These 3 brands are so much better than their frumpy image
30/10/2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
If you want to stay on the ball in the fashion world, you’ll occasionally have to put up with being proven wrong. For me, this meant accepting that the following formerly uncool brands are now bang on trend.
Some brands I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole – until recently that is. All of a sudden, some of their products are at the top of my wish list. Mind you, it’s not so much my taste, but rather their image that has taken a turn for the better. These three brands have successfully repositioned themselves with a fresh look.
Desigual
Loud prints, corny slogans and a desperate quest to be original (the brand name itself means «dissimilar» in Spanish). Not too long ago, I would’ve sneeringly described the image of Desigual as «edgy». However, for a few years now, the company, founded 40 years ago, has been working on rebranding itself. Their efforts are now bearing beautiful, ripe fruit, which, to my own amazement, I’m more than happy to pick.
Source: Instagram @desigual/@dolmalisa
Source: Instagram @desigual/@kickiyangz
While colours and patterns are still at the forefront, they look far less outdated. Successful collabs with young labels including Collina Strada or Maitrepierre, which share Desigual’s loud spirit, as well as a trendy social media presence, suddenly make the brand look pretty hip. Their self-mockery is also a nice move. At the fashion show to mark their 40th anniversary last summer, employees and some guests were wearing a statement T-shirt with the slogan: «I never thought I’d wear Desigual.»
Unfortunately, these products are currently only available from our Swiss shop.
Liebeskind Berlin
In my early teens, Liebeskind Berlin was everywhere in German fashion magazines. Consequently, their bags were the object of my most ardent desire. By the time I was finally making my own money and could’ve afforded one, the hype was already over. Not only that, but I’d scrapped Liebeskind Berlin from my wish list altogether and crammed it into a drawer labelled «charmless», somewhere in the back of my mind. In recent months, however, I’ve come across an increasing number of pretty bags by the German brand on social media and in online stores, and my curiosity is piqued.
Source: Instagram @liebeskind_berlin
One look at its highly aesthetic Instagram feed was all it took: Liebeskind Berlin has definitely shed its outdated early-2010s look. The minimalist, elegant designs, which have nailed the timeless-yet-contemporary look, have put the brand back at the top of my wish list.
Swarovski
Swarovski has stood for kitschy crystal figurines and conservative crystal jewellery for as long as I can remember. The Austrian company’s almost 150-year-old tradition showed. However, when Giovanna Engelbert took over as creative director around four years ago, she gave the brand a new visual identity with a loud rebranding.
Source: Instagram @swarovski
Source: Instagram @swarovski
Her approach? If we’re doing kitschy, let’s do it deliberately. And so, she added a generous helping of glamour and extravagance to the traditional Swarovski style, thereby catapulting the brand into the here and now. These days, I associate Swarovski with candy-coloured, sparkling statement jewellery and instagrammable monochrome flagship stores in green, pink, yellow and blue. This «more-is-more» formula is proving successful with the younger target group. In late 2023, Giovanna Engelbert told Highsnobiety that millennials and Generation Z make up around two thirds of the customer base.
Header image: Swarovski
Has endless love for shoulder pads, Stratocasters and sashimi, but a limited tolerance for bad impressions of her Eastern Swiss dialect.