If you’ve seen clothes lately, you’ve probably noticed how extremely ‘90s things have gotten. And, according to Glossy, that resurgence is helping a lot of ’90s brands make a whole lot of money.
Citing the recent success of era staples like Fila, Champion, and Patagonia, the story noted that “it’s a particularly good time for brands that defined ’90s style at its start.”
Sneakers are also helping fuel the resurgence, the story said, noting that from “2016 to 2018, Fila’s sales increased by more than 200%, and from 2018 to 2019, Champion sales rose from $1 billion to nearly $1.4 billion,” which almost sound like made up figures. And in a pragmatic move, K-Swiss used the moment to break into China and that seems to be going well, too.
And it’s not just the throwbacks that are capitalizing; brands like Opening Ceremony and Dolls Kill — which bought the Delia’s trademark, for those (me) wondering — have leaned in heavy as well to some degrees of success.
As for why the ’90s are suddenly happening again? According to Highsnobiety’s Jian De Leon: “A lot of the creative directors of fashion houses are… Gen X-ers, so this was when they were coming up.” Makes sense.
Not every throwback brand is cleaning up, however. Reebok went hard on the classics in 2018 and watched its revenue fall 3 percent, and JNCO apparently isn’t doing well since its July re-re-launch. (But to be fair, it’s JNCO.)
“There’s a lot of fun stuff from the ’90s… the oversized color-blocking, the ’90s sneakers,” one executive said. “But you have to be looking forward, too. There’s a time to pay homage to the past, and there’s a time to step on the gas of innovation.”
You can read more about it at Glossy.
