8 Feb 2012

Tales of the Recession

Super-Hang-Me-Out-To-Dry




Superdry - the go-to brand of any 17 year old Essex boy with a part-time job - today announced a 17% fall in share prices.  Owned by the ever-so modestly named 'SuperGroup', Superdry is a clothing company born and bred in the town of Cheltenham, which although close to WWP's hometown and therefore, close to her heart, is not the Tokyo-style city the brand would like us to believe.  Cheltenham is, by all accounts, a posh town in Middle England; Superdry's clothes scream 'Konichiwa Bitches!', advertising gas stations with Japanese symbols ...or as Wikipedia likes to call it 'Engrish' (well they don't call it an encyclopedia for nothing!)


Superdry's fall in profits is an event both startling and depressingly unsurprising.  Whilst the brand was never going to turn the British Highstreet around sartorially (and let's all be glad they didn't) they have quietly enjoyed the successes of becoming the cult destination for surfers/skaters, and with phrases such as 'good quality' and 'it's expensive but it will last you!' banded around a lot, their growth became exponential.  CEO and poster boy for young retail entreprenuership, Julian Dunkerton, claims this dip is nothing but a delayed hangover from Christmas.  He may be right.  Savvy fashion retailers may seem to endure Britain's New Year thriftiness by discounting to their heart's content, but it should be noted that Superdry's highly branded, one directional style makes it a male brand through and through.  And when was the last time you saw men queuing at 5.30am for the Boxing Day Sales?


As you can probably tell, WWP is no fan of Superdry.  But that's not to say it's a bad brand.  The quality of the cotton is good and it's recent joining of the ETI is a promising step towards developing some form of Ethical Trading Policy.  That being said (and writing from a fashion-lover's point of view), seeing a brand which makes the entire male population of Bristol look the same start to stumble is a little bit enjoyable.  But of course, until the boys start wearing their bowler hats and shining their shoes again, men's fashion will never be as it really should.