Fashion rebrands: case studies of recent rebrands, results, and insights

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I’m excited to share that June’s deep dive essay will be available to all readers, courtesy of yours truly.

The Stanza’s deep dive essays are typically only available to Insider subscribers. Insiders receive biweekly deep dive essays or exclusive long-form interviews designed to be a business resource. If you find today’s deep dive essay valuable and want to read more, upgrade your subscription here.

Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe by clicking here.

This deep dive essay is written by Viktoriia Vasileva. Viktoriia is a brand marketing and strategic communications specialist, as well as the writer behind Vik’s Busy Corner – a weekly newsletter about creativity and business. 

Rebrands and business overhauls are an ongoing conversation in the fashion industry. In the last five years alone, several luxury houses and iconic mass retail brands invested in new creative talent, product lines, and robust marketing campaigns – all in hopes to elevate their image and boost falling sales. The perfect rebrand formula itself couldn’t be less straightforward – for every Bottega Veneta and Abercrombie and Fitch success story, there are a number of legacy fashion brands that keep reshuffling creative directors and business execs every few years, struggling to achieve a consistent lift in demand and strong recurring sales. What all of the rebrand efforts surely have in common though are the passionate debates they create – from what makes a creative director the right fit for a failing brand to the overall financial health of the fashion industry, nothing is off the table. 

Is bringing in a buzzy creative director with a unique vision enough to get the bottom line up? And if not, what does the business setup required to help them make a difference look like? Judging by some of the loudest rebrand attempts of the past decade, it looks like a brilliant vision might be just the first step in what otherwise is a very long journey of revamping the once legendary fashion brands. 

Table of Contents

• Lea Rytz Goldman’s rebrand masterclass at COS

• Peter Do’s new creative vision for Helmut Lang 

• Ana Andjelic’s school of rebrand at Banana Republic and Esprit 

• Adrien Da Maia’s and Nicolas Di Felice’s dream future for Courreges

• The perfect rebrand recipe

Lea Rytz Goldman’s rebrand masterclass at COS

Launched by the H&M group in London in 2007, COS quickly became an industry disruptor. Selling elegant, minimal pieces made out of quality materials at an affordable price, it opened a completely new window in the market – right between luxury fashion and mass retail. By the time COS made its debut in the US in 2013, American Vogue fawned over the brand and called it the most exciting European arrival since Isabel Marant. By 2017, the brand’s global sales reached $1 billion, or nearly 5% of the H&M Group’s total revenue, according to BoF. 

However, after over a decade of incredible growth, things at COS quickly changed for the worse. While the company continued to grow into new markets and open new stores, 2019 sales dipped and the net turnover had not grown at a pace suggested in 2018. The company’s e-commerce sales grew but not enough to make up for the decline in the brick-and-mortar. Foot traffic was down, and across all sales channels, customers were buying fewer items at lower prices. 

Fashion critics and analysts, speculating about the reasons for the decline of COS, pointed to the serious issues with the brand’s business strategy and inventory management – as consumers moved to e-commerce, the company continued to expand its retail footprint, operating 291 brick-and-mortar stores by 2019 and collecting only 12% of all sales online. 

With all the extra inventory tied up in physical stores, COS started hosting consistent sales which lowered the image of the brand from being compared to Phoebe Philo’s Celine and Stella McCartney to what the writer of a popular fashion and shopping newsletter Magasin Laura Reilly referred to in the March Brand Rank issue as “a place to stop by in an underground supermall on your way home from work”. 

And that is only the surface of the brand identity crisis that COS was going through. With Zara and Uniqlo offering sturdy basics at a lower price point and the trends in the capital-F fashion turning towards maximalism with the rise of social media and Alessandro Michele’s appointment at Gucci, COS’s offering became too expensive for the masses, and too bland for the fashion folks. On top of that, the company was slow to participate in the cultural and political conversations rapidly taking over some of its largest markets over the pandemic, such as sustainability and diversity and inclusion. 

To save the brand from the decline, in February 2020 H&M group appointed Lea Rytz Goldman, a seasoned exec behind a younger H&M Group brand Arket, as the Managing Director of COS. Goldman’s revamp strategy was multifaceted. On the creative side, COS elevated its brand presence and earned back its credentials as a creative designer brand by staging world-class shows in New York, London, and most recently, Milan. Goldman also revamped the company’s marketing to embrace the trending cultural conversations and diversified the list of creatives they worked with. In July 2022, the brand brought on a cult menswear designer Patrik Ervell. 

On the business side, while continuing to grow its store network, COS also ramped up its e-commerce sales. The company also invested in tech-enabled in-store shopping solutions that provide visitors with seamless payment options, personalized styling recommendations, faster checkout, and upgraded delivery and return options. Most recently, COS launched a wholesale business, partnering up with Nordstrom in the US, Breuninger in Germany, and Yoox globally to further expand its reach. 

Product-wise, the company expanded its product mix by launching new categories, like activewear and a sustainable cashmere line, as well as capsule collections in collaboration with artists and sustainable material specialists. The brand also launched a star mass market product that practically became a household name – the COS oversized quilted crossbody bag. 

Since the H&M Group rarely breaks down its financial performance by brand, it’s unclear exactly how well the COS rebrand has been contributing to the Group’s bottom line. What we do know is that H&M Group’s sales have been consistently rising since the 2020 drop, and that on the micro level, the rebrand efforts have radically changed the perception of the brand among the fashion-curious. Laura Reilly reported in the March 2024 Brand Rank issue of Magasin: 

“Despite its H&M ties and fast-fashion baggage, it’s been adopted by the fashion class to provide supporting architecture to their otherwise designer wardrobes. (A glow up I dare say.) It held 11th place in January’s ranking and did not even make the [Top 20 Brands] list last month. The brand was only mentioned in Magasin once this past month, but drove 3,600+ clicks from that single inclusion and was brought up in the chat 14 separate times, frequently for its white tees, jeans, and even wedding-guest and graduation dresses. COS is truly the people’s princess!”

Peter Do’s new creative vision for Helmut Lang 

Helmut Lang is a revolutionary fashion brand. Many remember Lang, the person, as a legendary designer who introduced the concept of minimalism into the industry and put simple everyday pieces, like jeans and t-shirts on the runway. Besides serving as inspiration to many contemporary designers, Lang was also innovative off the runway. He was the first to host an online fashion show, launch an online store, and put up OOH ads on NYC cabs and billboards – a practice previously frowned upon in the industry. 

Once legendary, the brand started to decline in 1999, when Lang sold 51% of the company to another minimalist fashion house – Prada. After years of creative disagreements, sales fell more than 50%, leading Lang to sell the rest of his shares to Prada and exit the fashion industry overall in 2004. In 2006, Prada sold Helmut Lang to Link Theory, a company acquired by Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing in 2009. 

After almost a decade of trying to revive the company by repositioning it as a contemporary rather than a luxury brand under Nicole and Michael Colovos, and launching buzzy collaboration with creatives like Travis Scott, to inject the business with capital, Fast Retail failed to drive long-term sales and demand. The group does not break out sales by brand, but the revenue of the category Helmut Lang sits within fell by 18% from $1 billion in 2019 to $820 million in the year ending Aug. 31, 2022.

After a temporary hiatus, Fast Retailing appointed a breakout NYC designer Peter Do to lead yet another attempt to revitalize the brand in 2023. So far, Do presented two collections that received mixed reviews from the critics but overall, resulted in a balanced response from the broader audience. In the interview with BoF ahead of the debut show in September 2023, Do share that creatively, he plans to honor the brand’s roots but is more focused on attracting the next generation of shoppers, most of whom aren’t familiar with Helmut Lang, by offering practical accessible pieces to the customer who care less about trends than having nice durable pieces to wear.

Since then, Helmut Lang also revealed the People of Helmut Lang campaign featuring NYC artists as the faces of the brand’s community, and proclaiming what reads like the underlining motto of the brand: “The person gives meaning and value to the clothes and not the other way around.”

In the meantime, what is happening on the business side of the Helmut Lang rebrand remains largely unclear. It seems like the brand’s focus is on driving direct sales online, in physical stores and through its wholesale partner Saks Fifth Avenue. The company also raised the prices as it once again repositioned itself as a luxury rather than a contemporary brand. 

It’s too early whether all the creative changes are enough to get the company’s bottom line up – Do’s first collection hit the stores this February. However, based on the first consumer reactions, the quality of the garments may be in conflict with the new pricing system. 

Ana Andjelic’s school of rebrand at Banana Republic and Esprit 

Banana Republic and Esprit are both iconic mall brands with roots in the Bay Area. Taking inspiration from an imaginary safari world, Banana Republic not only made a great pair of khaki pants but lured you into a life of wonder. When Gap purchased the company in 1983, it became one of America’s favorite affordable luxury brands alongside J.Crew and Ann Taylor. Esprit, on the other hand, was a fun, youthful brand that embodied the distinct look of the 80s – bold prints, color blocking, and a neon palette. 

However, in 2016 Banana Republic closed all stores in the UK after 6 quarters of falling sales which was partially because Banana Republic’s products fell out of the cultural zeitgeist and partially because its parent company, Gap was struggling too. Esprit started falling off even earlier, in the 90s, right after its founders filed for divorce and fought over ownership. By the 2010s, the company’s business in the US completely dried up, although it continued its operations in Europe and Asia. When in 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy and shuttered its 50-some stores in Germany, it was subsequently acquired by a private family investment firm who appointed William Pak as CEO.

Both Banana Republic and Esprit bet on Ana Andjelic to revamp their respective brands – actually Andjelic’s success at Banana Republic is what caught Pak's attention in the first place. 

During her time at Banana Republic and Esprit, Andjelic developed a signature five-step approach to reincarnating once legendary mass retail brands.

Step one. Pay a visit to the archives and figure out the core brand DNA that could be used to bring it back into the cultural zeitgeist. At Banana Republic, it was imaginary worlds and the feeling of wonder. At Esprit, it was the iconic 80s look – loud colors, athletic fits, and gender fluid silhouettes. 

Step two. Impose a new collective brand “voice” that looks past the nostalgia into the future. At Banana Republic, Andjelic set out to reimagine workwear of the creative class post pandemic. At Esprit, she introduced the "Rules Don't Apply" brand promise and the "Playful," "Modern," and "Cool" brand pillars. 

Step three. Rearrange the org structure. At both Esprit and Banana Republic, Andjelic restructured the team to make sure everyone who touched the product was working towards the same brand vision. 

Step four. Bring the new vision into the world through the new product strategy. At both brands it meant defining the new signature look, rehauling the product pyramid, and putting together a new styling guide. 

Step five. Promote the new vision and look through a mix of collaborations, content, events, PR, seasonal campaigns, and media buys. Andjelic’s loudest campaigns at Banana Republic were the unveiling of the new signature look and the Imaginary Worlds campaign featuring pieces from the company’s archive. At Esprit, she led an event series in collaboration with Highsnobiety that took the brand on a comeback tour through Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Berlin before Andjelic stepped down from her role in March 2024 (The initial plan was to cover seven cities across Europe and the US). 

Andjelic’s efforts as the Chief Brand Officer at Banana Republic led to an impressive 24% increase in YoY sales growth from 2021 to 2022. In an interview with The Cutting Room Floor, she mentioned that the core challenge she ran into at Banana Republic was the team’s unwillingness to change their processes and fully embrace the new vision. As a result, she left the company in September 2022 after which the brand struggled to maintain the momentum. In the fourth quarter this year, Gap Inc. reported a 2% decrease in sales compared to the same period in 2023, and an 8% decrease in the full year sales. 

At Esprit, the results of Andjelic’s rebrand efforts are less straightforward. BoF reports that the company’s sales accelerated their slide, bringing in only $753 million in 2023 – a number that fell almost by half from before the pandemic. Anjelic left in March 2024 and the New York creative team was significantly downsized. According to several former employees, the rebrand efforts were misguided from the start and marred by the inexperienced leadership whose plan was to revive the company for a quick sell off to new investors. 

Adrien Da Maia’s and Nicolas Di Felice’s dream future for Courreges

Started by a former engineer André Courrèges in the 60s, Courreges is an iconic brand known for its innovative, space-inspired looks. It is widely credited with the invention of the miniskirt and was worn by a slew of powerful women – from Audrey Hepburn to Nancy Reagan. In his designs, André Courrèges prioritized women’s comfort through flat shoes, modern fabrics, like PVC and plastic, and A-line silhouettes. Yet, as the fashion industry evolved, the brand’s vision failed to move with the times and got stuck in its own, now dated, version of the future. André Courrèges left the brand in the 90s, and since then, it has gone through the hands of several creative directors and owners, never quite returning to its original status. That is until Artémis, the holding company of the Pinault family that controls Kering, took over Courreges in 2018 and appointed Adrien Da Maia and Nicolas Di Felice to lead its latest rebrand attempt two years later. 

Nicolas Di Felice, the brand’s current Artistic Director, focused revamping the brand’s creative direction by interpreting the original spirit of André Courrèges’s vision through the modern day lens. In an interview with Vogue Business, he explains that the brand’s priority is to make functional garments that young people can buy and wear day-to-day. Di Felice’s designs start with simple shapes in homage to the founder’s geometric cuts and the original liberating intention that he channels into softer fabrics, more revealing silhouettes, and modality in response to how fashion and society has progressed since the brand’s peak days. 

Since Di Felice’s arrival, Courreges has also invested into the development of new product categories: menswear, accessories, and fragrance. This February, they launched a new bag, the Holy, with the ambition to turn it into the new “it” bag with a price point between €790 and €1,290. The fragrance line is managed in-house and is growing well for the company, especially in China, where young customers are embracing wearing perfumes. According to Di Felice, the menswear side of the business has also grown significantly, opening up a possibility for further expansion and even a men’s show, although no definite plans for either have been set. 

According to a Vogue Business story, Courreges also made a big investment into connecting with young people outside of the sales process. During the pandemic, they painted “courage” in the brand’s font on white walls across Paris, collaborated with Dizonord on a popup shop with curated selection of magazines, records, and objects in Le Marais, Paris, and threw Courrèges Club parties after every show. 

Adrien Da Maia made several successful rehauls on the business side too. To make Di Felice’s collections accessible to the brand’s new, young target demographic, Da Maia got creative with pricing. A selection of garments, like the vinyl jackets from the Reedition collection, have been priced down to match Courreges’s pricing on the second-hand market and align with brands, like Coperni and Jacquemus. 

Seeing consistent positive response to the new collections and a steady growth in sales, Da Maia also strategically expanded distribution. In 2023, Courreges opened a flagship store in China, and this year, it’s set to open four new stores, including a new flagship in Paris and its first location on the West Coast in the US. That will bring the brand to a total of ten retail locations. Wholesale-wise, Courrèges has 250 active wholesale accounts and is carried by leading retailers including Bergdorf Goodman and Maxfield in the U.S.; Dover Street Market in Japan and China, and Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché in France. Da Maia also led a massive website revamp in effort to reach the global young customer outside of the markets with Courreges retail stores and wholesale partners. 

According to WWD, in 2023, China, South Korea and Japan were the fastest growing market for the house.  And although France is still the brand’s biggest market in terms of retail, with the addition of wholesale and e-commerce, the sales are evenly split between Europe, US, and Asia. For three consecutive years, Courreges has more than doubled sales each year. The designs have won over several respected celebrities, like Marc Jacobs, Hailey Bieber, and Dua Lipa, and according to Vogue Business, Courrèges was in the top 35 brands globally in terms of media impact value for Q2 2023. 

Between Courreges’s and COS’s impressive turnarounds and Peter Do’s and Ana Andjelic’s creative attempts at breathing life into Helmut Lang, Banana Republic, and Esprit, it’s clear that the perfect rebrand recipe starts with a modern interpretation of the original spirit of the brand. While leaning into the past is helpful to reinvigorate people’s memories of once iconic brands, nostalgia alone isn’t enough to move them forward. To buy back into the fantasy, consumers need modern, functional pieces that mesh well with how the industry and society overall have evolved since the brand’s heyday. 

Another key ingredient is precision in terms of determining the new product mix – it has to live up to the new creative promises and be flexible enough to make the brand accessible and interesting to more than one target customer group. Developing hero pieces, like an “it bag” or fragrance, seems to work well in terms of both generating revenue and earning media. 

Several brands also made the case for connecting with their core customers outside of sales – whether it’s by staging world-class shows during the world’s biggest fashion weeks, throwing loud afterparties, featuring the members of the creative class in campaigns, or collaborating with makers, curators and artists on pop-ups and capsule collections. Not only does it earn brands publicity and street credit, over time it also heavily contributes to the change of the wider public’s perception of the brand. Although directly investing in traditional media buying and social media is also still very helpful and relevant. 

On the distribution side, investing in e-commerce is a non-negotiable for brands with a global ambition. But it is also important for companies going through drastic transitions to create retail store experiences, operated both by the brands themes and their wholesale partners, that help immerse customers into the new story as well as provide opportunities to see and feel the clothes in person.

With all the valuable lessons to take away here, this one may be the most important – customers can feel the gaps in the new brand stories. Ultimately, every part of the process and every member of the team involved in getting a garment made and sold to a customer has to work towards the same vision. At least, this is the strategy that turned things around for the most successful brands of the bunch – COS, Courreges, and briefly, Banana Republic. The creative vision can be magical and the business strategy – genius, but at the end of the day, execution and stellar operations perhaps matter the most. 

Thank you for reading The Stanza! If you found this essay valuable consider upgrading your subscription to receive more in-depth content.