Jack Wills, “University Outfitters”, has finally decided to grace Dublin City with its presence. Having teased us with its store in Kildare for almost a year, we
were relieved to hear that it was due to open a new store on the oh-so-bohemian Harry Street which wasn’t exactly a shocker as this British line has already set up stores in other such “quirky” spots like Chelsea and Notting Hill. However, is a “bohemian” theme really in keeping with these “Outfitters to the Gentry”? Perhaps we would understand such a decision if we had actually heard of the brand before their arrival. Few had even been to the Kildare store to spread the word of this exciting new addition to Irish retail. Famed for their exclusivity, Jack Wills are even rumoured to have refused Vogue access to a select few items of clothing for a photo shoot. In fact, they don’t advertise in fashion magazines at all, only producing in-store brochures featuring their clothes and recommended “looks”.
The turn-out at their launch party last month in Pygmalion proves that they were successful in their choice of location .It was a somewhat sickening but impressive turn-out; kudos to Dubes. Their involvement no doubt spurred the success of the launch party and also added a stomach twisting awkwardness in the form of a VIP area which was monitored by a lonesome bouncer beside a seemingly accessible set of stairs which when one attempted to ascend without a VIP pass was utterly mortifying. With the entire VIP area able to see your embarrassing refusal of entry, it was a tough decision between casually laughing it off and turning scarlet before making a dash for the door. Surely such elitism is unnecessary for the launch of store of an already firmly established brand where the only ones who could qualify as VIP were your mates on the Dubes committee and the newly hired staff.
The staff members were hired for their supreme knowledge of fashion, retail and customer relations by submission of CVs and recommendations from previous employers. Or, actually, they were chosen because they are attractive and have the right attitude to comply with the Jack Wills lifestyle. A few beautiful and honestly, wonderful friends of mine were lucky enough to be spotted in Trinity by staff scouts and given the job (that treats them to an 85% discount and two “looks” for €30 each) and during their days of staff training they revealed some of the more interesting and somewhat amusing mottos of Jack Wills, including the requirement for the girls to have “I’m sorry” hair which was later established to be an abbreviation for “I’m sorry I’m so beautiful that I can get away with my hair looking so messy”. While it has to be said that the staff aren’t exactly a hideous bunch, one cannot help but notice the abundance of blondes. This is explained by the circulating rumour that they only employ one brunette per floor. With three floors in store and my inside sources informing me that there are currently only three brunettes employed, one cannot help but notice the startling level of truth attributed to said rumour.
The actual garments, as individual pieces, aren’t all that bad. There is the occasional pair of leggings or shorts, a jumper a jacket or jodhpurs (why?) that one could imagine adding to an existing wardrobe of clothes that doesn’t match the cover of every issue of Horse and Hound. However, the “looks” that the in-store brochure provides are often laughable. The girls section has the occasional gem but the boys are left with a choice between tracksuit bottoms paired with a blazer (really?) or a pyjama-like jumper paired with tartan pants which we simply don’t need nowadays, or, possibly, ever. With the staff discount at an alarming 85%, one cannot help but imagine the size of the mark-up price on these outlandishly expensive clothes which leaves their quality somewhat questionable.
However critics’ main issues with Jack Wills don’t lie with the garments. It’s the lifestyle. Their online lifestyle section is cringe worthy to say the least. Their alleged appreciation and promotion of unsigned bands is clearly a ploy to attract the more “trendy” students, their online library consisting of reviews on the contr
asting works of D.H. Lawrence and Jilly Cooper is simply confusing and irrelevant but probably a supposed attraction for the “bookish” types and the Parties section consists of countless identical photos of a generically posed “night out”. To propose that anyone who reads, enjoys music or goes out with their friends is leading the Jack Wills lifestyle is preposterous and quite frankly offensive. Who are they to patent literally everything that students partake in as their idea?
Time will tell whether this “lifestyle” will survive in Dublin City and whether their targeting of Trinity students will have fared well for them. Despite having had no idea who they were before they arrived other than that they are a brand largely associated with England’s “sloanes” and public-school elitists, they seem to have made quite a splash and are somehow getting away with their boldly English everything. I can safely say I have no interest in feeding their monster of a University lifestyle that incorporates homeware into its product range; what “student” needs a £89 Highwood Dressing Gown or a £100 Richmond Blanket? Who or what are Highwood and Richmond? Do we care? Despite my and many others’ protests to this brand and the lah-tee-dah “lifestyle” that comes with it, I fear that Jack Wills is here for the long haul and that they could actually out-fit this University.
