Brands that used to be prestigious, and now are cheap

In My Humble Opinion
1

What brands used to be top notch but have lost their sparkle?

I was thinking about this because I was at Costco and saw some Gloria Vanderbuilt jeans for sale. When I was a teen in the 80s, Gloria Vanderbuilt jeans were the really expensive designer brand that everyone wanted. They cost an arm and a leg, and I spent a long time trying to convince my mom to buy me some, but they were over $100 (in 1984 money) and she never did. Now the same brand is at Costco for $25 (2012 money). What happened?

Any other brands go from prestigious to a ‘bargain brand’?

2

In my experience, rockport shoes have gone downhill.

3

Starter jackets. My Houston Oilers Starter jacket cost 135. People were getting killed for them in Dallas. Now they sell them at Wal Mart.

4

I remember when Burberry was a prestige brand, and only fashionable people wore a Burberry raincoat or scarf. I vaguely remember reading something a few years ago about how Burberry’s status had declined because British folks with more money than class had been wearing Burberry clothing all over the place. UK Dopers, can you elaborate on this?

5

For a while the Burberry plaid was part of gang culture in London as well as being considered kind of chavvy. The brand image seems to be better of late…targeting the 20-30 year old crowd…at least their models are that age. Crazy expensive tho.

6

Izod did it to themselves back in the 80s. Cadillac has been fighting to get theirs back.

7

I’m starting to wonder if Coach is on the way down. I really like Coach’s online outlet site, but they’ve been spamming me with sales, discounts and “special events” at least once a day and sometimes more. Even Kohl’s isn’t as bad. When companies start doing that it really cheapens their brand, IMO.

8

Craftsman tools used to be coveted by tradespeople everywhere, but now they’re just run of the mill. They’ve been Kmartized.

9

Airwalk shoes. When I was in grade school, my mom bought me a pair for $80!! Now I can pick them up at Payless for around $20.

10

Izod! I remember when their shirts were what everyone wanted to wear. Now when I get my kids dorky school uniforms from JC Penney, they are all Izod.

11

Rexall Drugs were a huge brand once upon a time. Now the brand name is used for cheapy pills and medication sold at Dollar General.

12

Rexall still has actual drug stores in Ontario…

13

Funny, when I saw the thread title, my first thought was “Gloria Vanderbilt!”

14

Fruit of the Loom used to be a high quality man’s underwear line-now its cheap crap. Levis used to be good, now made in China. Waterford (Irish crystal) isn’t made in Ireland anymore-its made in the Czech Republic. Hoover used to make high quality vacuum cleaners-now they are junk.
It is a common story-high quality manufacturer cannot compete with low end junk from China-so they sell their name and source the stuff in China.

15

Coach has been downmarket for years. When you regularly see mulleted fat women carrying (ugly fabric logo) Coach bags while wearing their Patriots Starter jackets, well…

Ah, for the days when Coach made fine leather goods, as opposed to mediocre leather trim crap.

16

Liz Claiborne was a well-respected department store women’s clothing brand, with numerous lines and their own stores. Now the name has been sold to J.C. Penney and is used for a much lower level clothing line. The original company still owns the prestigious Juicy Couture and kate spade brands, but the Liz Claiborne brand is only available at Penney’s and QVC.

17

I know virtually know nothing about women’s fashion, but for me, I have always associated Juicy Couture with the poor white trash/Jerry Springer/WalMart set, while I thought Liz Claiborne was a top high-end women’s fashion label…

18

Halston. Oscar de La Renta. Pierre Cardin. Cerutti. Hugo Boss. Norma Kamali. As already mentioned: Coach. Michael Kors and Dooney Bourke are on the way, if not there already. Hugo may not be priced as “cheap”, but I haven’t been thrilled with the recent quality I’ve observed on the rack.

I’m sure, given time, I can think of others.

I don’t think a lot of designers selling their wares at Target is going to end well for their perception as an upscale brand. E.g., Missoni, Vera Wang. Piling on, I guess Isaac Mizrahi used to be extremely high end?

GF chimes in: Dana Buchman, Earl. (Never heard of Earl, but there you go.)

19

So, what brands are there that are going the other way? I suspect that is more difficult.

Edit: two candidates come to mind: Apple and Hyundai.

20

Iams dog food. It used to be high quality, but now you can buy it at the supermarket and the ingredient list has changed significantly.

A lot of small, high quality dog food brands seem get bought out by the big multinationals and then go to cheaper ingredients or different formulas and less quality.