Suburban stores are full of elderly customers!　GU” is a big hit with the middle-aged and elderly, and the reasons are too surprising.

GU/g.u. is supposed to be a brand for “young people” but…

GU/g.u.” is a low-priced brand for young people, but have you ever felt that you have been seeing more and more elderly customers in the stores since a little before 2008?　It is no longer unusual to see older customers in their 40s or older entering and purchasing items not only at tenant stores in suburban shopping centers such as AEON Malls, but also at tenants in terminal buildings in the city center.

Why is the number of older customers increasing for g.u., which was relaunched in 2010 as a trend-conscious youth brand with Ms. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu as a character? In this issue, we would like to consider the reasons.

The “990 yen jeans” hit → Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

g.u. was originally a low-priced brand established by Fast Retailing in 2006 to collaborate with Daiei, and the first store was opened as a tenant within Daiei.

The first store was also opened as a tenant in Daiei. The company continued to open stores at a rapid pace, opening as many as 50 stores in one year, but in the fiscal year ended August 2007, it recorded only “about one-third of the planned level of performance. In 2009, taking advantage of the recession caused by the Lehman Shock and the fast fashion boom, the company launched “990 yen jeans.

This was a big hit, and in 2010, the brand was transformed into a trend-setting, low-priced brand for young people, with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu as the star of the line. This policy shift was once again successful, and the company continued to grow rapidly, surpassing 300 billion yen in sales to date.

The reasons for the lack of consumer support for g.u. at the beginning were quite clear.

It was positioned as a low-priced version of UNIQLO, selling products with the same design as UNIQLO (although the material composition was changed) at a fixed price that was 500-1,000 yen lower than the UNIQLO fixed price.

This plan was probably based on the fact that GAP’s low-priced “Old Navy” brand was doing well at the time. However, most of UNIQLO’s products were sold at least at half price during the period, or at least at a seven-discount discount if the price was higher.

The “990 yen jeans were our last bet,” as one interviewer put it at the time.

Revival of “big size” and “loose silhouettes

Since 2010, g.u. has continued to gain support from young people as a low-priced trend brand for young people, but in the latter half of the decade, the number of middle-aged and older customers gradually began to increase. However, the number of middle-aged and older customers has been gradually increasing since the latter half of the decade. Why is this?

There are many possible reasons. I would like to list some of the most significant factors.

First and foremost is the resurgence of the “big size” and “loose silhouette” mass trend. Around 2000, the clothing trend became a mass trend of “tight silhouettes,” in which the upper and lower garments stick to the body.

It is said that the trigger was Hedi Slimane’s collection of tight silhouettes proposed at Paris Fashion Week. Young people and middle-aged people have different physiques. Generally speaking, young people are thinner, while middle-aged and older people are stockier, even if they are smart. Naturally, g.u.’s clothing was thin enough to fit the physiques of young people, but difficult for middle-aged and older people to wear.

Around 2003, however, “big size” and “loose silhouettes” made a comeback. This is said to have been triggered by Demna Vasaria’s proposal at Paris Fashion Week. From there, the “big size” trend began to expand rapidly into the mass market.