee-Wee Herman jokes are also REALLY old.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Brooks Brothers today: a Disneyland version of an Ivy League clothier.


Even their re-engineered logo looks ridiculous: a grossly fat sheep hanging precariously from its overburdened sash. There was a time when that sheep actually looked like a draped golden fleece (think Jason and the argonauts), rather than a rigid balloon. Not anymore.


.

 

[Orgetorix]

The prices are not very low

Understatement of the year.

 

[FedoraGent]

That...

Understatement of the year.

That and their sales people are idiots.

FG.

 

[carebear]

I do like the longer vest under the longer coat look of a couple of them, there's a tux in particular that's pretty sharp from the knees up.

 

[Jovan]

So, I ask people not to attack Thom Browne. Then they go and attack Brooks Brothers themselves and go completely off topic. lol

What longer vest are you talking about, carebear?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Here's the old logo: http://www.brooksbrothers.com/aboutus/landing_about.tem



And here's today's sumo wrestler version (see top left side of webpage link): http://www.brooksbrothers.com/brooksbuys/landing_brooksbuys.tem


.

 

[Feraud]

It is nice to see the Brooks Bros. fleece has grown as corpulent as the *typical American.


*according to studies.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I attack Brooks Brothers because it pretends to be what it no longer is. Brooks Brothers lost its way in the late '60s ... Ralph Lauren picked up the slack ... then Brooks Brothers got sold to a host of conglomerates ... and now it's trying to imitate Ralph Lauren (who is imitating Thom Browne!)


Whatever ...


I much prefer Robert Kirk, Ltd. ("Cable Car Clothiers"), which never lost its way and never sold out.

.

 

[Jovan]

I can see what you're saying to some extent. In a way, it is ironic that they hired a designer who even says he's inspired by them... albeit in the '50s and '60s, when their quality was better (and the armholes smaller ). I'm not familiar with Robert Kirk, Ltd.

 

[carebear]

So, I ask people not to attack Thom Browne. Then they go and attack Brooks Brothers themselves and go completely off topic. lol

What longer vest are you talking about, carebear?

The tux on page 4. Unless thats a jacket and overcoat.

Anyway, it's got that "old west" period look.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

We live in an odd world, where the originals imitate the imitators ...

Sorry, Jovan ... I'm in a bad mood. I shouldn't take it out on others.

.

 

[herringbonekid]

i visited the new Brooks Brothers store in London (regent street) recently. it is the first BB store in the UK, with more planned. god, their stuff is BORING. also the shop was worryingly empty. i had an immediate hunch they wouldn't last long here. if anyone needs a bit of 'edge' adding it's Brooks Brothers.

 

[Jovan]

All good, Marc. I am willing to see your argument anyways, and do agree to an extent about what others are saying. BB of today is not the same as BB of yesterday, which it takes a guest designer to bring back. A bit odd, yes.

Carebear: Probably a matching overcoat and jacket. Browne has a thing for matchiness -- you can even see it with his tie and trousers in the Guest Designer section.

HBK: That doesn't surprise me. I expected as much when I heard about that. Perhaps Black Fleece will inspire mainline BB to be better... perhaps not. We'll see.

 

[Jovan]

"LAUNCH ALL *bump* FOR GREAT JUSTICE"

 

[Orgetorix]

That and their sales people are idiots.

FG.

I hope that's not true of all of them.

 

[Orgetorix]

Yes, BB is no longer what it once was. It began declining somewhat, as Marc notes, in the '60s, and that decline became a freefall in the '90s with their purchase by Marks & Spencer. However, in many people's opinions, things have begun to look up since their purchase by Claudio del Vecchio a few years ago.

BB no longer markets itself simply as a retailer of Ivy League style, if it ever did. It's not trying to compete directly with J. Press or Cable Car or the like. It's mainly concerned with marketing good-quality clothing in classic American styles...only some of which are Ivy League/Trad. For a man who wants to buy a decent-quality off-the-rack suit in a conservative and classic style, BB is often the place to go.

Where the Black Fleece collection fits in with that, I don't know. It's a self-admitted attempt to be more fashionable, which I think goes against the grain of what BB is and has been for most of its history. As far as I can see, it's just an attempt to attract a new market segment and compete with others, like Ralph Lauren, in the fashion world. So yes, Marc, I think your comments are largely on-target when applied to Black Fleece. But I don't think they are necessarily so in regards to the bulk of what BB is and does and sells.

 

[Jovan]

I suppose. I still think Black Fleece is rather cool.

 

[cookie]

I attack Brooks Brothers because it pretends to be what it no longer is. Brooks Brothers lost its way in the late '60s ... Ralph Lauren picked up the slack ... then Brooks Brothers got sold to a host of conglomerates ... and now it's trying to imitate Ralph Lauren (who is imitating Thom Browne!)


Whatever ...


I much prefer Robert Kirk, Ltd. ("Cable Car Clothiers"), which never lost its way and never sold out.

.

I agree and see my post of pix from SF in the Hat thread for the look that you are talking about.

 

[MrBern]

18?

What do they mean by "18 years in the making" ?