J Crew’s catalogue proves that print is still king in the fashion industry

J Crew’s catalogue has long been a coveted fashion reference to timeless style and now the brand is ready to capitalise on its own lore.

After discontinuing its paper mailer in 2017, the J Crew catalogue is back.

The strategy behind the catalogue relaunch is not a hail mary to return J Crew to its former glory – the company’s sales are close to US$3 billion this year, according to its CEO Libby Wadle – but rather to evoke a sense of nostalgia amongst customers and reposition itself as the pioneer of all-American style.

Cross-generational reach 

Few American mall brands can be as self-referential as J Crew – L Brands’ Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch do not have the same cross-generational pull.

“We’re finally back in the driver’s seat… We were seeing many generations come back into the brand, or join the brand for the first time,” Wadle told the Wall Street Journal.

The return of the J Crew catalogue was a deliverable that Wadle promised in a LinkedIn post back in 2020 when she first announced that she would be taking the helm of the brand – but there was already wide consumer demand for its return.

A year after stepping into her role, Wadle said on the “Masters of Scale” podcast that, “at the end of the day, we’re really building a brand that has a lasting impact and impression, and has an energy about it, that you hear the name, and you have a memory or a thought that is exciting.”

An Instagram account called “lostjcrew” has amassed nearly 82,000 followers posting photos exclusively from J Crew catalogues produced between 1983 and 1997. 

The demand for archival J Crew extends all the way to the popular resale app Depop, which reported that J Crew is one of the most searched brands on its platform and that searches for the brand are up 56 per cent since last year.

While the paper catalogue evokes a nostalgia for the pre-digital era due to its use of film photography, which appeals to both mature and young audiences, the new verion has been updated with some contemporary additions like QR codes that direct consumers to the J Crew app.

J Crew is set to produce three catalogues a year that will be distributed to customers as part of its loyalty program in addition to free copies available in stores.

Print is back

Since the rise of e-commerce, retailers have increased their focus on digital forms of communication, but there is a connection with consumers that email can’t replicate.

Moreover, with the cost of advertising on social media rising – without the promise of conversion – it’s not surprising that brands are looking to reach consumers in new and old ways.

J Crew is not the only brand leaning on an editorial-style catalogue to help contextualise and build hype for new campaigns and collections.

While few brands can be as self-referential as J Crew with an extensive back-catalogue that dates back to 1983, many fashion retailers continue the tradition of a print catalogue.

High-end multi-brand fashion retailers, such as Selfridges, Net-a-Porter and David Jones, all include catalogues in their marketing mix.

In 2023, Selfridges launched “Yellow Pages”, a zine that positions the luxury department store at the epicentre of a new season and cultural conversation. 

Laura Weir, executive creative director at Selfridges, told Women’s Wear Daily that the publication is about “helping customers to navigate straight to the ‘good stuff.’”

Net-a-Porter proved that personalised editorial content sells with its custom magazine “Porter” – which released the first edition of its bi-monthly print magazine back in 2014.

“There are shopping pathways for everything, from fashion to travel to beauty products… This is shortening the path between inspiration and transaction,” Tess Macleod-Smith, Net-a-Porter’s vice president and publishing director, told Marketing Week before the launch of its first issue.

David Jones’ “Jones Magazine” delivers a curated edit by integrating “an efficient content strategy to inform and inspire our customers anywhere, anytime” into its digital, social and in-store platforms, former David Dones CEO, John Dixon, told Mumbrella in 2016. 

The theme is obvious, and maybe a surprise to no one, fashion consumers love to see clothes in print. 

It’s unclear if retail’s catalogue renaissance is here to stay but the excitement for the return of J Crew in print is worth taking note of.

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