forever 21 goes couture

Twelve by Twelve Index Page

Twelve by Twelve Outerwear Page

Twelve by Twelve Gift Card Page

I found something interesting clicking around the Forever 21 Website. A link to one of the teen-centric retailer's latest endeavors, Twelve by Twelve. (The other endeavor is called Heritage 1981, girls and guys casual wear.) Yes, Forever 21 has launched a "New Women's Couture Line" which includes tops, sweaters, outerwear, bottoms and dresses that are arranged in 'collections' a la couture, with names such as Mystical Forest, Modern Art, The Royals (I like her bird cage hat), and more.*

By couture, I imagine they don't mean $10,000-$50,000 made-to-measure creations which one must fly to an exclusive fashion house the Left Bank for multiple fittings. But the Twelve by Twelve Website certainly creates a pleasing fantasy of fashionable exclusivity with many nice looking pages, especially when compared to the all business look of Forever21.com.

And the offerings are certainly pricier at Twelve by Twelve, where 'couture' tops range from $18-44, dresses $24-79, and outerwear $26-89. The same categories at Forever 21 are typically $7.80-24.80, $10.50-44.80, and $16.50-44.80, respectively.

A Twelve by Twelve dress at $79 can sure seem like couture when compared to a Forever 21 dress at $10.50; but I would guess that they use the same factories to sew both garments. Alas.



*Twelve by Twelve officially launched in June 2007. See this WWD article for more.