It looks like Forever 21 is joining the wacky apparels trend with this unlikely collaboration with U.S. Postal Service. Wait. Let me check the date. OK. We are safe. This ain’t no April Fool’s Day prank. This is 100 percent real. If you are so incline, you can now wear USPS proudly offered by Forever 21 USPS Capsule Collection. The collection covers a wide variety of styles of apparel featuring vintage USPS logos and designs from the 70s, the 80s and the 90s.
The line up includes jackets, hoodies, t-shirts, joggers and even a tube top with USPS’ familiar Priority word, along with the iconic red, blue and white stripes, slapped across the tube. Well, that’s one top that is sure to draw stares on your chest regardless of the size. Thanks in part to electronic mail (email), USPS has reportedly saw steady decline in mails every year since 2006. Even with the boom in online shopping, it didn’t help in preventing USPS from losing a whopping $3.9 billion in 2018.
Apparently, USPS hope that this collaboration will help to draw the attention of millennials and generation Z who practically grew up with the Internet and hence, the contributing demographic who drove the trend (of snail mail delivery). The real mystery is USPS’ decision to partner with Forever 21 because, the fashion label isn’t doing very well itself. We read that in 2018, Forever 21 posted a loss of nearly $40 million – a figure that’s almost double its previous year’s (2017) loss.
If a brand is losing money, it is a sign that its products aren’t going places and so why the collaboration to start with? Perhaps, the lure of its targeted segment is too hard to resist? Personally, I still perceive Forever 21 as the go-to brand of youth. Perhaps not so much of millennials, but more of the gen-z. Then again, one has to scrutinize what contribute to bulk of the loss. Who knows? It might not be the sales. It could be because of a bunch of other factors.
Anywho, now you know where to look if you ever need to get your USPS fix. Just a friendly reminder though… if you are a USPS worker, the Forever 21 x USPS Apparels is NOT your replacement for your official USPS uniform while on duty. However, “employees are welcome to show their postal pride by wearing officially licensed USPS apparel, but they should do so in their free time,” said USPS Brand Marketing Executive Director Chris Karpenko. Forever 21 x USPS Capsule Collection is now available from Forever 21 website with prices starting at $12.90.
Images: USPS/Forever 21.
Source: Fast Company.
