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'Normcore' goes mainstream as US jeans giant comes to Britain: American Eagle opens first stores to meet teenagers' demand for the unbranded look
[October 25, 2014]

'Normcore' goes mainstream as US jeans giant comes to Britain: American Eagle opens first stores to meet teenagers' demand for the unbranded look


(Observer (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Its stores are a big draw for British teenagers on holiday in the US with their parents, but next month American Eagle, one of the biggest youth clothing brands in America, will land in the UK.

Best known for its "all-American" look of jeans, check shirts and branded hoodies, American Eagle has had to make slight changes to appeal to the UK market, such as tighter jeans for male shoppers. But it is hoping to cash in on the trend for less brash branding, dubbed "normcore" by fashion-watchers.



"We're a true American lifestyle brand," says Simon Nankervis, who heads the retailer's international business. "We already know there is a level of demand here," he adds, referring to British Eagle fans who are paying customs duty and freight to ship its clothes over from the US.

A recent survey of the spending habits of more than 7,000 American teenagers by US investment bank Piper Jaffray listed American Eagle as young fashion shoppers' second favourite clothing brand after Nike. Abercrombie & Fitch was not even in the top 10 - showing how swiftly fashion brand fortunes can change.


When A&F arrived in the UK in 2007 it caused a sensation, with teenagers queuing to get their hands on its jeans, joggers and hoodies, although it swiftly lost kudos when it emerged that British shoppers were being charged nearly double for identical products sold in American stores. Nankervis won't confirm its prices - its website lists jeans at pounds 25-pounds 30 - abefore its first stores open in the south-east next month but says: "We are not naive. We know a customer can go online and see what a pair of jeans costs in the US." American Eagle's teams have been sizing up the UK market since 2007 and Nankervis says the retailer, which targets 15- to 25-year-olds, has adapted to meet the tastes of British youngsters. "It's not a case of what you see in Indiana, you see in New York and you're going to see in London," he says. "Our ranges will be differentiated because the guy in London wears his jeans tighter and the girls [follow] trends a lot quicker because of the proximity to Europe. It will be closer to what we do in New York than Middle America." With annual sales of $3.3bn and more than 1,000 stores in the US, American Eagle is best known for its denim. For many American teenagers the store provides their school uniform. The brand's eagle motif can be plastered across the front of sweatshirts, but it is also used more subtly on jean pockets and on shirt tails.

Lorna Hall, head of market intelligence at trend forecaster WGSN, says American Eagle will face stiff competition when its stores open in the two London Westfield malls and Kent shopping centre Bluewater, but that the current vogue for "normcore" could play in its favour. Normcore celebrates pedestrian clothes - unbranded jeans and plain T-shirts - as a way of expressing individuality, with Hall pointing to Gap's current marketing campaign which uses the tagline "Dress Normal". "The normcore trend plays to the strengths of retailers that are good at the everyday basics people actually wear," she says.

American Eagle hopes shoppers will be won over by choice: women's jeans come in 45 colours and seven styles while men have to make do with a mere five fits in 36 shades - or washes, as they are called in the denim business.

The retailer also plans, perhaps bravely, to inject some American-style customer service into its stores. Like Starbucks with its coffee, it will encourage sales assistants to call customers by their name in the changing rooms.

Captions: American Eagle is best known for its denim ranges, with scores of colours and cuts. Photograph by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images American Eagle produces a range of clothes for dogs, called American Beagle.

(c) 2014 Guardian Newspapers Limited.

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