I was tricked today.  I opened an email this morning from Madewell Jeans, which I had never previously heard of.  Their website is small, and to the point.  It features their denim and cord lineups, has a couple of fashion-ish tidbits, and then offers readers an insight into the women who run the brand.  Frankly, it looks like one of the many small, hip fashion brands that have been cropping up of late.

At first I took the brand at face value.  I was particularly impressed by the insight into the women behind the brand: Kin, Lisa, Andiswa, & Jenny.  Each has a quick description that reads like a blog profile and points readers to what they’re looking at and listening to these days.  But a little further digging shed some light on Madewell, exposing it for what it really is: an off-shoot brand of J.Crew aimed squarely at the likes of Gap, Banana Republic, and Abercrombie (shudder).

This type of endeavor isn’t new.  Gap has three tiers with Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy.  Many brands have been opening "outlet" stores that are actually fronts for lower quality items made specifically for sale at these cheaper retail fronts.  But the catch there is that very few of them hide what they are.  J.Crew has done an excellent job of shielding Madewell from the J.Crew name.  And it might just serve them well given that the Madewell site looks more like a Brooklyn boutique, a market share the J.Crew will never crack.  Of course, I haven’t seen what their retail stores look like, which might change that tune.

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