Sleevehead: Heritage brands: In search of authenticity                                                          

Heritage brands: In search of authenticity

    This is not a trick question. What do chickens and men's clothing have in common? The answer is heritage. These days the new trend is raising heritage breeds (chickens) and wearing heritage brands (clothing). In the case of poultry, the past few years has seen the rise of raising chickens, often rare or heritage breeds, at home (see link below). It's a return to the household economics of a century ago.

In the case of clothing, heritage has also become fashionable. Check out the current issue of GQ and you'll find a J. Crew advertisement trumpeting its association with brands such as Levi's jeans, Quoddy boots, Panama hats, Ray-Ban sunglasses and Timex watches. Or you can go directly to J. Crew's area on their website featuring their "in good company" brands.

During the Sartorial Excellence gathering last weekend, I met noted men's clothing journalist and writer Bruce Boyer and one of the topics we talked about was the return of heritage brands. On the one hand, it's heartening to see (mostly) great makers and brands getting a second look. But let's just keep in mind that the search for "authentic" brands is simply a starting point for style.

Additional links
- New Yorker piece on the rising popularity of raising heritage breed chickens at home
- New York Times article on heritage chic
- Blogger New Found Lust on the women's take on heritage chic

Labels: , , , , , ,