What the Hell Happened to Esprit?

Esprit was once a cool, vibrant brand known for its good-quality clothing. Now, it's on the verge of becoming a distant memory, as it has failed to meet the demands of the social media age. Do you even remember Esprit?

#esprit #luxurybrands #2000s

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[wplants]

2:46 that vintage ESPRIT collection is so nostalgic for me. I miss those colors and most importantly, the high quality of the pieces. I grew up very poor to a young single mom, but once I got a bag of hand me downs and an ESPRIT long sleeved turquoise shirt was in it. It was probably 7 years old and a lot of kids had worn it, but it was thick and the color was not faded a single bit. I wore it in 6th grade and thought I was so stylish

[joeld]

Its sad, they had a good quality and I liked the simple, timeless style.❤😢

[KsenijaCelner]

Esprit has filled for bankruptcy in Europe in the last week of July but that was not widely publicized at that point. I returned from my holiday on the 25th and went to shop in one of their stores in my city. On August 6th I got the newsletter saying only three stores in the Netherlands will be open on August 8th for closing sales. And after that, all shops were closed. I feel a bit sad tbh. I still could find great pieces for reasonable prices every season. And to my knowledge Esprit as a brand was never associated with any shady business, children labor or sweatshops so I am extra sad to see them go down while HM and Primark are still growing.

[anshevel]

I live in Germany and my clothing consists of Esprit up to 80%. They have high quality clothes, and it looks like they have in mind something close to my body type when they design the clothes. They are closing the stores here too (I think mostly because rental prices are crazy), but one can still order online. Pity if they completely disappear 😢
Zara and H&M are nowhere near. Those brands are just fast fashion crap.

[Cantseemuch]

My mom really liked esprit, because of the 90s stuff but lately we rarely found anything at the shops anymore.

[MusingOnBeauty]

I used to be a loyal customer to Esprit for basics, but the last 4-5 years, the quality kept diminshing and the prices kept increasing. They have become a somewhat expensive brand (compared to Zara for example) but with a quality that goes towards cheap H&M stuff. And as you said, they haven’t really renewed their style. Looks like there is a lot of bad management involved there. But I think that there is also a general polarisation of the market that is making other victims in similar retailers. Luxury brands with high quality do well, very cheap brands do well, and everybody in the middle is just dying at the moment.

[spartans]

I am writing this from India...some 25 years back Esprit was a big brand. In India, as a child I used to see it's advertisements, a few posh expensive high end stores however it was beyond our reach for price being a reason. I always fancied buying something from Espirit. Slowly and gradually over the years this brand faded away somewhere. I no longer saw the stores and big advertisements from Espirit. It also faded from my memory. Just a couple of weeks back I was shopping at a retail store that also had a section for Espirit. Excited to find this childhood brand, now well within my reach, I jumped to that section however the quality and designs were really disappointing. Not something that they offered 20 to 25 years back. Unfortunately, I walked out of that section and bought from a different Indian brand which offered much better quality and designs.

[sampledude]

This was my favorite clothing brand!!! Miss u!

[ElegantSavage]

I remember the Esprit ads when I was a teen in the 1980’s. Although I never wore Esprit clothing from their men’s collection, I did like seeing the vibrant colors and the chunky shoes! I dated a girl who wore Esprit clothes and I liked seeing her wearing the vibrant colors.
This brand was very forward thinking and well ahead of their time concerning many issues that confound us today.
I bought my wife some Esprit boots last Christmas and she was surprised the brand was still around. I feel many of these great brands are shuttering their doors because of “fast fashion.” I’m sad to hear they will move to licensing, which means products will diminish in quality. 😂

[rosanilebron]

In my country, back in the peak of the 80s, to wear ESPRIT was something. Their clothes were cool, high quality, fashion forward and casual. I liked how they made themed cohesive collections with many accessories to choose. One thing that current generations don't understand is the way fashion trends came to life back then. Magazines like Teen, BOP and Seventeen were the source for inspiration and everything fashion. Also movies and MTV. ESPRIT has no place in the current fashion scenario.

[emerybayblues]

I remember those Esprit ads in the 1980s!

[rima]

It’s so sad… I’m a 68 born since 40 years my absolute favorite.. the quality the price the design, the sizes all was perfect.. my wardrobe in 85% esprit… I’m always well dressed for work meetings, casual, sport even their evening party gowns… some pieces i have are 20 years old classics I still love and wear..💖
I really hope they manage to get up their feet again.. I wouldn’t know what to wear instead… 😢

[anaomaljev]

This a big emotional blow as I was a loyal customer for the last 15 years. I don't like shopping that much and they had all the stuff i needed so i went to their shops until they closed. Afterwards I just bought stuff online and I have slowly witnessed the demise and the fall of their brand, quality and overall business. Their last 'rebrand' was an absolute disaster - complete confusion about the targeted customer. They either went for a young, almost teen look on the one hand and for the lux very expensive upmarket cloths on the other. The look that they have been known for kind of disappeared and the prices went up so I stopped buying as I couldn't find anything that I used to like to wear. What an pity! There is no one to replace them. They ruined themselves.

[shanerob]

Wow, I had no idea this brand was still around. I think it left my country in the late 90s or early 2000s.

I still remember my sole purchase from this store in high school and how stylish I felt. A mini black halter dress.

[ruthh]

Loved this brand, and so sad when my local store closed ages ago. brings back memories of my childhood and still have my black quilted jacket with hot pink lining I can never find in this quality or colourway anywhere else. Waiting for their comeback.

[alexandrasmith]

Esprit went the same as many companies Cheap. They decided to compete with the bottom end and branded to teenagers. Problem is teenagers will mainly just go wherever the price is cheapest.

[celinedalessandro]

I remember my grandma bought me some Esprit clothes like 20 years ago and the brand was so cool, the quality was so great. I grew up and kept buying their clothes until like 2016. Clothes became boring. Same basics all the time and the quality descreased with years (I kept clothes 12-13 years for some so it was really a good brand before!). Too bad they couldn't adapt to fashion and marketing!

[Vickypedia]

My mum used to shop there for my siblings and me there when I was a teenager. When I became older, I realized that I don’t like their designs, especially their color schemes, and that they always slapped their logo on their pieces. I’m a human, not a walking fashion advertisement.

[sarika]

Esprit makes basics and timeless classics, which will never go out of fashion. The problem with other fast fashion brands like zara is that they cater to trends, that become dated after a few wears. The issue is the current generation of consumers, who like to buy and throw their clothes away after 5 wears. Maybe esprit should try focussing on a different demographic, men and women above the age of 35, who are looking for fashionable, classic peices in good quality at an affordable price.

[Bdhstl]

Wore an espirt bag every day in college 88-93 cause hated a backpack. Wearing their glasses right now. Was surprised to see them cause had forgotten about them. Love!!