Why Aime Leon Dore and Rick Owens Attract Loyal Followings
Most brands are pleased if you purchase from them twice. There are people who make wardrobe choices with Aime Leon Dore or Rick Owens and return for years afterwards. That is the kind of loyalty that is rare and it’s not just cotton-picking. Both brands deserve to and both do so in distinctly different ways, and it reveals much about fashion devotion.
So I’m going to go into why these two followings are so devoted to it; there’s more to it than just good clothing.
They Never Move the Goalposts
If you are looking for the simplest place to begin, think about this: Neither brand is constantly changing their mind. For decades, four times a year, Rick Owens aka officialrickowen.com never try to follow the fashion trend and always remain faithful to their dark and sculptural style. Since 2014, Aime Leon Dore has been the same since its inception, with its clean, nostalgic New York vibe year after year.
That is a large component as to why people remain. Your existing clothes are right there beside the new ones when you purchase into a particular brand and it remains the same thing after five years. This doesn’t leave fans stranded each season, that’s why they know the brand is a trust for the next time around and another time thereafter.
The Founders Actually Live It
The more a brand seems human, the more loyal customers will become. Basically the brand is the man when it’s about Rick Owens. He and his partner Michèle Lamy are dressed in the clothes and live within the world that they have created, for years now. One can recognize this from a label acting as a character for a season.
Aime Leon Dore shares that integrity. Made from his personal experiences, his childhood in the Bronx, his Greek heritage in Queens, it is clearly his own brand of construction, and he never shied away from making that fact clear. Here, people don’t abide by a logo. They stick around someone they trust to have good taste – and the faith in that is hard to lose.
Wearing It Says Something
For many of these fans, clothing is part and parcel to who they are. His designs have been dubbed ‘armour,’ by Rick Owens fans, to symbolise the idea of showing what is inside on the exterior. Particular brands will help some discover those who believe in them with the procedure of expressing their identity. It’s not a normal association with a label on your clothing. It’s placed much nearer home.
Aime Leon Dore aka officialaimeleondore.com plays the same alley – but quieter. It’s a low-key branding, if you wear it, you broadcast it to those who know. You’ve joined a small club when you get clocked. That commonality read on matters keeps people stuck long after initial purchase.
A Crowd That Recognises Its Own
Each of the following is not found independently. Those who wear Rick Owens know what they’re doing and their name is Tribe. They come upon one another in the street and they meet head to foot at his exhibitions in Paris which they see as commonplace and not just another piece of shopping. It’s comrade identity, alone, that’s enough motivation to hang around.
Aime Leon Dore is a local company, serving its community, first. The store and their cafe provide opportunities for people to truly touch down, hang out, and connect with kindred spirits. The feeling of coming into a brand you feel like you belong to, versus ordering items from a brand, leads to a brand you don’t forget.
The Clothes Reward You for Staying
This loyalty will not live through inferior products and both brands ensure it isn’t required to. Rick Owens clothing is made well; even the wild runway variants, fans wear their items for years rather than one shot. Take some dudes who have been PK80ing for a while and they will tell you that the “conceptual” other label shit gets eight or nine wears while his shit gets twelve or eight and is beat up daily.
Aime Leon Dore is the same weight up. Heavy fabric & careful make and will retain shape and feel over time. The first purchase lasts and still looks good. You’re on autopilot handing over the brand, without a second thought. Quality is quiet but it’s one of the best loyalty tools available.
They Do Not Chase Everyone
Now comes the trickiest part of all, and most important. Both brands don’t seek to be all things to all people. Rick Owens has admitted that his work is not for the faint-hearted; it is not, it could not be. He’d prefer to go in depth with a niche than spread himself out thin trying to reach a larger audience.
That is what tightens his following up with. Lovers of the product say that it makes them feel like they were chosen, since it’s dominated by the non-mainstream culture. Aime Leon Dore offers a gentler take, however, remaining small for a reason and not giving away the goods on certain items, fans feel included instead of sold. Strangely enough, captivity is a recipe for loyalty.
The Fans Do the Talking
There is one more ingredient to this, and this time it is easy to miss. Rick Owens never spends too much on advertising. The reason the brand continues to be a brand is because people who are fans of it don’t have to turn a blind eye to it, those people of mouths become people of faith. After talking a buddy into getting their first pair, you’re in, and so are they.
Aimé Leon Dore building up in a similar understated manner; through exchanges of people’s pieces and the spreading of the name of otherwise. Any following that is spread out like that feels like he or she owns the brand a little. That is the most loyal feeling you can hear and these names don’t have to pay anything for it.
What Is It All About?
Take it down to its basics and the same can be found beneath both. These brands are something to support with, an actual person and a real audience that understands. The clothes are the initially place to begin. It’s a combination of the whole inside to inspire the loyalty.
Aime Leon Dore makes it warm and communal. Rick Owens does with vision and belonging. Different roads, same destination – that following that buys but doesn’t go – it stays on for year after year and invites friends too. That kind of loyalty doesn’t come easily and it is why both names continue to have their crowds so close.
