Anonymous wrote:Why is VV all of a sudden popular with the teen/tween set around DC suburbs - never heard of it before this year, and now I see every other teen and tween with a VV shirt or other status clothing item. Is it because they opened a store at the Montgomery Mall?

the store opened be off its online popularity.

Why is VV all of a sudden popular with the teen/tween set around DC suburbs - never heard of it before this year, and now I see every other teen and tween with a VV shirt or other status clothing item. Is it because they opened a store at the Montgomery Mall?

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Anonymous wrote:They don't market to minorities, because they don't want socially ambitious AAs deciding that Vineyard Vines is a status brand. That will make their brand VERY fashionable for a few years, but turn off their core market. Then the fashion will change and they will be a worn out brand who is no longer fashionable and whose core market gave up on them.

VV isn't fashionable. Don't confuse popular in a niche market with fashionable.

Actually, VV has broken out of the niche market and is quite trendy. Go to any private school or affluent public high school in this area and you'll see a ton of VV. The brand has become very predictably preppy and lost all the fun it once had. It's perfect for boring and conformist people of any race or ethnicity. How fabulous!

My DD mentioned seeing the brand a lot at her MCPS middle school this year.

Anonymous wrote:Mom of biracial kids here. Doesn't bother me bc there is not way I'd shop high end for kids - esp boy - clothes. Target and Kohls is just fine

While they do have kids clothes there that is not their focus. They started with ties, then expanded to other accessories (like belts, tote bags and flip flops) using their tie fabrics, then to clothing. The kids sections in the store and catalogs are usually quite small. While I do shop there occasionally, their primary market is probably 16-25 year old high school and college students in the northeast and southeast.

NP. A few years ago, I was similarly put off by a high-end children's clothing catalog that featured very few children from diverse backgrounds. A couple of very light-skinned, racially ambiguous but possibly biracial AA girls (like myself) were featured, but no brown-skinned children of any background. What's worse is that this particularly clothing company often photographed their catalogs on location in exotic locales, but their catalogs still largely featured almost all white children. In this case, the catalog was shot in an African country, but with no black or brown children featured. I am the mother of a 1/2 African child, and I frequently buy their clothes and found it a shame that they did not feature children that look anything like her background. I knew several other AA friends who also bought this brand regularly.

I was unsatisfied with the answer I got from a company rep (basically, a shrug--she said they just take whatever child models show up for calls, instead of actively trying to recruit models from diverse backgrounds). I started a petition to convince this company to increase the diversity of their catalogs, and I shared it through social media (Facebook, Twitter). Many other people besides myself also expressed similar sentiments on their Facebook page.

A few weeks later, I got an email from the head of the company saying that they would try to do better in reflecting more diversity in their catalogs. I've been flipping through their catalogs ever since when I get them in the mail, and there is indeed more ethnic diversity in their catalog.

More power to you, OP.

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Anonymous wrote:They don't market to minorities, because they don't want socially ambitious AAs deciding that Vineyard Vines is a status brand. That will make their brand VERY fashionable for a few years, but turn off their core market. Then the fashion will change and they will be a worn out brand who is no longer fashionable and whose core market gave up on them.

VV isn't fashionable. Don't confuse popular in a niche market with fashionable.

Actually, VV has broken out of the niche market and is quite trendy. Go to any private school or affluent public high school in this area and you'll see a ton of VV. The brand has become very predictably preppy and lost all the fun it once had. It's perfect for boring and conformist people of any race or ethnicity. How fabulous!

It's really not, and you don't seem to understand fashion very well. It's certainly not "trendy".

Streetwear- now that's a current trend. VV? No.

And what middle schoolers at Stone Ridge are wearing on free dress days do not count

It goes well beyond middle schoolers at Stone Ridge. Note the rack space devoted to VV at Nordstrom tbd, for example. And, actually, that's exactly what counts in making a trend -- popularity.

You fail to note the difference between popularity and a trend.

Hanes has a rack at Nordstrom, hardly makes them a huge trend.

Except that Hanes has always been there; whereas, VV is new. That's what makes it a trend. I think perhaps the difference you seek to note is between what's fashionable according to Vogue and what's fashionable according to shoppers.

Nope. Trying to note the difference between having a high sales volume and being a trend.

Mom of biracial kids here. Doesn't bother me bc there is not way I'd shop high end for kids - esp boy - clothes. Target and Kohls is just fine

Anonymous wrote:So, wait. The OP is basing their clothing choices on the color of the models skin? Thats a new take.

Caring about the exclusion of others is not new. You just have your head up your selfish ass.

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Anonymous wrote:Every place I have lived has has different shopping "trends" from other areas at the time I lived there--that have nothing to do with current nationwide and/or industry "fashion trends" In the DC suburbs, VV, Vera Bradley, and Northface are popular.

Now this blows my mind. Those bags aren't even easy to carry. Women look so uncomfortable lugging those overstuffed duffels through the airport, leaning like the Tower of Pisa, and every bag is uglier than the next.

Super fugly.

Anonymous wrote:When I look at a catalog, I don't count the races. That's stupid

Of course you don't if you're a privileged majority. She didn't say she counted. When you are a minority you notice being under or un-represented. Even if you're light skinned. The ops last sentence was not necessary yet revealing.

They sell Vineyard Vines at our local military PX, so that means it is already going mainstream, will be less elite and will be worn by a more diverse customer base.

Love my Vera Bradleys!

So, wait. The OP is basing their clothing choices on the color of the models skin? Thats a new take.

Anonymous wrote:Every place I have lived has has different shopping "trends" from other areas at the time I lived there--that have nothing to do with current nationwide and/or industry "fashion trends" In the DC suburbs, VV, Vera Bradley, and Northface are popular.

Now this blows my mind. Those bags aren't even easy to carry. Women look so uncomfortable lugging those overstuffed duffels through the airport, leaning like the Tower of Pisa, and every bag is uglier than the next.

Every place I have lived has has different shopping "trends" from other areas at the time I lived there--that have nothing to do with current nationwide and/or industry "fashion trends" In the DC suburbs, VV, Vera Bradley, and Northface are popular.

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Anonymous wrote:They don't market to minorities, because they don't want socially ambitious AAs deciding that Vineyard Vines is a status brand. That will make their brand VERY fashionable for a few years, but turn off their core market. Then the fashion will change and they will be a worn out brand who is no longer fashionable and whose core market gave up on them.

VV isn't fashionable. Don't confuse popular in a niche market with fashionable.

Actually, VV has broken out of the niche market and is quite trendy. Go to any private school or affluent public high school in this area and you'll see a ton of VV. The brand has become very predictably preppy and lost all the fun it once had. It's perfect for boring and conformist people of any race or ethnicity. How fabulous!

It's really not, and you don't seem to understand fashion very well. It's certainly not "trendy".

Streetwear- now that's a current trend. VV? No.

And what middle schoolers at Stone Ridge are wearing on free dress days do not count

It goes well beyond middle schoolers at Stone Ridge. Note the rack space devoted to VV at Nordstrom tbd, for example. And, actually, that's exactly what counts in making a trend -- popularity.

You fail to note the difference between popularity and a trend.

Hanes has a rack at Nordstrom, hardly makes them a huge trend.

Except that Hanes has always been there; whereas, VV is new. That's what makes it a trend. I think perhaps the difference you seek to note is between what's fashionable according to Vogue and what's fashionable according to shoppers.