ALD is in trouble because they taught everyone to eBay vintage Polo where prices and quality are better for the same products. LVMH acquisition will continue to hurt them long-term because the people who are ahead of trends and actually make things cool are always weird psychos who reject institutions. ALD is a roasted chicken inside a roasted duck inside a roasted turkey. The mainstream of the culture is just getting to the duck part but the whole scheme is triple roasted. I look forward to the day when nobody talks about them or the “ALD lookbook aesthetic” anymore. It’s really not very remarkable
Interesting take. Do you really feel their aesthetic has never been anything special? I’d agree they didn’t invent it. But I feel like they did an amazing job of crystallizing this romantic nostalgia of 90s New York: movies, subcultures, fashion, music, etc. It might have lost its original meaning in the process, but it’s just because we live in era of visuals, not essence.
I agree their strength has been essentially curating a specific nostalgia about New York City in a certain era. But ya know… Porsche, bulls-era Jordan, Biggie, J Crew Lakehouse aesthetics… these are not exactly deep cuts. They are in fact cuts shallow enough to resonate with a sufficient market segment to justify acquisition by the world’s largest fashion-eating-blob. They’re due some credit for the way they have recombined those touch points, sure. But let’s not forget Spike Lee was dressing like this in the 90’s. Teddy basically took what a subculture had been doing for 30 years and sold it to white dorks in SoHo.
With regard to the lookbooks, they’re nice. They’re definitely nice. But are they particularly creative? Is the idea of props and a set something new? The reason we see ALD style lookbooks being aped all over the place is because A. They’re easy and cheap to do, compared to location gigs and B. The brand sells. Fashion might spin out ten really rad creative people every five to ten years but otherwise like the rest of society it’s mostly people doing what they’re told and regurgitating what they see, so if I’m a not-super-creative person trying to sell sweatshirts, what are my art direction pulls gonna be? Whatever’s on the front page of the internet.
The worst part is that in case you actually love the visuals and feel inspired to visit a store in-person, you’re just gonna hate yourself because instead of the 90s New York nostalgia it’s packed with people rigorously trying to show that they “get it” while attempting to snatch that logo hat and uploading a branded disposable cup of coffee on socials.
Yeah, ALD is definitely one of those things where I’m put off by their main audience, which to be fair is not really their fault. But I’ve been in that store numerous times, before and after it was balls to ass busy open to close. Back when you could just walk up and order a coffee like normal and it wasn’t a whole thing. And on none of those visits did I feel like I was encountering something as cool as the brand’s vibe online. I have never bought into the story that rude and inattentive retail associates denote some kind of prestige. I am kind of old school in that regard. People should be cool and friendly and helpful
It’s simply the result of being a victim of your own success. ALD has entered that “played out” phase because it’s been adopted by everyone. The real question is whether they can ride this wave and come out the other side.
Appreciate you addressing this from another perspective. I personally don’t agree that they have anything to worry about yet, and kinda confused why there’s been such a flurry of people saying they’re going downhill seemingly out of nowhere. They have an aesthetic that’s been wildly popular, and until the have consecutive capsules that are misses, or have a bunch of quality issues like one of your other readers mentioned, they’ll be completely fine.
Generally, I agree. Kapital and Needles ain’t gone nowhere because they’ve seen a brief period of crazy hype. Moreover, I still think ALD’s aesthetic is dope.
Personally, I don’t like the fact that the brand is used to sell out cheap New Balance sneakers. I’m totally fine with whoever wears ALD snapbacks, but I can see why “the og brand’s fans” might be.
In case the brand starts to decline, these could be the first signs (which are not the reasons but consequences of needing to grow at fast pace). But I believe they are far from that. They are from becoming Ralph either, although I’d love to see this eventually.
And these are just the examples of somewhat bigger, more invested brands. Judging by Explore page, there are countless of noname copycats who clearly want to capitalize on the looks while they’re hot, without any intention to build a brand afterwards
"The brand needs to slow down, release fewer items, and distance itself from the masses to reaffirm its exclusive, unattainable coolness among true fans."
Want to preface this by saying sorry for my rude comment earlier. A genuine concern for ALD's trajectory should be anchored in maintaining the inherent quality that initially attracted consumers, not in artificially restricting access to perpetuate an illusion of "coolness."
As a long-time New Balance loyalist (over a decade, in fact), my primary concern regarding their recent surge in popularity has never been about the ubiquity of the brand. Rather, it's been about the potential degradation of quality control. When demand escalates rapidly, compromises in manufacturing can ensue, and that constitutes a far more legitimate concern.
Oh, that’s actually a fair point. In the article, I focused on the change in perception of the brand based on the three other articles, the abundance of memes about the brand (“fourth base is him taking off his ALD hat” is my favorite), and generally, my observation of how people talk about the brand. It’s all very subjective of course and might have little to do with how brand actually performs in terms of numbers. With that being said, it still might be true.
Artificially limiting supply would be indeed a wack move. What I actually meant by releasing fewer items and distancing from the masses, is focusing on quality which to me includes how special certain garment is. To give you an example, New Balance 550 was very special upon release. Even though historically, it was a basic model from the range, it hasn’t been re-released until Teddy Santis. But the reception was so good, that it quickly went viral. Which is not necessarily bad, but it just lowers the perceived quality (e.g. you can’t buy Jordan 1s in Chicago off the shelf which makes them special).
New Balance 475 is another example. Besides the fact that’s it’s the first re-release, there is nothing special about it, it’s a mediocre running shoe from late 80s. ALD is selling off its brand for New Balance to capitalize on mediocre sneaker. I think this impacts both perception and actual quality of the brand.
The complete opposite of this would be releasing a Made In USA sneaker that’s not readily available from other collaborations. It would add up to both quality and exclusivity signaling to the core audience that the brand actually still thinks long-term and wants to become the next Ralph instead of maximizing return on what it has already achieved.
“New Balance are well and truly flexing their ability to stay focused and consistent. Where many brands would be tempted to capitalise on current trends and up product volume, Preston sees it differently stating, ‘Quite frankly, we could be bigger if we wanted to, but we use a selective distribution approach to manage the brand and not oversaturate”
ALD is in trouble because they taught everyone to eBay vintage Polo where prices and quality are better for the same products. LVMH acquisition will continue to hurt them long-term because the people who are ahead of trends and actually make things cool are always weird psychos who reject institutions. ALD is a roasted chicken inside a roasted duck inside a roasted turkey. The mainstream of the culture is just getting to the duck part but the whole scheme is triple roasted. I look forward to the day when nobody talks about them or the “ALD lookbook aesthetic” anymore. It’s really not very remarkable
Interesting take. Do you really feel their aesthetic has never been anything special? I’d agree they didn’t invent it. But I feel like they did an amazing job of crystallizing this romantic nostalgia of 90s New York: movies, subcultures, fashion, music, etc. It might have lost its original meaning in the process, but it’s just because we live in era of visuals, not essence.
I agree their strength has been essentially curating a specific nostalgia about New York City in a certain era. But ya know… Porsche, bulls-era Jordan, Biggie, J Crew Lakehouse aesthetics… these are not exactly deep cuts. They are in fact cuts shallow enough to resonate with a sufficient market segment to justify acquisition by the world’s largest fashion-eating-blob. They’re due some credit for the way they have recombined those touch points, sure. But let’s not forget Spike Lee was dressing like this in the 90’s. Teddy basically took what a subculture had been doing for 30 years and sold it to white dorks in SoHo.
With regard to the lookbooks, they’re nice. They’re definitely nice. But are they particularly creative? Is the idea of props and a set something new? The reason we see ALD style lookbooks being aped all over the place is because A. They’re easy and cheap to do, compared to location gigs and B. The brand sells. Fashion might spin out ten really rad creative people every five to ten years but otherwise like the rest of society it’s mostly people doing what they’re told and regurgitating what they see, so if I’m a not-super-creative person trying to sell sweatshirts, what are my art direction pulls gonna be? Whatever’s on the front page of the internet.
Facts.
The worst part is that in case you actually love the visuals and feel inspired to visit a store in-person, you’re just gonna hate yourself because instead of the 90s New York nostalgia it’s packed with people rigorously trying to show that they “get it” while attempting to snatch that logo hat and uploading a branded disposable cup of coffee on socials.
Yeah, ALD is definitely one of those things where I’m put off by their main audience, which to be fair is not really their fault. But I’ve been in that store numerous times, before and after it was balls to ass busy open to close. Back when you could just walk up and order a coffee like normal and it wasn’t a whole thing. And on none of those visits did I feel like I was encountering something as cool as the brand’s vibe online. I have never bought into the story that rude and inattentive retail associates denote some kind of prestige. I am kind of old school in that regard. People should be cool and friendly and helpful
It’s simply the result of being a victim of your own success. ALD has entered that “played out” phase because it’s been adopted by everyone. The real question is whether they can ride this wave and come out the other side.
Exactly. And it might to be about time to address this instead of waiting any longer.
Appreciate you addressing this from another perspective. I personally don’t agree that they have anything to worry about yet, and kinda confused why there’s been such a flurry of people saying they’re going downhill seemingly out of nowhere. They have an aesthetic that’s been wildly popular, and until the have consecutive capsules that are misses, or have a bunch of quality issues like one of your other readers mentioned, they’ll be completely fine.
Generally, I agree. Kapital and Needles ain’t gone nowhere because they’ve seen a brief period of crazy hype. Moreover, I still think ALD’s aesthetic is dope.
Personally, I don’t like the fact that the brand is used to sell out cheap New Balance sneakers. I’m totally fine with whoever wears ALD snapbacks, but I can see why “the og brand’s fans” might be.
In case the brand starts to decline, these could be the first signs (which are not the reasons but consequences of needing to grow at fast pace). But I believe they are far from that. They are from becoming Ralph either, although I’d love to see this eventually.
Wow, that Pompeii example. Bit the whole look, even the hunter green smh.
And these are just the examples of somewhat bigger, more invested brands. Judging by Explore page, there are countless of noname copycats who clearly want to capitalize on the looks while they’re hot, without any intention to build a brand afterwards
"The brand needs to slow down, release fewer items, and distance itself from the masses to reaffirm its exclusive, unattainable coolness among true fans."
Respectfully, get a job.
Meaning that no brand should slow down while it’s clearly on the rise?
Want to preface this by saying sorry for my rude comment earlier. A genuine concern for ALD's trajectory should be anchored in maintaining the inherent quality that initially attracted consumers, not in artificially restricting access to perpetuate an illusion of "coolness."
As a long-time New Balance loyalist (over a decade, in fact), my primary concern regarding their recent surge in popularity has never been about the ubiquity of the brand. Rather, it's been about the potential degradation of quality control. When demand escalates rapidly, compromises in manufacturing can ensue, and that constitutes a far more legitimate concern.
Oh, that’s actually a fair point. In the article, I focused on the change in perception of the brand based on the three other articles, the abundance of memes about the brand (“fourth base is him taking off his ALD hat” is my favorite), and generally, my observation of how people talk about the brand. It’s all very subjective of course and might have little to do with how brand actually performs in terms of numbers. With that being said, it still might be true.
Artificially limiting supply would be indeed a wack move. What I actually meant by releasing fewer items and distancing from the masses, is focusing on quality which to me includes how special certain garment is. To give you an example, New Balance 550 was very special upon release. Even though historically, it was a basic model from the range, it hasn’t been re-released until Teddy Santis. But the reception was so good, that it quickly went viral. Which is not necessarily bad, but it just lowers the perceived quality (e.g. you can’t buy Jordan 1s in Chicago off the shelf which makes them special).
New Balance 475 is another example. Besides the fact that’s it’s the first re-release, there is nothing special about it, it’s a mediocre running shoe from late 80s. ALD is selling off its brand for New Balance to capitalize on mediocre sneaker. I think this impacts both perception and actual quality of the brand.
The complete opposite of this would be releasing a Made In USA sneaker that’s not readily available from other collaborations. It would add up to both quality and exclusivity signaling to the core audience that the brand actually still thinks long-term and wants to become the next Ralph instead of maximizing return on what it has already achieved.
Taken from Sneaker Freaker article
“New Balance are well and truly flexing their ability to stay focused and consistent. Where many brands would be tempted to capitalise on current trends and up product volume, Preston sees it differently stating, ‘Quite frankly, we could be bigger if we wanted to, but we use a selective distribution approach to manage the brand and not oversaturate”
Looks like Preston has got your back
That’s good to know, but at least 327 and 550 prove otherwise 🤔