In one of the more highly anticipated collabs of the last few weeks, Noah x Barbour just dropped a bunch of jackets together. They look super slick, unique, special, and will have the quality and appeal of any other Barbour product, with the added style chops of Noah’s design team. And, of course, they all but instantly sold out. Just hours after they launched not a single one is available, in any size, on their site.
And I cannot help but think that this is really a bit of an issue. I understand the concept of exclusivity, of course, and I equally understand that these brands want (and need) to maintain a level of prestige. So on and so forth. Yet, I cannot help but think things have gone a bit too far. Is it supply chain issues, or is it intentional? I don’t know, but the bottom line is the same: customers cannot buy items that they want to buy from brands like Noah, and it is very frustrating. (I also think this is compounded by the fact that you just know tons of these were bought by people who have the sole intention of flipping them on eBay for a hefty profit. Hate those people.)
Of course, Noah is not the only one. L.L. Bean did something similar on their Instagram the other day in which they opened up some old, vintage, archival items for purchase and offered — get this — EIGHT items for sale to their tens of thousands of followers. No, L.L. Bean. Sorry. That doesn’t work. “Do better,” as the kids say.
The worst offender? I would probably say that is Aime Leon Dore. No matter the drop it seems that all the good stuff sells out in mere moments. I cannot say I have ever once scrolled through their store, seen something I wanted, and didn’t then look up to see that it was sold out. Honestly, it would behoove Aime to have a filter to sort by all the stuff that is NOT completely sold out. Though not sure they would have much of a store then. Indeed, they have a drop with Woolrich coming out any minute as I write this, and I expect it to be sold out… any minute.
Perhaps I am being too harsh here, but it is frustrating, no?
UPDATE: As expected, by the time the Aime email went out a mere 2 minutes after the collection went live, just about everything good was entirely sold out. Annoying as heck. Who wants to shop like this? Honestly, there is no way people even bought the size they wanted, there was no time to check the size charts. As I looked at the page things went from fully in stock to sold out in mere seconds. How many did they make of these things?! Five of each? Do they think they are L.L. Bean?! Aime, friends, don’t even bother sending the announcement email next time. Everything is gone and picked over by the time you do.