An interesting Aero leather conversation I had today...

Speedbird, that is the perfect summing-up of American Classics. Long may they live (esp. because I've got to get my Red Wings resoled)...

So it was J. Simon that folded? What a shame. For those who didn't know it, J. Simon was a small shop run by a (reputedly) original 60s mod, which was the first place in London to sell what I can only describe as the American preppy look: Bass Weejuns (when the Weejun was as exotic in London as a Sumatran Tiger), Pendleton shirts, Woolrich - they might even have had Filson. And all sorts of accessories. If you wanted chinos, you went to J. Simon. If American Classics were peddling the American Dream (in neon), then JS were providing an idealized and highly selective glimpse of what that exotic creature, the American male, was supposedly wearing (it sort of presupposed you hadn't actually been to America). I suppose all that stuff became totally mainstream with globalization, and in a way I'm surprised they lasted that long, but still...

gh

I suppose, if I can be so bold, what we are saying is American Classics on King's Road was Springsteen and Deer Hunter and Flash Dance and even 8 Mile ... it was blue collar through and through ... J. Simons was Ivy League....

It is no less tragic that J. Simons has closed if that is the case ....

I suspect there are more heartbreaks awaiting ... I live in London but rarely go to town (downtown in US speak) anymore ... but just off Carnaby St was an old school store going way back selling Lonsdale and Fred Perry etc .... is that still there or again, do I need to go to Tokyo to find it now?

I did visit Adam and Rachel at American Classics yesterday. As I said to them "Rumours of your death have been somewhat exagerrated".

They are certainly Live and Kickin' as a business, and were grateful that some of us were expressing such concern and distress at the thought of the shop's demise.

Speedbird: As I thought Flip is long gone. The shop they had is now an Italian Designer label store.

That figures... thank the stars AC is still alive & kicking. Note to self: go visit and purchase something sometime soon!

Every time a retailer of this type doesn't go OOB, it's a good thing.

Now if I may I'd like to broaden the topic beyond the UK just once more - only briefly I promise...to viral marketing vs. word of mouth (WOM).

Seems to me we're dealing with 2 very different things. True WOM, back in the day, was something you could do in confidence that the knowledge was not going to get very far. Your favorite in-thing, apparel or whatever, wasn't going to become expensive, mass produced, or just plain uncool due to too many people discovering it.

To be brief, it seems the information revolution has dealt a real blow to WOM, unless you're in a market niche where people just don't use teh netz. (And what might that be???) Any WOM you might give out these days, especially online, has a small but less-than-zero chance of going viral.

Now I don't think the FL is a "viral vector" - we're a sub-subculture at best, and the number of Loungers into any single piece of stuff is still small. We are not going to cause ANY style to die of overexposure - hell, we're lucky if we get our act together enough to obtain a group discount. But if, heaven forbid, one of us is walking around London or NYC and gets photoed by The Sartorialist (and it's happened), that person just might possibly start a trend that burns out of control (which has, so far, not happened).

So things are different...yet somewhat the same. An idea to play around with, at any rate - if you'd be caught dead playing with such frivolous things as ideas (I find it can be a pleasant pastime over a few pints).

I think you are right Fletch .. traditional word of mouth and viral marketing are two different things ... but they are not unconnected.

The Lounge is a comparatively small 'vector' but it doesn't take a big vector to spread a virus. The influence of the Lounge is probably more significant than understood. The proof of this is nebulous, but how many google vintage searches finish up with a FL thread?