Aimé Leon Dore Is In Trouble?

Not because of the looks.

Well, I haven’t checked the brand’s social media stats or financial figures, but these three Substacks — Deez Links, Thread Space, and Mensweird — suggest it might be. Concerns mainly revolve around Aimé Leon Dore’s meticulously curated aesthetics, conveyed through lookbooks and two brick-and-mortars in New York and London. Their visuals are mostly shot against a plain, toned-down backdrop with just a few signature details, like a classic Porsche or an old basketball. The formula proved so appealing that, by 2023, it had been adopted by brands across the industry, from the ones just starting up like about:blank, Pompeii, and Café Mountain to already established names like P.Johnson and Drôle de Monsieur.

Since when this is considered not cool?

But the fact that the aesthetic went viral doesn’t make it boring or lazy. If you care about lookbooks in the first place, you can probably tell the difference between Aimé Leon Dore and its copycats. Because the latter often lacks the key ingredient — authenticity. You have to live in New York. You have to play ball. You have to love ‘90s hip-hop. You have to be the kind of person who can attract cool people from the industry as if they’re the ones who want to hang out with you, not the other way around. Ok, maybe you don’t actually have to sleep on a floor mattress amidst trashy rugs and vintage Jordans — your half-naked girlfriend wouldn’t tolerate that for long. But otherwise, you can’t fake it.

Aimé Leon Dore 2015

One brand that’s often cited as a healthy alternative is Drake’s. Unlike the detached cool of Aimé Leon Dore, Drake’s lookbooks are alive and full of joy. While the former exudes a started-from-the-bottom, self-made yet chill, IYKYK vibe, the latter is all about simple pleasures and camaraderie. It’s like, “You have to play ball with me first before I speak to you” versus “Hey mate, you look cool. Where’d you get that tie from?” Both are just that — imageries. And both can be equally appealing, depending on what resonates with you.

No, it’s not the aesthetics that bother people about Aimé Leon Dore. Even if you’re more of a Drake’s person than an ALD fan, it’s hard to deny that the latter is still cool. So what is it?

To me, the honest answer is that Aimé Leon Dore has reached a level of popularity where every fuccboi (the OG term for what’s now morphed into crypto bros) thinks they’re onto something just because they snagged a signature hat. We’ve seen this before: Needles track pants, Kapital’s bone and smiley garments, the entire Supreme brand. Damn, Supreme was hit so hard it’s been trying to recover for almost a decade now.

Speaking of fuccbois, here are my outfits featuring Aimé Leon Dore, starting from 2017

Aimé Leon Dore is facing a similar risk. The New Balance 550 was a massive success, but it came at a cost. The brand needs to slow down, release fewer items, and distance itself from the masses to reaffirm its exclusive, unattainable coolness among true fans. Because once you sell out, the climb back to the top is so much steeper.

So, is Aimé Leon Dore in trouble because its aesthetics have played out? I don’t think so. I might not like the cold, IYKYK kind of cool. I might not like fuccbois. I might not like LVMH investments. And I might not buy from the brand. But let’s be honest: Aimé Leon Dore’s steez is still hella tight.

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