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. With Dept of Updates
Posted Under: Update
Haven’t done one of these in a while, and may have missed or forgotten some stuff in the interim, but:
The March 26, 2006 Consumed was about Supreme. How is the brand doing in these gloomy times? PSFK points to an interview in Interview with founder James Jebbia (who I must say was one of the more interesting “streetwear” entrepreneur types I’ve ever interviewed). Jebbia says his business is “really good.” And: “Ever since September 11, I’ve been quite conservative in what we’ve ordered. We’ve never really been supply-demand anyway. It’s not like when we’re making something, we make only six of them. But if we can sell 600, I make 400.” There’s also some interesting stuff about Japanese consumers.
The May 15, 2005 Consumed was about Classic Century Dinnerware, sold at Crate & Barrel, and designed by Eva Zeisel. Core77 notes that Zeisel — now 103 — was recently honored at New York’s Museum of Arts & Design. Beyond The Beyond also chimes in to marvel at Zeisel, and to point out this SF Examiner piece about her.
A blog called My Private Brand reprints in its entirety the May 7, 2006 Consumed about Publix’ private-label design. Please note: Both I and the New York Times would prefer it if you would simply link to the column, rather than reprint it without permission. I’m just saying. Anyway, My Private Brand looks interesting so I’ll keep an eye on it. Prior Murketing.com post with a roundup of stuff I’ve written about private label evolution over the years is here.
The April 17, 2005 Consumed was about Moosejaw.The guy I interviewed, a fairly charming young man named Robert Wolfe, has moved from CEO to Chief Creative. Details here on the company blog, which says: “Moosejaw has continued to grow its brick-and-mortar presence, created a state-of-the-art multi-channel e-commerce, mobile commerce and point of sale system, upgraded its call center and warehouse distribution center, tripled the size of the Moosejaw brand apparel line and much more.”
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Reader Comments
FWIW, Supreme just did a big wheatpasted poster campaign in Williamsburg and the East Village, featuring a poster of Lou Reed in sunglasses and a black Supreme tee, plastered in an endless repetition along 1 1/2 blocks of Bedford Ave in W’burg, and along long stretches in the EV. Generally, adverstising posters are wheatpasted in much smaller bunches, so this is the sidewalk equivalent of a huge media buy. It’s the most out-there publicity that I’ve ever seen the brand do, which of course made me wonder whether they’re doing it because they need to, or because they’re just trying to grow the brand. The celebrity endorser also seemed unusual for them.
Also, FWIW, the W’burg posters were almost immediately altered by local artists who put up their own logos over Reed’s face or the Supreme logo. The EV posters were hardly touched.
Whenever I read something about Supreme, I can’t help but think of Kidrobot. It seems like a lot of Supreme fans are also toy collectors. I’m not sure how KR is doing in this economy. I initially assumed poorly, especially since they just sell glorified knickknacks, but the store on Prince St. always appears packed whenever I pass by. Have you written about Kidrobot in the past, Rob? It would make for an interesting case study in how consumers justify making seemingly trivial purchases.
Brian — I think it is unusual for them to be quite that aggressive yes. The celeb thing is less surprising, but usually they are quieter about it.
Gladys — I’ve never written directly about Kid Robot but they come up in some stuff I’ve done in the past. The most interesting thing might be the stuff int his column about Yo Gabba Gabba, has some info about their partial financing by entertainment company and thus what I assume is the real business model:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20wwln-consumed-t.html
I think Kid Robot would be a great story for a business magazine, more than for the column, but I’ve never been able to get anybody to assign it to me!