There has been a lot of media coverage over the past few days about J.Crew opening their flagship UK store in London this Friday. I think it even made the Metro today so it must be important. If you are wondering either “What is J. Crew?” and / or “Why should I care?”, I thought some explanation may be helpful. You may find you still don’t care but at least it will be from a position of more knowledge.
Michigan Avenue, Downtown Chicago
First things first; J. Crew is a clothes shop. If you are a man don’t stop reading now. It does menswear too. It is expanding out of its American home to a high street near you. Well at least on the same continent if you don’t live in London, but it has plans to open more stores across the country. There is also the website which now helpfully ships all over Europe.
The media always mention in any copy about J. Crew that Michelle Obama wears it. I’m not sure that’s terribly helpful as she gets to wear lots of things the rest of us don’t, but just to be on the safe side I thought I’d get that in here.
I like J. Crew mainly for its jumpers (sweaters), cardis and t-shirts. It does a good range of basics in a range of fabrics but also stocks some interesting designs that are nicely fashionable without having to worry about the whole ‘mutton’ question. They also do a nice range in cashmere, with interesting colours and styles that get away from the whole V neck or round neck tedium. It is what I wish M&S would do if only it would get its act together.
However, in spite of my interest in its clothing, I for one will not be rushing to Regents Street on Friday with my credit card in hand. Like Anthropologie, Banana Republic and Gap, J. Crew in the UK will be much more expensive that it is in the US. This is partly down to differences in US sales tax versus our whopping 20% VAT but I’m not sure that explains the whole story. I will be saving my pennies to get on a flight at some point to my favourite J. Crew store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
