SHOP WATCHING
7 For All Mankind, Regent Street
The premium LA denim brand has opened a UK flagship in central London, but the shopfit might not convince customers it justifies the price tags
OUR EXPERT
John Ryan Group stores editor With a background in fashion buying, including a 10-year stint at C&A in the UK and Germany, John Ryan writes about visual merchandising, store design and the business of launching new shops. As a journalist, he has covered the sector for more than a decade
as, after all, it’s a denim garment and it can’t be that expensive. Well, actually it can and a quick scoot around the new 7 For All Mankind flagship store will do much to dispel the notion that denim is an intrinsically inexpensive way of being fashionable. This is top-end stuff and perhaps,
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given that the brand has taken a large store on Regent Street, it has to be – rents tend to be at the far end of pricey in this neck of the woods. This is possibly why this site became vacant. Prior to the arrival of 7 For All Mankind a couple of weeks ago, this was the flag- ship for George Davies’ GIVe venture, which he axed at retail to switch to a wholesale model this year, resulting in the closure of the store in October. The transformation from mid-market
fashion retailer for women of a certain age to slick, US denim brand seems to have happened overnight. It hasn’t, of course, although getting the space fitted out and trading has taken little more than a month, but given that Regent Street visits are infrequent for most people, this might seem to be the case. 7 For All Mankind was established a
decade ago in Los Angeles and was bought by brand house VF Corporation in 2007.
Merchandise and key looks First things first. What’s the entry price for those wishing to join the 7 For All Mankind club? If it’s jeans you seek, then £165 will secure a pair of classic New York Dark stretch jeggings, while a
18 Drapers December 3 2010
hen you walk into a store to pick up a pair of jeans, it’s probable that a sub-£100 figure will be in your head
another jegging style goes for £195. This sounds pricey, but if the mood takes you and you are prepared to splash out, a pair of Italian-made jeans, suitably beaten up, will set you back £305. At this price there are just two styles under the 777 moniker – and there are just 777 pairs in circulation, hence, perhaps, the price. It’s worth noting that the collection
on show in Regent Street divides into two, with classic stylings, almost entirely denim, emanating from the US while the more expensive and modish pieces are Italian. About a third of what is on view is for men, with prices ranging from £55 for a printed T-shirt to £150 as the starter price for a jumper, with blazers at £245. For women, the range tops out at £725, for which you will be the proud owner of a brown leather bomber jacket with a fox fur trim. There may well be a market for all of
this, as the number of 7 For All Mankind indie stockists attests, but seen en masse, these prices look optimistic. Score 5/10
Visual merchandising In days gone by, jeans were about streetwear and any retailer selling them went to considerable lengths to ensure there was a down and dirty feel to the environments where they were sold. This meant piling jeans high, hanging them from hooks or perhaps furling them up in kit roll-style bundles, the method currently favoured by All Saints. No such thinking informs the displays
at 7 For All Mankind, which has rather more in common with a minimalist
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