This week’s Sunday Styles section of the New York Times ran a fascinating story called “Eileen Fisher’s Shifting Silhouette.”
Ever since I started researching the concept that became VibrantNation.com, I have recognized the importance of Eileen Fisher to the demographic of smart, successful women 50+ that we both serve.
Whether they appreciate wrinkle-free clothes that allow them to “take practically my entire wardrobe when I travel”; her offering of a wide variety of clothes in petite sizing; or the elastic waists that offer “a great alternative to a fear of being cut in half by bending over,” women have embraced Eileen Fisher’s company and clothes.
And their loyalty has rewarded her. Fisher, 58, has built a nearly $300 million business on her timeless designs. As the president of Neiman Marcus Direct says, “Her merchandise is not really very different from year to year, and that’s one of the good things about Eileen Fisher.”
No longer.
This year Eileen Fisher hired an outside consultant and launched a new, intentionally hipper, slimmer look to her clothes.
What will her loyal shoppers make of this change?
I think it is probably a good decision, but not without risks.
It is probably a good decision if it means that Eileen Fisher is not targeting the 40-year old but is targeting today’s 50-year old woman.
Many of the women who fell in love with Eileen Fisher over the last 20 years are now in their 60s and 70s. A younger generation of women is moving into “Eileen Fisher” territory, but to these women the brand may seem like an older generation’s brand. The opportunity for Eileen Fisher is to retain her older loyalist while also attracting this woman’s younger sister, colleague, or niece.
It looks to me like she’s on the right track. The Times suggests that adding leggings might be controversial, but recent conversations at VibrantNation.com confirm that this is a good move. When one of our members asked, “Can a 50+-year-old wear leggings?” her fellow members resoundingly confirmed that she could “wear those leggings with a smile.”
The risks? Eileen Fisher does not need to gain 30- or 40-somethings to grow, and if her new designs appeal to those women exclusively she may have lost her way.
The women Eileen Fisher attracts (women 45-70) represent the fastest-growing demographic of fashion shoppers over the next 10 years. They are also women ignored by most other designers. Eileen Fisher will grow dramatically if she can just keep them.
Her advertising is changing with her designs, and it too could send the wrong message. New Eileen Fisher ads feature women who appear to be in their 30s. While this itself is not enough to turn off Vibrant Women, it would be a smart decision to mingle in some midlife models along the way – and to show them living a life that may feature more smiles than the traditional model scowl presented by her new models. Recent ads from Not Your Daughter’s Jeans suggest a more upbeat (but still upscale) way to engage this demographic.
If Eileen Fisher can deliver the clothes a 52-year really wants, and can do so without making this woman feel like she’s barging in on a younger woman’s scene, her recent decisions should help her business grow ever faster than it has in the past.
I am a fan of Eileen Fisher’s clothes and the pieces I have last and look current. I looked at the new ad and I have to say that I would and could wear most of those items – I would just twist them around to fit my personal style.
one thing that does drive me crazy with a pair of pants that I bought of hers was that the hem was glued together and my tailor accused me of doing it when I bought them in to be hemmed! Got into a fight w/ him! We are friends again.
I’ll miss her real women models who looked like they were having fun, some of them silver haired with glasses, who even smiled and didn’t stand pigeon-toed in stilettos. They looked like people I would want to know or maybe already did. I was surprised to read the NYT story that her clothes had the style of a burqa and her customers are “graying bobos who dabbled in ceramics and had lifetime subscriptions to the New Yorker.” What’s wrong with the New Yorker? My last EF score was from a consignment shop in San Francisco, a black linen top that cost $12 and doesn’t look at all like a burqa.