Olsenboye by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for J.C. Penney

[couturecouture]

With their experience and success in the fashion industry, I sort of disagree about "oh it will improve in time"... the thing is, it shouldn't have to. They are experienced enough to know their Target market, and as previously stated, this Target market watches Gossip Girl, sees the designer collaborations at Target, Topshop, Macys, etc... they should come out with something great, not something that "will improve over time" to be great. They have to realize how fashion forward younger girls are today.

IMO, they should have done a more polished, sophisticated line or just stuck with The Row & E&J.

Sorry for my rant, I just love the Elizabeth & James line and think that they could have done an amazing cheaper line using the same inspirations because there are a lot of young women (and teenagers probably) who would love to buy it.

 

[Thefrenchy]

When I read some of the comments here, I feel like EVERY tween/teen dresses really well and seem to come straight from GG... I think this line is good for those who don't have that much interest in fashion. I don't really know how to express that idea in english so hopefully you'll get it The fashionable teens won't buy the clothing, but will probably buy the shoewear. The "regular" teens who want colorful clothes will buy this.

 

[JunyaSchick]

^Agree. Good point.

We, tfs members, consider fashion as a big part of our lives/ Jobs but the truth is that some people, the majority, although participating in this industry as consumers and followers of certain trends and dressing up for certain occasions, don’t take fashion too seriously and feel comfortable just wearing a basic insipid outfit (that we may condemn to its ostracism). Not everyone is as fashion-concious as we are and GG is too over-the-top to be real, even the bubble of superrich people the tvshow is set-up.I think they just tried to make it affrodable and wearable to everyone or to as many people as possible.

Besides, teens/tweens are well-known for their easy fitting in categories or “social groups”, some may like this, others may hate it, and other may feel non-chalant towards it.

Business-wise I think they made a good choice… we’ll see how it works on numbers because another ugly truth is that fashion is business (and today, after the post-recession era, much more than yesterday) and although The Row (their inhouse line) is working perfectly in terms of critics and fashion status for the girls we don’t know how well is doing in revenues. Maybe they need a support brand in their product portfolio as another source of financing their more conceptual and arty brands (just for the record, think on LVMH- they keep brands as Loewe although they only mean costs and sustain them with others such LV).

we don't know which are their reasons to partner with JCPenney to do this, we are just speculating. I'm not going to wear any of this, but I still have faith in next collections.

 

[lucy92]

pics of the shoes and accessories from nitrolicious. it is ugly IMO.

 

[stateofbliss]

^ Oh no! I had high hopes for the shoes/accessories at least. Both those items are just blahhhh, especially the bag.

I'm no tween or teen, but I did like the blue shoes in the promo video, as well as the shoes in post #72 that goes along with the article about the Steve Madden collaboration. I just assumed both would be for this line, but maybe not.

 

[Thefrenchy]

^I'm pretty sure they are from the line

 

[BerlinRocks]

but they just launched The Row's menswear

^and Elisabeth&James menswear

ah ok. i had no idea.
i'll have a look.

so olsenboye is related to their roots ?

i really don't understand what's going on with the names they've chosen ...
it makes no sense to me. and it doesn't sound good for a biz, imo.

any marketing students or pro have an opinion about this ?
i need to be enlighted ...

 

[JunyaSchick]

I studied Marketing (more specifically fashion marketing) and I like the Row and E&J as brand names.

E&J is kinda dreamy and fits perfectly with the concept of the line.

The Row is quite pretentious but they have reached what it was expected from such name. Plus, The Row subjects chicness, sobriety and quality and these are key elements on the collection.

I hate Olsenboye, I dont think is marketable as a name because as many people, I have misunderstood it and thought it was targeted for boys... however I also think (as I have previously said here) they have chosen it because in a way it relates them (their Hollywood personas) with the brand. It's like a continuation of the MaryKate and Ashley line but less focused on themselves and their personalities (as they have grown-up and it'll be ridicolous to be portrayed as tween/teen idols), something more general and new built from scratch but still being "olsen" (like in the old times).

 

[lucy92]

when they announced the name "olsenboye" i thought it was going to be boyswear inspired garments for juniors (ie a knockoff of thom browne). i thought they were going to making shrunken blazers etc.

 

[rlynne]

I also agree that it does cheapen their image. yes, it's being marketed for kids, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the images we've seen are ugly at worst and typical wet seal/vs pink knockoffs at best. it doesn't even look up to date, this looks like stuff being marketed to kids when I was in fifth and sixth grade and I'm a junior in college now, so. quite awhile ago. after all that hoo-hah about how serious about design and fashion they are, how it's a passion for craftmanship and quality that drives their lines, and how over mass-production they are... what in the world is the point of this? Not only does the unoriginality and low quality of this detract from the very good reputation they've thus far built as being truly dedicated to fashion as artistry, but it just seems like a sell-out move to me. if they are trying to regain this particular age group's interest, this is going about it the very wrong way. anyone that would be fan enough to buy this because it is an Olsen brand knows that this isn't their style, it doesn't reflect anything about them at all except they're merchandising geniuses who know how to make money.

well said, it kind of feels like they've taken two steps back..
i remember seeing the mary-kateandashley brand in target and it was quite trendy and unique at the time... but this, this is just poor for any age

 

[Thefrenchy]

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Dualstar Entertainment Group has signed a deal with Steve Madden Ltd. to produce shoes for the twins' new Olsenboye collection which will be sold exclusively at JCPenney.

The shoes, targeted to the junior market, range in price from $40 for the "Venice" canvas flat to $100 for the "Hailey" boot, a combat-like lace-up.

Other styles include "Sofia," a platform heel with ruffle T-strap for $60, "Lara," a studded sandal for $50 and "Rio," a gladiator-type sandal for $50.

The Sofia ruffle shoe and Hailey combat boots will be available on JCPenney.com and in select stores starting November 6.

The rest of the Olsenboye styles will roll out in February.

"Steve and his team are very excited about the opportunity to join forces with Ashley and Mary-Kate to create aspirational, trend-right fashions at affordable prices," Edward Rosenfeld, Steve Madden's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a release.

Madden is no stranger to JCPenney. His company also manufactures shoes for the chain's Fabulosity line.

- STYLELIST.COM

 

[lucy92]

these shoes cost 60$ (stylelist) im not sure why anyone would bother buying the olsenboye shoes. why not just buy regular steve madden shoes?

 

[ponytrot]

I kind of don't get the point of that very poor imitation Chloe...aren't they cheaper elsewhere anyway?

Also I'm confused about this brand - some of it looks indeed like its just for tweens who don't care about fashion and would buy just about anything, and yet some of it seems to aim for a more fashion conscious crowd, possibly teens, then again alot of it is just plain ugly.

I terms of branding, I don't feel its very clear cut on the market that is being targeted, or any coherent "image" they're trying to get accross.

 

[JunyaSchick]

^I think this is just a preview to see how the market works... (a sort of market research)and maybe for the february official launch they change/add pieces... 'cause apparently Madden has just been confirmed as their shoe designer.

this preview is very confusing, but as it's target for tween/teens you'd better ask them what they do think.

 

[MajaMannequin]

It looks something from the past century H&M Divided made.. :/

 

[cambry]

I'm not taking this 'tween' excuse any more for why this line looks so awful, they are not marketing heels to the Miley set, so we can safely assume this is their idea of what teens today want to wear and, well. I already made my argument on their complete lack of knowledge about this market. Ashley, at least, has great style that is mass marketable and MK has the vibrant imagination in her style to amp up Ashley's simplicity. This could have been SO much better and yet it seems like they either assumed that young women en masse weren't savvy enough to 'get' their aesthetic, so they put out a bunch of hideous garments that they thought us peons would go for or they had very little to do with the actual execution of this line. Either way, this puts a dent in my respect for them as designers.

 

[mcmaris]

Although the line isnt a typical representation of the Olsens style, its fitting for tweens/teens, and its fitting for the JCPenny market. I think the regular shoppers at JCPenny will adopt Olsenboye. I feel like if your going to do a project for a specific demographic you have to make it relate able to that demographic. Its not something i'd run out to buy, but its a cutesy teen line at a good price point with a touch of Olsen twist.

 

[cambry]

oh, no, I see what they were going for. I just think they failed to get there. I wasn't expecting the Row for fifteen bucks, of course, but there is no style in this line. like everyone else has said, it looks like a VS pink knockoff. actually, worse, it looks like a knockoff of what vs pink would be if it tried to mate with the cobrasnake. I think they're really underestimating the ability of most girls in that age group to appreciate fashion, hence my remark that this collection is somewhat insulting. I'm willing to keep an open mind, but what we've seen so far is ugly and wholly unoriginal. it's bad when even delia's does better than this.

 

[lucy92]

jcp.com

 

[lucy92]

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