I don't want to come off wrong here, but have you seen jeans cuts from the 90s? There's a reason people don't wear them anymore. It's a fashion statement in itself to do so, because it looks, you know, dated.
Of course you can't sell the some five or even ten year old cut because no one in their right mind would buy it. It would be complete doom for your company if you tried to. Tastes change, and they do so in complicated ways that's not at all trivial to model. They change in accordance to other changes in society, in music, and in the political climate. It's all interconnected.
I am pretty much a jeans-n-tshirt slob, but even I wouldn't want to wear the same clothes for a decade. Feel free to stock up on that lifetime supply of shirts, but don't expect any reasonable economic agent to cater to it. It's just not something anyone can blame fast fashion for. I mean, the DEC 21064 Alpha was a beautiful architecture, but it wouldn't have made sense to expect it to sell in 2005.
Some items are timeless though, such as certain coats, hats and boots, but jeans and shirts are not. Those things will work ten years on, but street fashion never will.
Yes, I've seen them -- there may still be a pair or so in my closet.
Here's a tip, kid: if you stay well back off the bleeding edge of fashion, styles are remarkably durable. Blue-jeans are little changed from the 1940s and 1950s, in basic styles, as are t-shirts, cardigans, cable-knit sweaters, flannel shirts, and a whole mess of clothing that's geared principally for comfort rather than style. And those are precisely the same looks which are renowned for being timeless.
It's the extreme cuts, fabrics, and finishes which date and age quickly.
As I said: Jobs had his signature look. Hemmingway's sweater is timeless. James Dean's leather jacket. Albert Einstein had the same suit (and no socks).
Sometimes simplifying your life in one area allows you to optimize others.
And when the entire fashion industry conspires to create clothes I literally can not wear, I owe it nothing.
While it's true that some basic styles remain over time, such as the Chuck Taylors or Doc Martens, it is also true that some things that used to be style aren't anymore and it's likely we'll never see it again. Take for example the fat hair of the 70s and 80s (yes, I'm that old) or the high cut jeans of the 80s and early 90s.
If you believe the classic blue jeans are unchanged since the 40s you just haven't looked close enough. The cut change slowly over time. Look at the seams from that old pair from the 40s and you'll see it's not even cut from the same parts! Check out the inseam and it's completely different. That's because technology change, the sourcing of materials change, and finally tastes change.
Neither a jacket nor a suit is an example of street fashion. Those trends works very differently. But even a suit is cut different today. If someone walked in in an 80s suit you'd notice straight away, I promise. That may be something you desire, especially if you have the slighest bit of an hipster inside, but it's not something you could base your company on.
I'm probably the last person to understand these things. My clothes keep me warm, basically. What I like or dislike is neither here nor there. I'm just saying it's not true that jeans haven't changed in 50 years, and it wouldn't make economic sense to sell things that people don't want to buy. That was my only point. I don't think you personally owe anyone anything.
Of course you can't sell the some five or even ten year old cut because no one in their right mind would buy it. It would be complete doom for your company if you tried to. Tastes change, and they do so in complicated ways that's not at all trivial to model. They change in accordance to other changes in society, in music, and in the political climate. It's all interconnected.
I am pretty much a jeans-n-tshirt slob, but even I wouldn't want to wear the same clothes for a decade. Feel free to stock up on that lifetime supply of shirts, but don't expect any reasonable economic agent to cater to it. It's just not something anyone can blame fast fashion for. I mean, the DEC 21064 Alpha was a beautiful architecture, but it wouldn't have made sense to expect it to sell in 2005.
Some items are timeless though, such as certain coats, hats and boots, but jeans and shirts are not. Those things will work ten years on, but street fashion never will.