Hold Up, Why Are In-Store Private Labels So Good Right Now?

The retailers themselves are running the racks with in-house offerings that rival their own brand list. We asked six big dog shopkeeps how they flipped the script.

The first item I ever copped from a store’s in-house private label was a pinstripe wool zip-up overshirt from Très Bien’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection. The Malmö-based retailer had already established itself as one of the best shops in the world, but at that time Young Jimmy felt like he had found a glitch in the Matrix.

Très Bien had mastered what was then a groundbreaking mix of S-tier sneakers, legacy fashion labels, and contemporary Scandi menswear that skewed left-of-center, providing a relatively untapped counter-option to the #menswear narrative and heritage Americana dudes who wouldn’t shut up about whiskey and penknives. But now, the store was peddling its own wares that mirrored its singular vision, and at a price that an associate editor (aka listicle-maker) in the mid-2010s could afford.

My broke ass was hooked.

In the decade since, Très Bien’s private label has always been a reliable resource for yours truly. But something curious seems to be swelling up in the larger menswear-scape. I’m basing this entirely off putting a finger up in the wind and sensing the vibes, but more than ever it feels as if fire retailers are producing in-house labels that are strong enough to stand alongside their seasonal buys from the world’s best brands.

My cranial has spun up a few theories why this is the case, and feel free to take a mere podcaster at his word (remember: I’m never wrong, just early). But a nice perk of spending a sociopathic amount of time and money on clothing is you befriend some shopkeepers, so I hit up a bunch of in-house homies ranging from Union Los Angeles’ Chris Gibbs to HAVEN’s Arthur Chmielewski to hear from the horses’ GOATs’ mouths how and why the private label offerings are heating up.