The Lifestyle Brand Evolution: Can Creativity Outpace Commoditization?

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When I started my fashion retail career over 30 years ago, the mall-based, fashion “lifestyle brand” was the pinnacle business model. Think Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria’s Secret, Urban Outfitters, J.Crew, Banana Republic, et al. Any free associations? If you are as old as I am, you’d conjure a very specific tableau: an identifiable photogenic style, store design, merchandise display, music and maybe even scent – and that’s just at the storefront. You’d be lured in by the product stories confidently suggesting, “Buy this key item. Outfit and accessorize in this way.”

The romantic relationship we once had with IRL stores is now mostly transactional. Overall, brand identity and experience play a bit part in a multivariate utility function. If you need proof, consider that Amazon, Walmart and Costco aggregated revenues recently accounted for nearly half of all U.S. retail growth.

This branded, design-driven business model reigned for several decades. It earned high markups and strong customer loyalty, broadened category, licensing and sub-brand opportunities, and replicated quickly across the mallscape, delivering rich enterprise valuations to shareholders. Remember, this was a time when you went to the mall wanting to be seduced by possibility. And brands delivered by successfully leading you into what to buy, season…after season…after season. That said, some lifestyle brands’ evolution is also a renaissance.

Lifestyle Brands Unravel

This model began to unravel in the late aughts. The Great Recession depressed demand, income polarization accelerated, the smartphone shifted attention spans and shopping behaviors and Amazon, which launched Amazon Prime in 2005, gained critical mass. Yet, as comp store sales declined, mall brands began to regularly offer 40 percent discounts (the new 20 percent!), reduced inventory, cut associate hours, and trimmed construction and visual merchandising budgets – all the while growing their outlet channels — triggering a downward spiral in brand equity. Note: Mall-based teen concepts like American Eagle and Hollister continued to grow during this period due to the millennial demographic surge.

Today, of course, our shopping behavior has been fully transformed. Our discretionary desires bubble up from the digital miasma of personalized TikTok influencers, Instagram stories, YouTube feeds, Reels, ads, reviews, and pop-ups. We launch our shopping journeys on a search bar, where selection, price and delivery are impersonally sorted instantaneously.

So, what happened? The romantic relationship we once had with IRL stores is now mostly transactional. Overall, brand identity and experience play a bit part in a multivariate utility function. If you need proof, consider that Amazon, Walmart and Costco aggregated revenues recently accounted for nearly half of all U.S. retail growth. Their apparel businesses are estimated at ~$60, $30 and $10 billion respectively. Other big market share gainers are off-pricers TJX and Ross, and onliners Temu and Shein.

Meanwhile, the major story in the mall is Abercrombie & Fitch, a 2024 Crave Retail Radical and its sibling Hollister, who have bleached out their controversial legacy brand positionings in favor of neutral vanilla boxes — and continue to anniversary double-digit sales increases. For more details, see my Robin Report article The Transformation of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Commodity Pressures on Two Iconic Brands

Let’s look at two once-dominant-but-under-attack players, Lululemon and Victoria’s Secret.

  • Lululemon was founded and initially propelled by its strong identification with women’s yoga culture and lifestyle. They co-marketed with local yoga studios, hired yoga instructors to work in stores, and even offered yoga classes on Sunday mornings. As the active space became more competitive, they repositioned as a “performance” brand. They’ve become much more about product innovation leadership and far less about lifestyle, which allows them to compete more effectively across more categories. But in the process, they have lost their personality and cult-like following. They are now more vulnerable to direct competition in the high-performance space.
  • Poor Victoria’s Secret is still trying to redefine its brand proposition and regain growth. We all know the story. In the 1990s, Les Wexner chose “sexy, glamorous” and “the most beautiful women in the world wear Victoria’s Secret” as the DNA of the brand because he recognized this was a large, underserved market that VS could dominate, and he knew that the positioning could endure for a long time. But the clock ran out and VSC has been completely disrupted by a number of brands offering different ranges of sensibilities. For a fascinating and detailed account of the brand’s downfall, read the book “Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon.”

A Lifestyle Branded Future?

In recent discussions I’ve had with my colleague Katie Irving, CEO of Moonshot, a fashion concept and innovation studio, we identified a new and meaningful commitment to lifestyle branding that titillates consumer desires and leads with customer-centric experiences.

First, let’s pay homage to lifestyle icon Ralph Lauren. The company remains America’s biggest fashion brand because they have been the standout lifestyle storyteller for…merely half a century. Ralph Lauren’s rising market cap and the buzz surrounding its Spring 2025 show in the Hamptons proves that the brand’s universe—rooted in timeless American aesthetics—still sparks strong emotions.

Newer brands are also blending innovation with a deep connection to lifestyle. SKIMS, now valued at $4 billion, is one of the emerging lifestyle brands leading the future of retail. After disrupting shapewear, the brand expanded into loungewear and menswear, while growing its physical retail presence with flagship stores, including its recent opening on 5th Avenue. SKIMS’ success is built on a rich branded world of products that fill real whitespace supported by marketing that positions them as a cultural leader. SKIMS’ recent collaboration with The North Face sold out within minutes. And, yes, having a famous founder helps.

Other emerging retailers are making quick strides across the country. A 2023 Retail Radical Boot Barn (now a $2 billion brand with 430+ stores) has broadened its appeal by repositioning its imagery and voice to represent the rugged “American West” lifestyle. Faherty and Buck Mason are two others strongly resonating as lifestyle specialty retail brands. It will be interesting to see how they evolve as they grow.

At the same time, older, more established apparel brands are renewing their commitment to creativity.

  • Uniqlo’s appointment of Clare Waight Keller signals a push to infuse their basics business with an elevated, fashion-forward sensibility. Keller describes her mission as creating comfort with a strong sense of fashion…something that feels great, makes you look good, but actually has a complete ease to it.”
  • J.Crew, under the direction of Olympia Gayot, is finding renewed momentum by balancing archival favorites with bold, editorial-worthy pieces. The recent relaunch of their catalog is a perfect example of how brand identity can rekindle excitement.
  • Gap Inc. recently appointed Zac Posen to lead as Creative Director, blending his signature drama with the storytelling needed to reinvigorate Gap’s portfolio of brands.
  • H&M’s CEO, Daniel Ervér, has highlighted creativity and design as key pillars for market differentiation in the future.
  • Aritzia, also a 2023 Retail Radical, has impressive growth—doubling sales in the past five years—and further demonstrates how embracing a lifestyle approach can fuel success. The Super Puff campaign is a brilliant example of how to disrupt the market while simultaneously building a compelling brand universe.

Lifestyle Fashion’s Next Chapter

The evolution of legacy lifestyle brands isn’t only about bringing in big names or launching viral marketing campaigns, it signals a broader shift in how brands are approaching their businesses. In conversations I’ve had with industry leaders, there’s increasing emphasis on brand building and creative investment to differentiate brands rather than relying purely on performance-driven marketing.

Online shopping will undoubtedly continue to commoditize what was once a sensual relationship, speed fashion cycles and lower barriers to entry. For this generation of digital retailers, their peaks will be lower and their lifetimes shorter than in the industry’s heyday. Why?  Because of commoditization, faster fashion cycles and lower barriers to entry!

While we’ve lost some of the magic that once made shopping exciting and retail profit margins eye-popping, we believe emerging merchants and creative visionaries will devise new formulas to focus on meaningful differentiation coupled with emotion to usher in a thrilling new era of retail.

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