Recently, there has been a major resurgence of early 2000s aesthetics: super low-rise jeans, baby doll tops, layering camis, and mainly iconic mall brands. Behind the alluring nostalgic designs, consumers are realizing something that has been building over time. The quality of many of these established mall brands has declined sharply.
One brand that has greatly gone down in quality, but up in price, is Hollister. Hollister and its parent company, Abercrombie, were well-known in the early 2000s for their thick and long-lasting beach-inspired pieces.
Hollister has recently done some drops of their Y2K-inspired clothes, tapping into the trend. However, many shoppers are saying these releases look the part, but do not feel the same.
“I feel like they are more expensive for what you get. The quality has definitely gone down,” says Karys Klevickas, senior.
Other social media users on Instagram and TikTok have similar complaints. Concerned shoppers have been comparing old versus new clothing pieces, showing the differences in stitching, fabric weight, and durability. It is abundantly clear that the styles are back, but the quality definitely is not.
Many fashionists think fast fashion is the cause of this downfall in quality. With rising production costs due to tariffs and increased competition from ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein.
Hollister and, in turn, Abercrombie, which used to be known for their high quality, are now cutting corners to keep the prices low and trends cycling. These brands’ clothing was once made to last multiple years. Pieces that one once could call investments are now not built to last.