Madewell, the 21-year-old fashion brand owned by J.Crew Group, is amplifying its Denim Atelier by Madewell styling service with the campaign for its spring denim collection.
Denim, Madewell’s top sales category, has long been a focal point for the brand. For spring, Madewell is launching a new denim collection with a robust, multi-channel marketing campaign that includes multiple IRL activations with a focus on fit. The campaign kicked off on Tuesday.
“Everything starts with denim. It’s truly the jumping-off point for the rest of our product offering and how we ground everything, specifically our customer experience,” said Ellie Whiteford, vp of brand marketing at Madewell. “We’re making sure we’re showing up with premium products and also the experiences that the customer would expect along with that.”
Madewell kicked things off on February 3 with a denim takeover on its Instagram. The takeover included images of the new collection as well as posts sharing the history of Madewell denim. The same day, Madewell launched a tech feature on its website allowing customers to chat online with one of the brand’s denim experts and receive personalized consultations. And, on February 6, in step with the launch of the spring denim collection, the brand collaborated with popular NYC magazine store Casa Magazines, orchestrating a full window takeover and debuting a Spring Denim Collection Zine. From February 10 – 11, Madewell will partner with the store on a limited run of denim merch.
Allowing shoppers to speak to denim experts and consultants online marks an expansion of the brand’s Denim Atelier by Madewell concept, which launched as an IRL experience granting the same services in August 2023. To draw attention to the program last year, Madewell launched its first multi-city tour spotlighting the services.
This year, the brand is once again taking the experience on tour while promoting its spring collection. In New York, it will host a Denim Atelier-focused event for influencers and tastemakers during fashion week, and, on February 10-11, it will promote the experience to the public at the brand’s Fifth Avenue flagship. Next, the tour will make stops in Austin, Los Angeles, Nashville and Charleston. Loyalty members will have the option to receive complimentary tailoring, in addition to customization and styling.
“A big part of how we bring denim to life is through our fit and styling services. We know that it’s a personal experience finding a pair of jeans, so our goal is to make sure that it’s a comfortable and easy experience for all of our customers,” Whiteford said.
Madewell will promote these events to its loyalty program members and people on its email list, plus it will leverage social media.
The success of last year’s tour is ultimately what inspired Madewell to go bigger with its marketing this year. “We had thousands of people come out, and it drove a ton of energy and excitement around the brand — denim, specifically,” said Whiteford. “In the markets we traveled to [last year], we saw all of our KPIs across the board increase year-over-year — everything from traffic to demand to denim sales.” Madewell declined to share revenue figures.
