I was intrigued when I first heard that JCPenney was launching a collab with Joe Fresh! So I decided to do some reconnaissance on my lunch hour and check out the new collection at my local store, which I found to be incredibly fun and, well, Fresh!
If you aren’t familiar with Joe Fresh, here’s the scoop: Joe Fresh was created by designer Joe Mimran and their stores are primarily found in Canadian shopping centers. The brand recently entered the American market with a few retail and pop up stores in New York City and surrounding areas. During the spring of 2012 Joe Fresh opened their international flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. I think they can be compared to the pricing structure and styling of H&M, offering affordable prices and the latest trends, but also offers some of the clean silhouettes of retailers like J.Crew and Banana Republic.
As you can see from the pictures, the set design is vibrant, breezy and energetic. I spied pastel skinny jeans with cute zipper details at the ankle, breezy silk blouses, lovely jacquard shorts in a myriad of colors, and easy shift dresses. Also found were simple T’s and tanks, flip-flops for a mere $4 dollars, lightweight scarves and colorful belts. Items were mostly well-priced, but there were some items that I felt were overpriced, such as dresses for $69 and blazers for $49. Most of the items I took with me to the fitting room were either $16, $19 or $29, and I had one pair of pants for $39 in my hands…not too bad!
The verdict? I liked most of the various fabrics and textures, and the preppy-with-a-slight-edge styling. I have to be honest; I was impressed with the quality of many of the pieces. Many of the tops were made of nice, substantial fabric; and pants fit well and had a modern feel to them. Some of the fabrics did feel a bit stiff to me, such as the cardigans and some of the colored skinny jeans, although I imagine the jeans would soften with wear.
The major piece that left little to be desired (and little to the imagination) was a very cute (on the rack) pair of off-white lace shorts. You will not see a picture of me in these because, well, let’s face it, it’s March and my legs are about the same color as the shorts! But they were completely see-thru! They were lined with a very thin off-white lining, which should have at least been a nude shade. You will see anything and everything beneath these…too bad, because they are pretty! Besides these shorts, there were definitely other pieces that didn’t thrill me, and struck me as somewhat cheaply made. But I chose to focus primarily on the high points here.
Sizes seem to be getting picked over online, so if you are interested in checking out the collection, I’d suggest heading to your local store for the best selection. Sizes range from 2 to 16 for most pieces, and XS to XXL for others not sized by numbers. I’ve read that the collection should be getting new styles monthly, so this one might warrant a look-see every so often.
Have you checked out the collection, either in stores on online? Tell me what you thought and which were your favorite pieces in the comments!
xoxo,
Jackie
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- Spring Refresher: jcpenney’s New Collab With Joe Fresh (fashionweekdaily.com)
- JCPenney Goes Pop (forbes.com)
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