Von Dutch Caps, Once Big, Now Are Passe, Hipsters Say; But Nobody Told Consumers
By STEPHANIE KANG
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
So is it hot? Or is it not?
Apparel maker Von Dutch Originals broke into the trendy retail landscape last year by carjacking the boxy, foam-front trucker's hat, slapping the Von Dutch name on the front and returning it to the streets as a pricey fashion icon.
The first Von Dutch trucker hat, a denim number priced at $27 and bearing the street name of Kenneth Howard, a 1950s legend in the custom-car world, took off almost immediately, becoming a hot seller in hip boutiques like New York's Lounge and Kitson's in Los Angeles in November 2002. The company hardly marketed the hats, yet within months, they popped up on the heads of such stars as Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears and Carmen Electra. Pop singer Justin Timberlake wore a Von Dutch hat to Grammy Awards after-parties in February.
Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, one of the first celebrities to wear Von Dutch gear.
That may have been the beginning of the end for uber-urban hipsters, who started to cool toward the caps by late winter. Style magazines and other trend-watchers quickly followed suit. By May, media and entertainment blog www.gawker.com, began to pan the hats, with one blistering comment reading, "Maybe it's trust-fund-baby guilt manifesting itself in poor but superficially egalitarian fashion choices." And by late summer, almost as suddenly as the trend started, fashionistas declared the fad dead—even though the hats are still flying off the shelves of department stores and specialty chains.
There's always a lag between what the fashionistas wear on city streets and what's on display at the mall. But the life cycle of fads has accelerated to a pace where trends seems overplayed right out of the gate, even though the rest of the world is just catching on. As a result, it's increasingly the case that fashions can be hot and passe at the same time.
Or, as Yogi Berra would say, "Nobody goes there anymore—it's too crowded."
Justin Timberlake wore the hat to post-Grammy parties. Sales surged.
Mere months after the first Von Dutch hat sold at the company's namesake boutique, magazines and Web sites turned on the increasingly ubiquitous hats. "Do Not At Any Time Ever Wear Them Ever…please do not humiliate yourself or our City," gawker exhorted its readers last month. In its current issue, hipster magazine Complex urges readers to "dump" Von Dutch in its Do's and Don'ts "Trendhumper" section and says celebrities are "suckin' the label so hard, they've actually made the hats suck."
Assistant editor Celia Sanmiguel surmises that the hats are a victim of overexposure. "People always want something different," she says. "When Von Dutch first came out, it was unknown everywhere and it was cool. Then they were all over L.A. and now, even in New York, it's out of control. But it's a matter of months before it dies."
Britney Spears in a Von Dutch shirt
But someone forgot to tell ordinary consumers. Sales of the hats continue to soar at Bloomingdale's and other department stores. "We respond to what the floors tell us and they're screaming for these hats," says Richard Ionata, a buyer for the contemporary mens collection at Nordstrom, which first started selling Von Dutch hats in February. "You turn on MTV and it's everywhere. It would be silly for us not to ride this trend." Mr. Ionata doesn't see Von Dutch's appeal dying anytime soon, and says trucker hats are a part of the retailer's 2004 spring and summer collections.
The hats have been a gold mine for the Von Dutch company, with sales of $2.5 million in 2002, up from $1 million in 2001, according to Chief Executive Tonny Sorensen. Von Dutch doesn't disclose its profit, but Mr. Sorensen predicts the company will sell a million hats this year throughout North America and in Tokyo, Paris and London.
That might help explain how Von Dutch hats made Rolling Stone's Hot List for 2003 last month, while the accompanying article by Rob Sheffield calls the hats "not just another tired ironic cliche but a lightning rod for everything wrong with our country."
Even Von Dutch diehards criticize the hat's overexposure. Former Von Dutch creative director Michael Cassel says mainstream pop stars "dilute the brand" and the company should court the likes of Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, who has been wearing Von Dutch since it first came out in 2002. "You want to stay with the core individuals, with a harder edge, a harder image," he says.
Ironically, Von Dutch was little more than a trademark when its originator, Mr. Howard, died in 1992. Mr. Howard's street name, Von Dutch (based on his reputation for being as crazy as a "Dutchman"), and his signature symbol, a flying eyeball, exemplified the edgy cool of 1950s California car buffs. Mr. Howard, an artist, was a trendsetter himself: He was the first to paint pinstripes across the body of a car and flames across its nose.
In 1996, Mr. Howard's heirs sold the trademark rights to Mr. Cassel, who then launched the business by printing the Von Dutch logo on T-shirts and hats and marketing them to car enthusiasts, a limited market. A few years later, Mr. Sorensen became a major investor in Mr. Cassel's enterprise, eventually buying a greater share and taking over Von Dutch in 2002. The two men are currently in arbitration over the company's ownership. At issue is whether Mr. Cassel still retains control of the company, a dispute neither men would discuss in detail.
Today's Von Dutch still represents greaser chic, says Mr. Sorensen, but with emphasis on chic. "I wanted to go from garage culture to garage-influenced high fashion," Mr. Sorensen says. "And now look. We've created a demand for trucker hats—we made this trend."
Von Dutch General Manager Caroline Rothwell calls the recent negative press "inconsequential" and says the free and spontaneous celebrity endorsements have helped the Von Dutch brand grow, citing the growing buzz around the company's denim line, which can retail as high as $600 for custom-decorated jeans that also sport the Von Dutch eyeball.
But other vendors are wondering how long the company can keep traction on the trend. Sunday Mensah, a buyer at West L.A. fashion emporium Fred Segal, says Von Dutch will have to offer something new soon, since the market for trucker hats is quickly becoming saturated with such lower-priced rivals as BCEthic, which retails for $19.95, and Web sites like www.cafepress.com, whose hats sell for $15.95.
Von Dutch, however, shrugs it off. "The fate of this brand does not rest on our hats," says Mr. Sorensen. If the moment passes when CBs and all-night-diner chic again become declasse, Mr. Sorensen says he has a trailerfull of alternatives, ranging from denim to eyewear to custom motorcycles. The company also just launched a line of girls wear with retailer Gadzooks to lure in females ages 10 to 20.
"The trick is to look at the street, see what's missing and fill the gap," says Ms. Rothwell. "That hat filled the gap, but there's a million gaps out there. We're going to keep filling them."
Write to Stephanie Kang at stephanie.kang@wsj.com
Updated October 24, 2003
SO TWO WEEKS AGO
Von Dutch trucker hats are riding the fine line between popular and passe. A look at the company's 15 minutes of fame.
September 1992
Kenneth Howard, the pinstripe artist known as 'Von Dutch,' dies.
July 1999
Von Dutch Originals is born in Los Angeles, Calif., selling T-shirts and jeans with the company's logo.
December 2001
The company posts $1 million in sales.
November 2002
The company sells its first trucker hat -- a denim version retailing for $27 -- in its flagship store on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles. Later that month, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and Tommy Lee are seen in Von Dutch gear.
February 2003
Justin Timberlake wears the Von Dutch hat to post-Grammy parties. Sales for the hats surge.
April 2003
Terry, leather, twill and wicker versions of the company's trucker hat become available, retailing for as much as $120.
May 2003
Media blog www.gawker.com calls trucker hats a frightening part of a 'larger, more horrifying trend: Blue Collar Chic.'
August 2003
Von Dutch trucker hats are seen on the heads of singer Robbie Williams, actor Joey Lawrence and soccer star Thierry Henry -- whose habit of wearing the hats during post-match interviews is dubbed 'ridiculous' by the British Daily Star.
September 2003
Department stores like Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom can't keep the hats in stock. Complex magazine gives Von Dutch trucker hats a thumbs down. Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield calls the hats 'not just another tired ironic cliche but a lightning rod for everything wrong with our country.'
October 2003
Von Dutch CEO Tonny Sorensen predicts the company will post sales of $25 million by the end of 2003.
