Eileen Fisher’s style dilemma, was summed up by Nora and Delia Ephron…
Friday, October 30, 2009
..in the new Off Broadway show, "Love, Loss, and What I Wore," where a character muses, "When you start wearing Eileen Fisher, you might as well say, ‘I give up.' ". Ruth La Ferla's article in the NY Times says however, that Eileen Fisher enjoys a passionately loyal following. I am certainly aware of it--and in both "Forever Cool" and "Steal This Style" I picked out pieces from the easy-to-fit line, to photograph on women sz 6 and sz 16. These clothes are simple, comfortable, and a "zen-like" air that I think really suits certain personalities. It's a G-d-send for women who's figures don't fit easily into more tailored garments.But like it's high-end, pricey and also softly constructed cousin, Zoran ( which features simple mix-match pieces mostly top grade cashmere, silk, linen etc) it rarely changes in style.
"Many customers have been loyalists since college, embracing her kimono shapes and floppy trousers as, one devotee said, "a safe way to be bohemian in a grown-up world."
"Those women fueled the company's growth, but for the fashion-conscious, Eileen Fisher clothes had as much style and shape as a burqa. To them, the line was designed for graying bobos who dabbled in ceramics and had lifetime subscriptions to The New Yorker.
To counter that perception, Ms. Fisher is making an about-face. She is embracing fashion, not shunning it, in the hope of attracting a younger, cooler customer who has no fear of leggings, a defined waistline or wedge heels."
"About a year ago I was feeling sad," said Ms. Fisher, 58, as she paced her light-filled showroom on lower Fifth Avenue. "I thought we're so much cooler than we appear. We have made the clothes look hipper, but nobody knew that."
I'm rooting for Eileen--although she herself (there was a photo of her) could use some tweaks in looking more youthful. Sometimes it only takes the way you wear a scarf or a belt (the glasses and hairstyle you choose)--or the decision not to wear sooooo much black (are you listening Nora?).
No comments for this post yet. You could be the first...