J.Crew Group Inc. (Q3249)
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American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer
- J.Crew Group, Inc.
- J.Crew Group
- JCrew
- J Crew
- J. Crew
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | J.Crew Group Inc. |
American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer |
|
Statements
2010
president
J.Crew
shop floor worker
Familiar, boyish, eclectic—these were the buzzwords pinging around J.Crew’s men’s collection, shown alongside women’s in an intimate presentation-style setting. “I was thinking of an art-school grad who’s between stages in life,” said designer Frank Muytjens as we zipped between looks. “He knows he needs to grow up and bring older elements into his wardrobe, and he attempts to, but he can’t let go of his inner kid.” This was, in other words, a charming collection with renewed focus on the left-of-center informality that made J.Crew the powerhouse that it is today. Bringing that chummy message home, Muytjens again cast a diverse group of non-model friends of the house to embody the sense of convivial community.The first look perhaps best exemplified this jumble of quirky yet known-quantity references. Jack—a young electronic musician whose father and two brothers also modeled in the show—had on a rust-color worker jacket over a fuzzy rugby-striped sweater and untucked oxford shirt. Elsewhere, Instagram comedians Reggie and Lorenzo wore, respectively, a green velvet dinner jacket with wide-legged jeans and a fuzzy fleece pullover with flannel suit pants. Fellow J.Crew men’s designer Ben sported a lamb’s wool Fair Isle turtleneck over a hunting-scene-printed button-up. In a mere nod to formal, without going overboard, student Johnny was dressed in a gently olive Harris Tweed suit with cognac-hued wingtip boots.Where Muytjens has looked to photographic greats for inspiration in seasons past, this was a relaxed vision of masculinity. A collection with a camo print taken from a children’s color-by-numbers paint set and woodland creatures (foxes, badgers, magpies, and other “critters,” as Muytjens put it) popping up on everything from baseball caps to scarves is not intended to intimidate. This was not an appeal to high-concept loftiness, but a return to relaxed, versatile basics for the everyman. They oozed ease and comfort, playing to the company’s core strengths. And it felt right.
13 February 2017
Just as they did last season, J.Crew elected to show their new collection on “real people,” ones who were longtime friends of the brand. (Side note: Are professional modelsnotreal? If you prick them, do they not bleed?) And the “old friends” theme continued in the clothes: As Somsack Sikhounmuong, the brand’s head of womenswear, acknowledged at the J.Crew presentation today, he and his team had done some archive-raiding this season. The happy result was that classic J.Crew looks such as the rugby shirt and rollneck sweater have been brought back after a lengthy retirement. People—real ones—who lived in those pieces in the ’90s will be very pleased.J.Crew staples of more recent vintage were on view here, too, in pleasantly updated form. Khakis were revised as slouchy camo pants or olive drab cargos; shirting in white or seersucker stripes got new blouson shapes; the go-to blazer was given a more languid re-tailoring. The general effect was to sand off some of that preppy J.Crew crispness and replace it with a look more dishabille. If the prep was diminished, though, the brand’s trademark pep was fully intact: Cheerful Fair Isle sweaters, frothy satin and tulle skirts, and heaping helpings of bold and pastel colors made this outing feel characteristically upbeat. (Patches and heart-and-star motifs, meanwhile, pushed the tone just-so-slightly into the dimension of the twee.)One did catch an undercurrent of anxiety here—not anything to do with the events in the news that have fed that mood at other shows, but rather an identity crisis specific to J.Crew. This collection was trying to be a lot of things—a supplier for low-slung camos, a source for baroque pleated evening skirts, a home for trim tuxedo looks, and so on. What does the J.Crew customer want from this brand? The answer was probably to be found in one emblematic look: a pair of the camos worn with a long, striped button-down in pale blue and one of the new drape-y blazers in indigo velvet. That outfit had the quality of, yes, an old friend—one you still like seeing because they’ve still got something new to say.
13 February 2017
Already synonymous withclassic, a word used generously by men’s designer Frank Muytjens at his presentation today,J.Crewreached a new level of American classicism for Spring. The collection was presented—together with women’s, designed by head women’s designer Somsack Sikhounmuong—on a diverse group of non-models and friends of the brand, ranging from musicians and artists to a bartender and a dingo handler. And it took place on the anniversary of 9/11, a fact not lost on Muytjens. “There is no stuffiness,” he affirmed, “certainly not today.”A nature-lover and country-living enthusiast, Muytjens is forever roaming atmospheric American landscapes in search of authentic Americana, whether a preppy enclave like Martha’s Vineyard or the grand vistas of Yellowstone National Park. Last season he was taken with the pastoral patina of a trove of old horse blankets he discovered. This season he found inspiration in the photographs of Mike Disfarmer, whose engaging portraits of rural Arkansans in the early 20th century are about as classic as it gets.A lot of the offerings resulted from looking at archival pieces, Muytjens said, but from a new perspective. As it turns out, and this has no doubt been true throughout history, it takes quite an effort to achieve effortlessness. “You should see our rooftop,” he laughed, referring to his team’s experiments in sun-bleaching that informed a nicely faded pink crewneck sweater. Although, it was an extra-thick cable-knit cardigan next to it that stole the sweater show.The team also researched fabric manipulation, which led to an excellently rumpled and over-dyed indigo madras suit, and many iterations of that most classic of materials, seersucker. Elsewhere, everyman shirts and jackets had names like Critter and Chore, while caramel pants were wide-legged or patchworked in a limited edition. Even a glistening double-breasted tuxedo was brought down a notch with an aw-shucks plaid shirt worn underneath and a matching bowtie, reminding Muytjens of Paul Newman and his humbly charming nature. Now there’s a classic.
13 September 2016
According to Somsack Sikhounmuong, theJ.Crewcrew were doing some serious navel-gazing this season. As Sikhounmuong, the brand’s head of womenswear, put it, the idea was to really dial in on the J.Crew signatures—chino, menswear-inspired shirting, and the staple palette of pink, white, blue, and khaki—and then turn up the drama. What jumped out at the presentation today was the emphasis on eveningwear-like flourishes: There were kicky little shorts in pastel satin, gossamer trousers as voluminous as ballgown skirts, wafts of khaki-toned tulle, a mariner stripe sweater all in sequins, a ruffled floor-length wrap skirt in men’s shirting stripe, and more. There was something deeply zeitgeis-ty about this zhuzzed-up approach to daywear: After all, in the era of Instagram, isn’t every day a red-carpet event, a photo opportunity?The zeitgeist-iness extended to the models cast in the presentation. J.Crew eschewed professionals and showed their new clothes on friends and family of all shapes and sizes (some of the models were sourced from within the design team, even). Much like the collection’s emphasis on J.Crew basics, this was navel-gazing in a nice way, and it reflected the fact that J.Crew is a brand that serves a wide range of consumers. Seeing one of Sikhounmuong’s consiglieri clad in a shirting-striped apron dress amplified the charm of the McCardell-esque piece; likewise, his pals dressed in paint-splattered chino shorts and pants. These weren’t clothes for photo ops; just the kind of things a woman is happy to wear when the cameras are off.
13 September 2016
These days, in the age of Instagram,J.Crewis less about whipping up mass populism and more about curating one’s style, taking traditional comfort items and tweaking them so they’re imbued with a sense of character, of personality, of individuality. How serendipitous it was, then, that men’s designer Frank Muytjens recently discovered a trove of vintage horse blankets, their faded pastoral colors exuding the unassuming rustic quality for which he’d been looking. Enhanced texture with a subtle slouch—he knew he had found his mood for Fall.“There’s an opulence to them,” said Muytjens, pointing to muted stripes and plaids at the small men’s presentation today (shown alongside women’s). “But at the same time, they’re peaceful and nonchalant,” he added. “That’s what I wanted to convey.” Cord pants were double pleated, for a certain off-ness; a lamb’s wool cardigan came loosely belted; a camel coat had been cropped slightly; and pajama piping appeared throughout, mixed in with shearling and denim. An argyle sweater made the cut, because you just can’t find them anymore, said Muytjens. But his favorite piece of the bunch was an extra-long, raglan-sleeved herringbone topcoat, worn with a malleable “crusher” hat in tweed, and, he said, “a frickin’ awesome” patchwork silk tuxedo scarf, which he also happened to be wearing, tied just so. If Muytjens is going to talk style curation, he’s going to walk it, too.
15 February 2016
Somsack Sikhounmuong may be the newly minted head of womenswear atJ.Crew, but it’s worth noting that he arrived at the position after 15 years in the Crew trenches. This is a guy fluent in the brand’s codes, and it shows. The collection debuted by J.Crew this afternoon was chock-full of both the staple items fans rely on and the house’s signature aplomb. Sikhounmuong clearly understands that cheerfulness is part of the J.Crew DNA.The collection made a very strong case for winter color. The hue of choice here was pink, deployed in various shades in chunky cable-knit sweaters, flounced satin pencil skirts, and even a classic J.Crew peacoat. Sikhounmuong complemented that girlish palette via some flirty details, such as ruffled shirt collars and a dappling of sparkle and shine, but nicely grounded the tone by mixing those elements with menswear-inspired tailoring and coats and hardy items such as cropped, wide-leg chinos. If there was one must-have here, though, it had to be the pajama-inspired sets: Sikhounmuong prevailed upon silk scarf maker Drake’s to loan some prints from its archives, which he and his team recolored to punchy effect. The resulting pieces were on-trend, upbeat, and versatile enough to mix and match into a woman’s pre-existing wardrobe. They were very J.Crew, in other words.
14 February 2016
In the past,J.Crewmenswear designerFrank Muytjenshas given off a vintage military vibe or sought authenticity by channeling the style of grizzled fishermen in a Mediterranean seaside village. The natty Dutchman has a particular way with classics, tweaking them ever so to bring them into a modern focus. For Spring, Muytjens trained that modern focus on the black-and-white nature photographs of Edward Weston. He was especially moved by a picture the mid-century American master took of his sons making their way through the rugged, rocky terrain of the California coast.“I’ve taken things just a little out of context,” said Muytjens, referring to an outdoorsy jacket made of a striped men’s shirting fabric (from the English shirting company Thomas Mason), a camel blazer worn with a white tank underneath, and a fog-proof rumpled raincoat in navy. What looked like denim jeans were actually chinos in a blue chambray; tropical-wool pants were slightly slouchy and tied with a rope cord; and dressier pleated slacks were tapered and paired with belt buckles that were made to look oxidized and vintage. Shorts, some in a bold rep stripe, appeared more often than not rolled up, lending to the collection’s ruggedness.His favorite piece was a pine green nubby cardigan sweater, matched with contrasting green shorts and a bucket hat. Shoes ranged from sneakers (designed in collaboration with New Balance) to slip-ons and black lace-up oxfords. Muytjens works closely withJenna Lyons, who is the brand’s creative director, and, increasingly, its public face. But his own signature was still apparent in the jaunty silk tuxedo scarves—one of which he wore at the presentation—which were shown in polka dots and styled nonchalantly. Something for everyone, as is the J.Crew way.
17 September 2015
For a brand in times of transition, figuring out the best way to trigger the reset button is often the most pressing challenge. That’s perhaps why, this season,J.Crewwas going back to its roots, or, as president and executive creative directorJenna Lyonsput it, “Pulling from the things that feel undeniably like us.” Gingham, nautical stripes, tomboy favorites such as the shrunken military jacket: It’s easy to distinguish the moving parts to the J.Crew look, one that Lyons herself has made so appealing to women the world over in the last decade.All those classics made an appearance in the presentation today, only often they were tweaked in subtle ways. One sun-bleached menswear-inspired plaid shirt was paired with a matching bias-cut skirt that was covered in glittering sequins, while another was recast as an off-the-shoulder peasant blouse—what is fast becoming the answer to the crisp white button-down. The brand’s knack for preppy print-on-print combos came through particularly well in a graphic blue-on-blue gingham shirt and pants ensemble. With new womenswear designer Somsack Sikhounmuong set to make his official debut next season, it will be interesting to see which way those familiar J.Crewisms will go.
16 September 2015
J.Crew men's creative director Frank Muytjens loves the details. His Fall collection began at a vintage military show in England a year ago, where he was struck by all the shades of green and brown on display in the tents. No J.Crew collection diverges too far from the rest—sometimes we see more indigo, sometimes more Americana—but this time around the army influence was strong. Knit ties looked to have been cut from army sweaters. The classic deck jacket got an unexpected refresh in green shearling. "I like taking something traditional and making it new again," said Muytjens.J.Crew may be a mass market brand, but he approaches the collection with the meticulous eye of an independent designer. "Every stitch, every inch is considered," he said. The silk tuxedo scarf paired with many looks made that point nicely. This collection didn't pack the sartorial punch we've seen from Muytjens in seasons past, but there were a few new additions to the J.Crew men's lineup that will be worth visiting the store to see in person, like the exaggerated snorkel coat, an unstructured topcoat with the perfect amount of slouch, slim wool cargo pants, and a short and trim double-breasted suit. That last item could be a necessary wardrobe upgrade for guys who are ready to go beyond the ubiquitous two-button Ludlow.
17 February 2015
Only at a J.Crew presentation could a couple of pairs of gray pants be more eyebrow-raising than a blazer entirely covered with sparkles. In the queendom of Jenna Lyons, sparkles are mandatory. But it's far more unusual to see J.Crew pushing a dramatic silhouette proposition, as the brand did today with its super-voluminous wool trousers, which attained a gownlike proportion. As womenswear designer Tom Mora explained, those trousers were a tip of the hat to high fashion in the '70s, the elegance of which often goes unremembered amid nostalgia for the decade's kitsch.But that elegance is all over the pages of Peter Schlesinger's classic book,Checkered Past, which documents the look of David Hockney, Paloma Picasso, and Tina Chow, as well as other notables living in London at the time. Paging through Schlesinger's tome, Mora noticed the elegance, and he noticed the vivid colors. And alongside the aforementioned trousers, it was the colors in this latest J.Crew collection that really jumped out at you today: the punchy yellow of a shearling parka liner; the pop of a pale pink turtleneck sweater worn with a purple A-line skirt in a sophisticated silk/wool blend; the shock of an electric blue blazer paired with two-tone green cargo pants.As per usual, there were other nice details here, like the luxe double-faced wool on a camel gilet, or the contrast color that shimmered from the back side of the fringe on a blush-toned suede skirt, or a sweatshirt-style top's clever mix of ribbed knit and wool flannel. And as per usual as well, there was plenty of showier stuff playing counterpoint to the signature J.Crew preppy standards. That sparkly beading, for instance, and the bright gold chain mail dangling from a skirt. You expect a canny eclecticism from J.Crew at this point, and so as effective and appealing as all that was, it didn't make a lasting impression. Those wide-leg trousers, though, pointed toward something new—a different kind of ambition. There were hints, as there were last season, that J. Crew—which is looking to recover from disappointing sales last year—is hoping that an elevation in tone will boost performance. The recipe seems to be: more sophistication, fewer sparkles.
17 February 2015
"I like imperfection," said Frank Muytjens, J.Crew's menswear director, at the presentation for the brand's Spring collection. "I don't like when things are too perfect. I like when things are beaten up." He was referring to the gently rumpled, vintage-looking collection on the models standing around us. If by "imperfection" Muytjens meant "character," a unique quality that makes something stand out, then mass production doesn't seem like the best way to achieve that. Yet J.Crew pulls it off.The best pieces were in fact remixed vintage items that will be produced in limited numbers for J.Crew's boutique-style shops—a pair of denim shorts made from vintage English military sleeping bags, and basic chinos in navy with well-worn vintage denim inserts added at the knees. But there were standout pieces throughout the line. Pleated trousers looked surprisingly relaxed and casual. Shawl-collar knit cardigans emerged as easy layering pieces. Baja hoodies were lightened and slimmed down with shirting fabrics. An oversize poncho with lace-up detail looked like a fun umbrella alternative. Bombers in navy and mixed army green were easy essentials for guys who don't already own too many. Crusher hats on many looks added a cool, youthful vibe.Muytjens said the inspiration came from the idea of a Mediterranean fishing village—fishermen on the wharf mending their nets. But that's just his take. What makes J.Crew special is that the range of influence runs wide—nautical, military, Ivy League, it's all there—and the individual pieces hold up as well as the collection as a whole.
9 September 2014
Ibiza. Traditional Latin American textiles. Aurora borealis. Men's workwear. Men's sleepwear. Basketball. The team at J.Crew makes a real principle of motley-ness, and it's easy to be captivated by the mix-and-match razzle-dazzle. This season was no less screwball than usual in its mix of references, a mere selection of which are listed above, but for some reason the collection felt atypically item-driven. Maybe it was just the fact that a few key pieces really stood out, like the mesh basketball shorts, or the slightly oversize jackets in indigo-dyed cotton or heavy-duty striped chambray. Best of all were the new gossamer knits, ribbed and a touch sparkly, layered tonally over each other. There was a sense of elevation to those knits, due in part to their simplicity—J.Crew collections always land on the right side of the line between eclectic and quirky, but they rarely grasp for sophistication. The knits had that, as did items like a tunic-length white button-down with short sleeves, and a waxed linen sundress in a lovely shade of forest green. It was only a slight adjustment to the standard J.Crew recipe, but it was nice to taste another flavor in the mix.
9 September 2014
Let's face it: This winter has been a challenge. The weather has been so in-your-face frigid, windy, stormy, sleety, and all-around nasty, it was bound to exert some influence over designers' thinking about next year's cold season clothes. J.Crew menswear honcho Frank Muytjens has certainly taken the conditions onboard: The brand's latest collection, inspired by mid-century New York City dockworkers, erred toward the hardy, on the one hand, and the cozy on the other. And of course, this being J.Crew, both the hardiness and the coziness were executed with a high degree of polish. Thus, a naval anorak was rejigged in felted wool and nylon, with an angled pocket, and the classic toggle coat traded in its workhorse hood for a neat popped collar. Elsewhere, on the cozy end of the spectrum, the collection was bursting at the seams with dressy sweats, not to mention sweaters in mish-mash argyle patterns, which Muytjens showed worn with a suit and a scarf. It's too cold for broadcloth button-downs! These days, a man must beat back the elements in rough 'n' ready apparel such as dark denim jeans, shawl-collared sweaters, and puffer jackets if he wants to be ready for the next polar vortex.
11 February 2014
Weimar? Why not? The German cabaret scene may not seem a conventional starting point for a J.Crew womenswear collection. All that debauchery! All that desperation! Not quite a match for the peppy note ye olde Crew usually likes to strike. But as every good painter knows, darker colors add dimension. And Tom Mora used his Weimar references in precisely that way, as a deepener. You could pick up the influence in the collection's dropped-waist silhouettes, and in the black-backed florals, and in the touch of flapper fringe applied to a miniskirt or a sweater. There was also something unusually sensual about the use of texture here—for instance, a pair of velvet sweats or the profusion of blue, black, and cream brushed mohair sewn onto an otherwise docile gray sweater. But whatever moodiness was at work here was just an accent on the usual—and let's face it, essentially perfected—upbeat J.Crew look, which evolved this season to include puffer jackets and jaunty cropped pants. This collection also marked the second edition of the J.Crew/Sophia Webster shoe collaboration, which resulted in many cheerful pairs of spindly heels. Even Marlene Dietrich would have giggled with pleasure over those.
10 February 2014
Think "summer" and the mind will instantly unpack a handful of stock images: surfers, girls in bikinis, cutoffs, spaghetti-strap sundresses. Summer is the casual season. But as J.Crew's Tom Mora noted at today's presentation, 'twas not ever thus. Though the latest Crew womenswear collection was inspired, in part, by California surf culture, Mora got somewhere richer and stranger by strapping that reference to a theme of summer on the Venice Lido, circa the turn of the twentieth century. "Back then, going to the beach meant dressing up," he pointed out. "It was very polished."With that in mind, Mora and company gave the signature J.Crew punchy aesthetic a soigné twist, with pieces like a trim floral neoprene skirt with a ruffle and articulating seams, or a ruffled white minidress of varied eyelets. The clothes weren't fussy—that would be a breach of Crew protocol—but they did express some formality. Still, some of the other standout pieces expressed exactly the opposite, like the paint-splattered army green khakis sure to be on many an editor's must-have list for Spring. Also on that list: a pair or two of the Sophia Webster for J.Crew heels that made their debut at the presentation. Mora's pick? An orange pair, dotted with stars.
9 September 2013
Can clothing have a complex? This season's J.Crew menswear collection didn't come off as neurotic—much the opposite, in fact—but in certain ways it did seem to be enacting the central anxiety of the modern urban male. To put it plainly, what is the nattily dressed, desk-jockeying, city-living guy supposed to do with his vestigial ache for rusticity? What was man created for if not to head for the country and achieve a meditative oneness with the great outdoors? Well, thank goodness for the national parks. Frank Muytjens seized on America's national parkland for inspiration this season, and though he refrained from literalizing the reference, a certain engagement with the elements came through, in domesticated ways. There was a really nice sense of tactility and tonality here, whether in the nubby hand of a suede bomber or the mixing and matching of denims. Muytjens also engaged his team to make some truly special, nature-inspired, limited-edition pieces, such as a pair of shorts in a leaf print created via a laborious cyanotype development process. Elsewhere, meanwhile, the emphasis was on category scrambling—denim windbreakers, short suits, chambray sweats, etc. The J.Crew team does this kind of thing so well, so convincingly, you hardly even notice that they've done anything unusual. Surely dudes have been wearing chambray sweats for ages? No? Well, they'll be wearing them soon.
9 September 2013
Inspirations are funny things—you can never tell how they'll work themselves out. For Fall, Frank Muytjens was thinking of David Bailey's iconic (an overused word, but apropos here) photos of Michael Caine in the sixties. In the most famous of these, with dangling cigarette and heavy specs, Caine, despite being in his seductiveAlfiephase, is dressed as soberly as a Bible salesman, in black suit and tie.Muytjens mined the Englishness—Cool Britannia has never again been as cool as that—and left the rest for a later day. He's been pushing color at J.Crew, so Caine's black suit became one in Black Watch Harris Tweed. The storied mill provided many of the suiting fabrics, joined by other factories like Abraham Moon, Marling & Evans, and Barberis cashmere. The upscaling of the Crew—at least the parts that make it to New York fashion week—has been so slow and steady that it can take a minute to appreciate the coup that bringing such fabrics to the broader public really is.But while J.Crew is pushing finery on one hand, the label is celebrating the homespun and hard-worn on the other. Denim jackets in a rusty tobacco brown were styled into several looks. Gray sweatpants were patched and repatched, and the new jean style was a painter's pant. The stated inspiration for these were Paul Strand's photographs of Scottish fishermen, less polished than Alfie by a factor of forty.The collision between workman and gentleman is one J.Crew has been staging for seasons. Here, the tension between the two felt more fraught than it sometimes has, and less resolved. But if some looks read insistently styled, mark it down to the fact that J.Crew offers, in its choose-your-own-adventure way, something for parties on both sides of the divide. How you wear it all is up to you.
11 February 2013
The J.Crew operation is so well-oiled and so canny, it's easy to forget that there's some magic in it, too. Womenswear designer Tom Mora is the person with the tricky job of breathing new life into the established J.Crew look each season; by now, the conventions of that look are crystal clear, in particular its signature embellishment of preppy American sportswear staples with eclectic details. It's a formula, but as this collection reminded you, the clothes are never formulaic. There's always a sense of spontaneity. This season, the spontaneity derived from Mora's Moroccan inspiration—the result of a trip to Marrakech he took on a whim at the close of last season. Marrakech is a familiar fashion reference, of course, but it was interesting to see it translated into the clean-cut J.Crew idiom. Notable looks included coats in punchy tile prints, a crewneck sweater with a dense Moroccan rug knit, silk tees with sequined arabesques, and a natty navy peacoat embroidered with gold bullion; elsewhere, interpreting the reference more liberally, there was a great tweed suit that picked up the tile print's eye-popping palette, and a draped wool coat with a subtle beaded lapel. Jewel details were a theme, as were glittery brocade and jacquard; more understated items included J.Crew's new trouser silhouette, a cropped, boyish pair, and schoolboy jackets with conspicuously trim shoulders. All in all, it seemed like there was some extra magic in the formula this time.
11 February 2013
Let there be color. In recent seasons, J.Crew's women's line hasn't shied away from highlighter shades, but Frank Muytjens and his team on the men's side usually go darker. Not today. After last season's ode to indigo and navy, there was teal, marigold, sea foam, and lilac on display. Muytjens explained he'd been looking at the work of Ellsworth Kelly and felt emboldened to bring blocks of color into his stuff. "Ilovethis teal," he said, nodding at a striped sweater. "And this marigold." Will the American man, removed from fashion's whirl, dive into a mauve trouser? TBD. Trust that J.Crew will keep its old standards on offer, too. And who knows, Muytjens' enthusiasm could end up catching. An ultralight new version of the now-standard Ludlow suit came in a navy just a skosh more royal than the navy you'd expect. "It makes all the difference," he said.Lightness softened texture as much as tone—the Ludlow also came in a Japanese chambray—but in the end tone had the biggest impact. A classic blue gingham shirt was subjected to bleaching for a mottled effect. Elsewhere, color was applied. One soul at J.Crew HQ is tasked only with hand-painting the camouflage shorts. They represented a welcome intervention of the slow and the small in the midst of J.Crew's national—and more and more, global—reach. They'll be available at the retailer's menswear-only boutiques—in limited quantities. The man has only two hands.
10 September 2012
Tom Mora found inspiration close to home this season. Indeed, he found itathome. Mora, the head of women's design at J.Crew under executive creative director Jenna Lyons, was visiting his parents when he stumbled onto his old collection of Time-Life nature books. "The photography was amazing," Mora recalled at the label's presentation today. "All these pictures of insects and flowers and trees that were super-saturated and just really beautiful. It was, like, the original Instagram." Hence the collection's hyperbright palette, which leaned heavily on pinks, yellows, and greens, and its flora and fauna motifs. A green silk-wool floral print carried both themes particularly well.But if this collection started at home, it traveled far afield after that. Tile-inspired embroidery, striped raffia, and a Baja blanket print hinted at an adventuring vibe. As Mora put it, the woman he had in mind this season is the kind of urban chicster who travels to exotic locales and brings back a little of this or that. No matter what, though, she's still a J.Crew woman—and that means she requires new pajama tops and shiny shorts and a closet's worth of statement pants. This season, the pants came with elastic waists, which was pretty indicative of the chilled mood of the collection as a whole. Button-downs: Yes. Buttoned-up? No.
10 September 2012
J.Crew's Jenna Lyons has become a street-style star. The photographers chase after her the same way they track supermodels and billionaire socialites. Her influential preppy-eclectic style was reflected at the brand's Fall presentation: loads of colors, loads of prints, loads of textures. Tom Mora, the new head women's designer, said the focus was on head-to-toe dressing. The snake-print top paired with the snake-print long skirt was one of the presentation's most directional looks, along with a pink schoolboy blazer worn as a suit with matching pants. But offbeat, mix-and-match layering still rules here.Among the most winning combinations were a red, navy, and camel abstracted Fair Isle sweater tucked into a slim python pencil skirt, and an ivory Aran sweater embroidered with silver bugle beads that was teamed with a bordeaux leather dirndl. (We prefer our layers on the light side, so we were less inclined to be won over by an outfit that combined an Eisenhower jacket with a hacking jacket with a striped sweater with a button-down, and that was just above the waist.)Lyons has turned statement pants into a growth market for J.Crew, and we clocked plenty more on the model platform at today's packed presentation. Sequin bows appliquéd on Italian flannel might be a step too far, but not so the paisleys and the foulard prints.May we make a suggestion to team Mickey Drexler and Jenna Lyons, though? Find a new show space. The venue and the format are no match for the crowds anxious to see what you do next.
13 February 2012
Like Chanel's recent couture collection, J.Crew's men's presentation was a rhapsody in blue. "I think in blue," explained Frank Muytjens, who was wearing the color head to toe. If you crossed the divide between the two sides of the presentation space to see the womenswear offerings, you quickly came to understand that Jenna Lyons thinks in several more colors, patterns, and combinations than that—the women's collection was a riot of mix-and-mash, modeled on Lyons' own style. (As the tabloids gleefully reported, one model was even a dead ringer for the label president herself.)It made for a bit of whiplash at a coed presentation, but never mind that: What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander, and restraint suits J.Crew's men. "I think we were ready for a more precise and more polished kind of look," Muytjens said. He has often dredged up vintage pieces for inspiration, and while they were here again—as part of J.Crew's Wallace & Barnes line, which recreates vintage items in deadstock fabrics and the like—they were integrated more seamlessly into a smart, tailored context.The styling owed a debt to the global rise of street-style photography. Denim jackets were layered under sport scoats, scarves were liberally applied, and heritage labels (Mackintosh, Alden, Harris Tweed) were mixed in—all tricks of the trade for the menswear-editor peacock set. But keeping the whole in inky shades of indigo toned down the smile-for-the-camera look and, in essence, distilled what's practiced by a privileged few into what's possible for guys nationwide. For a national contemporary brand, that's a smart move. And while ultra-curated store spaces like J.Crew's Liquor Store, Suit Shop, and Men's Shop remain firmly Manhattan-bound, label stylist Jack O'Connor was quick to note that even the highest-end and most limited Wallace & Barnes pieces are available in catalog and online, ready to ship anywhere. Democracy in action.
13 February 2012
This season's offering from Frank Muytjens and his team at J.Crew felt less narrowly constrained by backward glances than it sometimes has in the past. American menswear overall has had a long moment of historical fetishism, dredging up antique workman's togs and factory uniforms for inspiration (if not facsimile re-creation). It's a fine and fitting homage to the past, but when overdone it can leave a regular guy feeling like a Civil War reenactor.There was still a historical reference to this collection: the great (and under-sung) American realist painter Fairfield Porter, who worked quietly in his homes in Maine and Southampton, New York, where he also played host to the poet James Schuyler for long stretches. Porter's paintings are, for the most part, sweet, domestic scenes. There are portraits of famous friends (besides Schuyler, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, and many of the other great mid-century poets), interiors, and landscapes brightened by soft but vivid color. This gave J.Crew license to bring in sea-foam green, lavender, and lemon. Porter's mode is gentility, both in the gentleness of his aesthetic and the genteelness of his quietly upper-class background. And here, gentle works. After several seasons of war games from designers across the board making militaria, a little peace sounds very fresh.Vintage still provides the model, and you can see where Muytjens and co. drew on old barn jackets, windbreakers, and, yes, military parkas, for their standout outerwear. The calico print that shows up on shorts and a utility shirt could've been a curtain in the Porter home. The 484 slim jeans that J.Crew has been making (and making very well) for several seasons are here in a beat-up, all-American indigo. Muytjens showed them with a gold-buttoned blue blazer, an oxford, and tie, and in a more modern approach that great, racing green barn jacket. Those little touches pushed what could have read plain old trad into the present tense.
12 September 2011
In the last few years, J.Crew's quirky "new vintage" look—let's call it unmatchy-matchy—has become so popular that a few editors in the crowd at yesterday's Fall presentation looked as though they could've stepped onto the blocks that the models were standing on and done some posing of their own. So president and executive creative director Jenna Lyons and the head of women's design, Marissa Webb, were smart to move on. Yes, you could still spot the occasional weathered denim jacket teamed with an even more weathered pair of boyfriend jeans, along with a cashmere cape, orange pumps, and a checked fedora. But taking cues from the moviesBonnie and ClydeandThe Great Gatsby, many of the looks had a more sophisticated spin: a mint green cable sweater tucked into a pair of high-rise, full-legged rust-colored wool trousers, for instance, or a teal blue washed silk trench belted over a little knit top and a pair of leopard-spot embroidered capris. A camel trench, meanwhile, was lined with a removable tulle underskirt for extra volume.Little details have always been top of mind for Team Lyons. For Fall, clever touches reinvigorated the accessories. Driving moccasins came in leopard spot, and, speaking of sophistication, the pointy-toed, multi-strap pumps could've strolled off a Paris runway. In contrast, the models' Cutler and Gross spectacles felt closer to home; dead ringers for Lyons' own glasses, these distinctive, thick-frame numbers summed it all up: The cult of J.Crew just keeps on growing.
28 March 2011
The past is present at J.Crew menswear. It always is. Frank Muytjens and his team start their process by dialing into an archival American moment: last season, the early twentieth century in Winslow Homer's Maine; for Fall, thirties New York, as seen in Lewis Hine's photographs of the foremen and workers toiling on the Empire State Building. Constructing a new skyscraper—that's a more or less apt metaphor for the company's towering ambitions.To Muytjens' credit, he wears his inspirations lightly. "I don't want to say workwear so much anymore," he explained at the company's co-ed presentation (the first time in several seasons it has brought its men's and women's lines together to be seen). "[But] we took those hefty, masculine, functional fabrics and put them in a slimmer silhouette."The palette was mostly dark and the fabrics—to which Muytjens drew special focus—were unblemished deadstock. (A few pieces in Harris tweed marked a renewed collaboration between the American brand and the Scottish mill after a break of a few years.) The cuts and pieces felt more familiar. There were ventures into wide-leg chinos (in selvage fabric) and trouser-cut jeans, but the silhouette on the whole hewed to the slim, pegged denim and trim suit shape J.Crew has been gently selling American guys on. In the end, the label seemed to be playing less on thirties history than on its own recent and successful past. That's a compliment. Here's another brick on the building.
28 March 2011
Color. Jenna Lyons and co. were onto it well before it turned into a bona fide Spring runway trend, and now that it is, you can be sure the J.Crew creative team is mixing it in ways more fearless than ever. A tee, button-down, and paper bag-waist shorts combo came in three different shades of hot pink, and an acid yellow gingham shirt was paired with a straw-colored vest and a blush-toned maxi skirt. And don't forget the models' bright coral lipstick—a near identical match to the shade that Lyons and the brand's new head of women's design, Marissa Webb, were wearing at the Milk Studios presentation.Lyons' own personal style has long influenced what J.Crew's women's collection looks like, so there was more of her signature mixing of day and night, high and low—chambray with lamé jacquard, sequins with cotton fleece, a floor-length dress with a rugged military jacket. The studded cotton sweater worn with chartreuse duchesse satin evening shorts is destined to be an editor favorite, and the peep-toe lace-up heels made in the same Italian factories used by the designer big guns received many nods of approval.But this wasn't a formulaic outing. The crisp white shorts suit at the beginning of the lineup (Webb herself was wearing the matching vest) was notably devoid of the brooches and boutonnieres that decorated last season's tailoring, and it looked smarter for it. Ditto a rumpled cotton shirt and a pair of cuffed khaki trousers in step with the wider-leg pants seen on the catwalks. Plenty here to keep the brand on its upward trajectory.
3 November 2010
To research J.Crew's Spring menswear offering, Frank Muytjens took his team to Prouts Neck, Maine, where the nineteenth-century American landscape painter Winslow Homer kept a studio. As fashion inspirations go, Homer's not the likeliest candidate for canonization. But the spirit of Maine is one Muytjens wanted to channel for his latest men's collection. (In the spirit of synergy, the first model in the lineup even had the evocative name of Henry Barnacle.)The nautical touch is no cause for alarm. The drop-your-anchor era in menswear, when everything you'd find from landlocked shop to landlocked shop sported a ships-and-sails motif, is, thankfully, mostly over, and these days you can rely on J.Crew to know which way the wind is blowing. In the deft hands of Muytjens and co., the influence of sea and sun was subtle, showing itself in bleached-out shades of bone and rust (unevenly mottled, thanks to garment dyeing, and inspired, the designer said, by the work of Cy Twombly), as well as in the sort of rugged materials a seaman would favor: denim, twill, cotton, and chunky woolen knits. (Printed cotton ties showed up instead of silk; a navy tuxedo jacket was paired with flat-front chinos.) Patchworked motifs ran through key pieces, from a paneled pair of jeans to a smart toggle jacket with corduroy lining. This may have been a Spring collection, but there was a heft to the fabrics and fits that felt true to the dapper outdoorsman Muytjens sees as his customer, whether he ever braves the salty Atlantic or not. And speaking of authenticity, there were the shoes: made-for-the-Crew bucks by Alden, since 1884 of Middleborough, Mass., and Quoddy brick-soled mocs and chukkas, crafted since 1909 in—where else?—Perry, Maine.
3 November 2010
Edie Beale goes to Girl Scout camp. Creative director Jenna Lyons' starting point for J.Crew's Fall collection meant that the label's rumpled chambray button-downs, boyfriend chinos, utility jackets, and tweedy coats were accessorized to the hilt with Albertus Swanepoel hats, brooches and necklaces galore, textured tights, ankle socks, and desert boot wedges, as well as spangled, fur-trimmed shoulder bags. "I'm not expecting people to dress like this," Lyons said at Milk Studio's sun-drenched penthouse studio, referring to theGrey Gardens-influenced styling. "But they could, and I would love it if they did."The important point is that, following the lead of the company's cleverly curated catalogs, there was ample opportunity to deconstruct the looks and find plenty of gotta-have-them, affordable basics, along with some truly special pieces. Among the on-trend surprises: an olive-drab vest with Mongolian shearling lining, a sweater jacket trimmed in alpaca, and, yes, diaper shorts—all pieces with that "Oh, is that J.Crew?" potential. "I love it when people ask that," said Lyons, who has been on a roll lately. "But why are they so surprised?"
31 March 2010