Designer Denim in Trouble?

Fashion insiders are starting to say many designer denim companies are in trouble. With everyone trying to duplicate the success of brands like 7 for All Mankind and Diesel, there have been many lines of high end denim hitting the shelves over the last few years. Last fall, 7 for All Mankind came out with this hot ad campaign (below) featuring Carolyn Murphy and Tyson Ballou which we are starting to see in fashion magazines this Spring. The brand is hoping that these types of ads will help elevate the brand’s status.

What do you think? Are some of the original brand’s of designer denim like 7’s and Diesel going away anytime soon, or will the good ones survive the flood of new wanna-be designer lines out there? One thing I like about Diesel is that they come in a variety of lengths and there are several styles under $220, where as brands like Rock & Republic are now charging over $320 for some pairs of their denim. Are some companies overpricing themselves to seem more “exclusive”? And it kills me to have to hem ALL my Rock & Republics because they normally have a 35″ inseam. The majority of the world is just not THAT tall.

On a related note, I posted a few weeks ago that we had a tip Paper Denim & Cloth was going under – and their website is down. We got another tip today that its untrue, but I won’t hold my breathe….

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