It's been a long time since I've thought about J.Crew. But this week, in preparation for a trip, I found myself browsing their site for white t-shirts. By the looks of it, the brand seems to be turning a corner.
J.Crew had a moment in 2010. They were at the center of the #menswear movement – remember all those Tumblr menswear blogs? But somewhere over the last 10 years, J.Crew lost their way. Maybe the trends changed, or J.Crew just got really boring (and bankrupt).
Last year, J.Crew brought in former Supreme Creative Director and Noah co-founder, Brendon Babenzien as the new Creative Director. You can already see his impact on art direction and styling – J.Crew feels different (see above). Or, maybe streetwear is just so tired that I'm hoping for the return of American prep. Are we done with graphic t-shirts yet? Maybe I'm aging so rapidly that I just want to desperately return to what I'm most comfortable with... rugby shirts, a good button-down shirt, a respectable pair of loafers. Regardless, I'm very happy to see J.Crew digging itself out of obscurity. Excited to see where it goes from here.
J.Crew should just do this again – these catalogs were perfect.