FASHION IS LOSING MIDDLE GROUND

In-between brands are disappearing. And with them, an entire perspective on style.

- HALIE LESAVAGE

Lindsay is a 32-year-old woman hunting for a new purse. She’s looking for a classic shape—let’s say a top–handle shoulder bag— that can hold her cellphone, keys, and a few other little things. She needs it to last for at least five years without major wear–and–tear. She’s hoping not to splurge, so it can’t cost more than $300. If she could check it out at her nearest mall first (which she admits she hasn’t been to in a minute), that would be even better. And when people see it, she wants it to telegraph cool for as long as it can. No tacky hardware, no garish colors, nothing that screams: “This was on sale” or “Everyone on TikTok has it, so I got it, too.”

Where can Lindsay find her bag? This fashion SAT question is harder to solve today than it was 15 or 20 years ago. It used to be that a cohort of American brands—in the vein of Michael Kors, Kate Spade, or Tory Burch—could pass as an answer. The bags were as aspirational as they were practical, and not limited to fashion capital boutiques or “if you know”–esque online stores.

But that was then. Now, prestige–lite brands still exist, but either price, product quality, or, worst of all, taste has got lost along the way. Just like the middle–class American shopper is getting squeezed out of home and car ownership, fashion’s middle–class brands are losing closet share and space on store shelves—or changing what they offer to move up or down market. It’s all to survive in a retail environment that’s become as polarized as American politics: Fifth Avenue–esque luxury dominates one end; blink–and–it’s–here fast fashion rules the other. In the center, “fashion’s middle market has been absolutely crushed,” says Dana Thomas, author of Fashionopolis: Why What We Wear Matters.