After taking a stroll through retail stores this last weekend with my wife, I’ve noticed that the mid-market of apparel and fashion seems to be occupied by what seem to be brand-shaped-objects. That is, entire runs of retail brands that sell endless variants of the same poor quality clothing. There’s nothing behind a brand with no quality or identity to set it apart, and there’s little that can be done with infinite marketing dollars to fix that.

A good place to play this game is thrift stores after the holidays. Thumb through the racks and try to discern any difference in production quality from any mid-market brand after a few wears.

Of course, it gets complicated because you can’t simply spend your way out of the problem unless you’re willing to put in the legwork to learn the difference between luxury (expensive brand-shaped-objects) and premium (genuinely well-made) products. Often times, you’ll see a premium product of higher quality sell for less than a similar luxury item.

Is any wonder consumers are confused and fatigued?

The question is, how are we going to move forward without losing the focus on quality, longevity, and origin that these brands are encompassing?

This is a question with a 2 to 3 year horizon, and the replacement trends that seem to be lurking now are 90’s surf style (see Warriors of Radness) and another wave of grunge (logical follow-up to flannel and boots overload).

If there’s a way to combine those surfacing trends with the current focus on stateside production and craftsmanship, now is the time to start thinking about it. We won’t be knee deep in waxed canvas, aged leather, and Pendletons for too much longer.

Surf and skate have been thoroughly co-opted, as has the preppy New England lifestyle. The lumberjack/outdoorsman theme has been mined deeply as of late. The question is if the story of riding a bicycle is compelling enough to make people want to belong in the same way.

At least in the US, riding a bike has come to mean stretchy synthetics, silly shoes, and minimum style. Other than a brief lycra flare-up during the 1980s, there hasn’t been much impact on general fashion from the bicycle world. There’s been some cross-over with the track bike and fixed gear explosion, but nothing to qualify as widely aspirational as Vineyard Vines, Ralph Lauren, or Vans.

It doesn’t feel right to create a bicycle clothing brand as an “other”, since the goal of creating good riding gear for everyday people is to make clothes that function in the real world, rather than clothes that are acceptable at best when in a business environment.

However, at the same time, if bicycling becomes an aspirational activity at the level of summering on Martha’s Vineyard or surfing, then the branding will become self-perpetuating. More people will start riding to fulfill the lifestyle promised by the clothing, and hopefully, continue on to buy more of the clothing to meet their new-found needs as cyclists.