Just when Forever 21 seemed to slowly sink into Abercrombie status, it rises above the retail ashes. In its newly released fall campaign, the brand seems to be looking more like a less snobbish yet equally fashionable Zara—an image that it may be trying out to cater to an older, more sophisticated market.
Shot in black and white by photographer Dan Jackson and styled by George Cortina, rising models Alana Zimmer, Baylee, and Kelsey Soles, and Yuri Pleskun are clad in the fall season’s essentials. These mostly consist of mock-neck sweaters, refined coats, and ribbed dresses.
The campaign noticeably veers away from the brand’s once vibrant, youthful and playful imagery. As The Wall Street Journal reported last month, Forever 21 is finally focusing on an adult market by having “more forgiving fits and more sophisticated looks.” Vice president of merchandising Linda Chang reveals that this is part of their attempt to “[overcome] the stigma of [their] name,” and move past their millennial market.
This is a welcome change. Not only is it strategic business-wise, but the brand’s attention to a spending, wealthier adult market could also attract newfound faith and prompt kinder attitude to fast fashion and knockoff everything.
Click on the slideshow above to see all the looks!
Photo courtesy of Forever 21