One discovery, the jeans in the closet have been out of favor for a long time. Many netizens lamented that the last time they wore jeans was last winter or earlier.
Reflecting on the market, the brands that once started with jeans are not doing well.
"U.S. Cow" stands for Levi'Levi Strauss, the parent company of Levi Strauss, saw its net income decline 9% year-on-year in the second quarter of fiscal 2023, recording its largest quarterly decline since the first quarter of fiscal 2021, and its cumulative net profit in the first three quarters exceeded 70% year-on-year"Niscow" on behalf of the Fukujin (Evisu) Japan line announced the discontinuation of production, flaunting craftsmanship and quality, representing the original Nissan line no longer exists.
In the "fashion cow" market, jeans also do not sell well.
The British fast fashion brand topshop, which is very popular with jeans, withdrew from the Chinese market at the end of 2018, and only disappeared from the top 10 of this year's Tmall double 11** list.
So, are jeans, a popular item that has been popular for a hundred years, going to be abandoned by young people?
"Good-looking jeans are uncomfortable".
French fashion blogger Camille once said a big truth in an interview: good-looking jeans must not be comfortable.
This is perhaps a big reason why jeans are abandoned by young people.
There are two kinds of jeans, one is the rough, shabby, and primitive style jeans represented by the original cow culture in the United States and Japan, and the other is the jeans that highlight the waist and hips, modify the leg shape, and appear tall and thin as the French style. The former audience is mainly male, and the latter is mainly female, which is more trendy, so there is a saying that "good-looking jeans are uncomfortable".
Judging from the top three pants in the official sales of Tmall Uniqlo this winter, they are imitation lamb's wool sports pants, cotton-blend elastic pants and suede wide-leg pants.
Some netizens on social networks said, "I have said goodbye to jeans for five years, I have been wearing all kinds of slacks, and now I feel tight when I see jeans" "Wide-leg pants are Xi to wearing jeans anymore, I feel that my legs, stomach, and waist cannot breathe."
The increased emphasis on self-perception is mainly due to the fact that after 2019, working from home has swept the world, and comfort is the first need in the days when you don't have to see people.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. clothing sales plummeted by 50% during the stay-at-home period. Another data shows that sweatpants sales in the U.S. market increased by 79% during this period.
It is widely believed that "in the face of record unemployment and an uncertain future, we need soft pants, not stiff and soft jeans." ”
The same is true in Japan. In recent years, even in Tokyo, the mecca of trends, the popularity of jeans has declined dramatically. In response to this phenomenon, a Japanese program interviewed "why young people don't like to wear jeans" on the streets of Shibuya.
Some people bluntly replied that "I don't like the feeling of being restrained when I put on jeans", and some people bluntly said, "I feel that only middle-aged people in their forties and fifties wear jeans." ”
Market demand drives production, and it can be seen that in recent years, pants are becoming more and more comfortable, and fresh styles are also increasing. In the past, sweatpants were "gray pants", but now sweatpants are becoming more fashionable and textured.
For example, lululemon's softstreme wide-leg sweatpants have a soft and smooth fabric and have the effect of lengthening legsAnother example is banana ice silk sunscreen pants and quick-drying bloomers, which are cool, breathable and sunscreen in summer, and only Tmall official *** has sold more than 100,000 pieces;Issey Miyake's pleated pants are loose and comfortable with a sense of design, and the little red book lady has almost one leg;Even business trousers are starting to use stretchy fabrics, elasticated waistbands, and wrinkle-resistant designs to make them more comfortable.
Jeans, on the other hand, are slightly inferior in terms of comfort, design, and freshness.
In addition to comfort, the second reason why jeans are abandoned by young people is the trend, or rather the attitude they represent.
Since 2018, the trend of sports comfort and outdoor functionality has become mainstream.
In Xiaohongshu, Yoga has 6.55 million notes, which has surpassed the 5.21 million of jeans. When it comes to brands, lululemon entries have 2 billion views, while levis Levi's entries have only 1 million views500 million, which is one-tenth of lululemon.
Yoga pants are popular, and behind them is a change in lifestyle. With the improvement of education and living standards, people pay more attention to health and beauty, and yearn for a self-disciplined and rational high-end lifestyle.
The earliest audience for jeans was the underground miners of the American Gold Rush period, and later became an important part of American pop culture, being sought after by street hipsters, symbolizing freedom, coolness, and rebellion.
Are there any pants that can replace jeans?
The answer is no. Although jeans do not meet the pursuit of modern people, it is undeniable that they are still the most popular pants and have a large number of loyal fans.
Many great brands have also been born in the process of jeans from "cargo pants" to "pop culture icon", and Levi's is one of them.
In the mid-19th century, during the gold rush in the United States, a large number of blue-collar workers and miners needed a pair of durable pants to replace the ordinary cotton cloth on their bodies. Strauss, a young Jewish immigrant from Germany who immigrated to California, saw a business opportunity and selected unsalable canvas from his grocery store and made a low-waisted, straight-legged trouser with a tight hip circumference. This kind of pants is wear-resistant, and the pants pocket can hold the hard-earned ** particles, which is quickly sought after by gold diggers.
In 1855, Strauss abandoned canvas in favor of a sturdy, hard-wearing indigo denim for cargo trousers, which were reinforced with copper nails to make the world's first pair of jeans. He used his own name, Levi's, and opened his first store in San Francisco, USA.
In 1873, Levi's upgraded the shape of jeans to a straight mid-rise cut, button-down design, and the hips were not completely fitted, so they were loose and comfortable to wear, and for the first time, the jeans were coded 501.
The 501 jeans item, along with the spirit of the American Dream of "continuous exploration", quickly became popular in the United States, and polo shirts, jeans, and simple and bright tops with simple color blocks became the standard of American fashion, and the trend spread to the world. In 1971, Levi's raised about $50 million and went public, one of the largest IPOs at the time.
In the 80s of the last century, China's reform and opening up, jeans became popular as a fashionable and avant-garde clothing. By the 90s, jeans began to gain popularity and diversification. Holes, patches, embroidery, wide-legged, straight-legged, flared-legged, small-legged pants, all kinds of jeans emerge in an endless stream, and brands that start with jeans have also appeared.
Some netizens recalled, "When I was in elementary school, I could grind with my parents for a week for a pair of Giordano and Baleno jeans, and when I was in middle school, I was obsessed with the little magic fish, and in high school, I secretly saved money to buy Levi and Esprit, and I started wearing only when I went to college." ”
Mapping to the brand, 2010 was the "peak" of Levi's in China. At the 2010 Apple conference, Jobs wore a black jumper + levi'S jeans + New Balance sneakers have become the standard for big guys, and until now, many CEOs of large companies will imitate this classic combination at the press conference. That is, in 2010, Levi's had more than 500 stores in the first and second tier cities of the Chinese market. In the first half of this year, only 297 remained.
Why?Because Levi's has been too expensive in China in recent years, this gives latecomers an opportunity to take advantage of.
Since 2006, European and American fast fashion has entered the Chinese market one after another, and in 2008, it began to expand rapidly, and jeans began to appear "flat". First of all, only to win the market through **jeans;Then came American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, Holliser, Topshop and other brands, and jeans became fashionableIn 2019, the girl group was popular, and Uniqlo took the opportunity to launch denim "god pants", *299 yuan, completely breaking the myth of the high price of jeans and becoming popular on social networks.
Levi's and other established denim brands lost out in the competition. Data shows that in the Chinese market, the number of Levi's stores in shopping malls has been in a state of negative growth for many years, and 15 stores will be closed in the first half of 2023 alone.
In recent years, Levi's has also worked hard to reverse the decline, such as strengthening the self-operated store model in 2011 and digging out the best and tops categoriesAt the end of 2022, Levi's parent company, Levi's Levi Strauss & CoOfficially entered the field of yoga wear and wanted to create the next lululemon;This year, the 150th anniversary of the birth of 501, Levi's has teamed up with brands such as CROCS in an attempt to attract young people.
But in the eyes of the industry, Levi's series of actions cannot reverse the decline.
Zhang Peiying, an expert in the fashion industry, said that the main reason why jeans are not popular is that times have changed. With athleisure becoming the mainstay, people's aesthetics have changed, and jeans can no longer dominate.
As far as the Levi's brand itself is concerned, the brand is aging and cannot meet the diversified needs of consumers like fast fashion, and jeans are limited by the material, and it is more difficult to innovate. In particular, a brand like Levi's, which has achieved the ultimate in a segment, is more affected by the trend.
In Zhang Peiying's view, Levi's needs to adjust the entire R&D innovation and operation strategy. Especially for such a huge consumer market as China, how to combine brand culture and brand value with Chinese consumers, and how to continue to innovate are the problems that Levi's needs to think about.
As far as the product itself is concerned, some netizens have long complained on social networks, "Levi's is not suitable for Asians." Most of the pants are low-waisted, which is comfortable, but the legs are really shorter. In addition, Levi's pants are too long, although there are pants length models to choose from, but the popular style is not available for many years, resulting in pants all accumulating on the upper, and most men do not have the Xi of cutting pants twice, plus the low-waist design, 1.8 meters can be worn into 1.5 meters. ”
Zhang Peiying also believes that Levi's jeans themselves have a small audience, and marketing tools are needed to expand potential customer groups, but we rarely see marketing endorsements for Levi's jeans out of the circle. On the other hand, environmental protection, jeans do not have an advantage in this regard, how to break through, for jeans companies is a difficulty and a challenge.
But the industry is still optimistic about the future of jeans. After all, jeans are one of the main elements of the world's popular fashion trend industry, which has been tested by time, but it performs differently at different stages. However, it is not enough to tell your own story as a brand, you also need to be consumer-oriented.
Perhaps, Levi's needs to lower their arrogant heads, and the concept of "good-looking jeans are uncomfortable" will be eliminated as soon as possible, after all, there are too many pants that are "10,000 times more comfortable than jeans" now.