On 5 November 2021, Zalando changed the name of their men's collection to 'Zalando Street'. The brand currently sells many different brands including a number of streetwear brands. In the future, they want to expand this and embrace streetwear more. The company also wants to sell drops and limited edition items.
Zalando
Maybe you remember them, the advertisements with screaming postmen and Zalando packages. Zalando was founded in 2008 and has grown enormously in a short time. What started in Berlin has become a webshop selling millions of items all over Europe.
A few days before the crisis of 2008, Robert Gentz and David Schneider founded Zalando. The company set the bar for online shopping very high with the free shipping and 100-day return policy they offer their customers. Today, the brand has a broad collection and has established several projects around sustainability.
Now the men's collection is making a switch to streetwear.
Switch to streetwear
On 5 November 2021, Zalando changed its Instagram account name. The German company switched from @zalando_man to @zalando_street and announced that the brand wants to focus more on streetwear. According to the brand, streetwear is what brings subcultures together.
Under the name "Zalando Street", the company wants to expand their range of streetwear brands. The webshop currently sells brands such as Carharrt WIP, The North Face and Obey. In the future, this will be expanded to include names such as Etnies, Santa Cruz, HUF and Yeezy.
Marius Brintrup, Head of Purchasing for Men's Shoes and Accessories, sees a lot of new opportunities with this switch. Streetwear dominates today's men's fashion and Brintrup is responding to this.
“We aim to be the brand that makes every customer feel represented within our offering,” Brintrup said in an interview with Hypebeast (2021). “Streetwear has become a cornerstone of the fashion industry and is part of a global culture.”
The challenge
Streetwear has become a major player in the fashion world and is a competitive market. Over the past decade, countless brands have tried to join streetwear subcultures to gain cultural cachet. This does not always go down well with the streetwear public who sometimes react with reticence to newcomers.
The switch to streetwear is a challenge that Brintrup is also aware of. For Zalando, the answer lies in close cooperation with authentic figures from the street style world. "Streetwear is a layered fusion of subcultures," says Brintrup. "So we'll adopt a collaborative nature that sees us work with those at the forefront of this movement."
In this way, Zalando wants to communicate as much as possible with the community and culture around streetwear. The changed name of the Instagram account also plays a role in this. "We want to talk to our customers in the most authentic language," says Brintrup.
Zalando will add more brands to their collection in the future. The company will also come up with exclusive drops and limited edition items. According to Brintrup, the ambition of the company is to serve as a "starting point" for men's fashion.