2024-08-19 04:35:24
Where is my order? When are you going to send the bags? Why didn’t I receive any confirmation email? Recently, the French independent designer brand JACQUEMUS has been inundated with numerous angry comments on social media, showing disappointed customers expressing their dissatisfaction with the brand’s “inaction” over the past few months.
According to international fashion authority “Vogue Business,” JACQUEMUS is currently facing multiple challenges such as insufficient financial resources, inventory, logistics, and human resource management. Plans for the brand to open new stores in Los Angeles and Miami by 2025 have also faced postponement. It is reported that the brand canceled their leases back in May and delayed the opening of their London store prior to Christmas, and even their vision of opening two flagship stores each year has fallen through.
#1
How did JACQUEMUS gain its current popularity?
Founded by Simon Porte Jacquemus in 2009, JACQUEMUS was initially not well-received until 2015 when the brand began to show exponential growth. At first, creating this brand was like a dream for Simon Porte Jacquemus, but it was his talent, creativity, and strong ambition that allowed JACQUEMUS to gain entry into the luxury goods market.
Starting with very limited funding, JACQUEMUS could only produce very small exclusive collections in collaboration with Parisian tailors. However, in 2015, everything changed when Simon Porte Jacquemus won the special prize at the LVMH Prize, receiving €150,000 and a year-long mentorship contract with the LVMH Group, officially kickstarting his journey in the fashion industry.
The LVMH Prize is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for young designers to elevate their brand to a new level and a stepping stone into the luxury goods industry.
Since then, JACQUEMUS, with its unique southern French aesthetic and imaginative marketing, has captured the hearts of countless millennials. Even when faced with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the trend of buying luxury goods did not wane; the idea of “rewarding oneself with high-quality luxury goods” transcended mere ostentation and became a symbol of “dreams realized” for many young people.
On social media, millennials, who thrive on Instagram, have become accustomed to showcasing their “best sides” on the platform, and luxury brands have understandably capitalized on this psychology, sending bags to influencers, making bag-swapping as common as shirt changes. But frankly, who can really afford to buy a new bag every month?
This is where JACQUEMUS found its breakthrough into the millennial mindset.
#2
Founded with a Dream: JACQUEMUS also sells a kind of dream
Although millennials don’t have much money in their pockets, they are very calculating, and JACQUEMUS’s outstanding marketing strategy quickly captured this demographic’s appetite. Thus, even the oversized straw hats that initially made JACQUEMUS famous, which could only hold the cute little Le Chiquito, were not very practical, but what the brand sells is a feeling and an image, a call to become an It Girl.
As long as you take this bag out, you become “that girl.” Who wouldn’t be tempted?
Anna Wintour once commented on Simon Porte Jacquemus: “Simon’s story is very inspiring. He launched his own brand, challenged traditional norms, and listened to both his friends and his own inner voice. He did not enter the industry in a conventional way, but with his charm.”
At its peak, JACQUEMUS was frequently among the top ten brands on the Lyst list. Notably, among the top twenty brands on Lyst, JACQUEMUS stands out as the only independent designer brand, while the recently rising The Row has the Olsen sisters backing it from their fame in the entertainment industry. JACQUEMUS has only Simon Porte Jacquemus, a simple and optimistic boy from a poor agricultural family in the south of France, whose passion and perseverance have brought him to his current status.
If it weren’t for the close connection to contemporary trends, along with Simon Porte Jacquemus’s personal charm, there might not be a JACQUEMUS today.
JACQUEMUS gives the public a perspective that when you can’t fit into the current business model, you should create your own, just as stated in “House of Cards”:
“If you don’t like the way the table is set, turn it over.”
In other words, to challenge the established norms of the fashion industry, Simon Porte Jacquemus needed to operate in a way that is outside of it and look for new models, perhaps based on different production and retail concepts.
If the game isn’t fun, just create your own game. That’s exactly what JACQUEMUS has done.
#3
Sales Facing Waterloo
JACQUEMUS, which has consistently refused to accept investments from large luxury goods groups and has turned down multiple acquisition offers, seems like a new century gospel warrior rescuing fashion from the depths of capitalism. However, on the other hand, JACQUEMUS has also been criticized by many high-end consumers for being mediocre and low in quality.
And there lies the compromise, about business demands and personal identity/vision, it is hard to determine who the winner is in this battle. On one hand, many criticisms are reasonable, as many who have purchased JACQUEMUS products have commented on the “varying quality.” But on the other hand, independent designer brands must build their position as quickly as possible, and finding the balance is a century-old dilemma.
However, regardless, the ultimate standard for evaluating a brand must still be based on “sales” because even if everyone leaves JACQUEMUS a five-star review, it cannot be monetized.
Recently, JACQUEMUS’s sales have faced a Waterloo, as the brand held three internal sales events in recent months to relieve inventory pressure, and has continually sold products at discounted prices through Net-a-Porter, with discounts on the 2023 Summer collection reaching up to 60%, showing that the brand is indeed in a crisis.
Returning to the recent crisis faced by JACQUEMUS, a large part of it stems from the fact that since the enforcement of France’s circular economy and anti-waste AGEC regulations, fashion brands are no longer allowed to destroy unsold inventory, which undoubtedly poses a huge logistical challenge for JACQUEMUS. Due to cost considerations, the brand cannot set up a warehouse in the United States and can only store products in the suburbs of Paris, sending products to the U.S. only when restocking is necessary.
Additionally, there has also been a significant internal personnel crisis within the brand. Due to its meteoric rise, the number of employees has increased from 40 to over 200 in the past two years, but the original CEO, Bastien Daguzan, left the brand at the end of last year, along with several senior employees, resulting in a chaotic situation.
Despite the daunting challenges, Simon Porte Jacquemus still refuses to allow a luxury goods group to take equity, instead opting to recruit talented individuals from LVMH, Loro Piana, and Balenciaga to reorganize the company.
#4
What is the future of JACQUEMUS?
Currently, JACQUEMUS does not seem to have chosen to proactively resolve the previously mentioned customer complaints. “Where is my order?” has not only gone unanswered, but Simon Porte Jacquemus has also been posting vacation photos, making consumers even more displeased.
During a crisis, every brand knows that the most important thing is to communicate actively with customers, rather than ignoring them, or they risk creating more enemies. So it is not surprising that consumers have left very negative reviews for JACQUEMUS on Trustpilot.
From this perspective, while JACQUEMUS has performed adequately in handling its internal crises, the negative feedback from consumers has once again shifted public attention away from the runway.
A fashion brand must work hard on customer service to truly reach the status and prestige of a luxury brand. Although these negative reviews may not change the image of JACQUEMUS, given that since its inception, JACQUEMUS has received support from LVMH and numerous celebrities, it is certain that these negative reviews will compel JACQUEMUS to reconsider its future direction.
In the eyes of editors, Simon Porte Jacquemus is a serious, responsible individual who is unwilling to give up.
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Photo: JACQUEMUS
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