Have You Lost Your Mind?

If you know me, you know I am about as far from being a fashion icon as one can be. Jeans, a comfy shirt or a t-shirt, and ball cap is my style. When it comes to wearing fashion house labels, that's just not me. I won't be a Gucci guy or an Armada guy, but I do appreciate the time and effort that goes into the craftsmaship of a well-made garment. In saying this, consider me surprised that the NHL would send me a press release about their latest fashion collaboration, but it seems they're very excited about their new line of merchandise being produced by what appears to be a reputable fashion designer. Again, I'm just basing this off the press release, but let's take a look at the NHL's latest fashions!

As per the release, "AW Chang Corporation today announced it has signed a license agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL) to launch a new apparel collection under the brand label of FE, created for hockey fans and inspired by their passion." There's your explanation for the periodic table square at the top, but that doesn't really say much so I went off to find more information. According to their LinkedIn page, "AW Chang Corporation is a family-owned menswear company, founded in 1989. First entering the market as a mill, the company has grown into a global vertical manufacturer."

In trying to decipher what any of that "global vertical" stuff means, AW Chang Corporation is a business that produces various textiles and fabric in its mills, employs designers to come up with clothing designs, has factories to produce the clothing designed by its designers, and ships directly from its factories to various vendors for sales of those clothes. Basically, they control everything from start to shipment for their clothing lines, ensuring "quick turnaround of products from development to store delivery." They also are "committed to ethical and sustainable sourcing" of materials and its fabric mill is entirely solar-powered. With the NHL going greener every year, AW Chang is a good partner with whom to do business.

Back to the release, the NHL and AW Chang collaboration under the FE brand will see "designs for all 32 NHL teams. Each design uniquely incorporates vivid high resolution, digitally-printed graphics and photos that bring to life elements of the game and iconic local market flavor including city map prints and Stanley Cup engravings. Future offerings will utilize the same high-resolution photograph process to feature esteemed NHL alumni." While none of that sounds particularly groundbreaking in terms of what's being produced, designs can vary from fashion house to fashion house, so maybe the FE brand is doing something different than everyone else.

Of course, I had to know what kind of apparel the FE brand was making, so I went looking. I found the website, and there's nothing particularly notable about what they make with hoodies and jackets seeming to be their focus at this time. Being the curious type that I am, I clicked deeper into the site to see what the lace-up hoodies looked like, and that's where I nearly spit the coffee I was drinking across the room. The Dallas Stars lace-up hoodie I have posted to the right isn't anything special with its small logo on the front, the oversized logo on the back, and the weirdly sublimated hood that has Stars logos on both side. If we're being honest, it's not all that appealing to a guy like, but I had a hard time focusing on the hoodie when the price tag of $178 USD was shown below the hoodie. On what planet is that hoodie worth $178 in US funds?!?

Against my better judgment, I decided to click on the coach's jackets to see what they looked like in terms of design. For 32 teams, they're offered in two colours: blue or black. There are no other base colours used by FE, so the only splash of colour you'll see is on the little logo on the left side of the chest and on the interior hood fabric. The absence of creativity in these jackets is prett baffling considering how they were supposedly inspired by the passion of fans, but I guess that means something different to the FE brand. Oh, and that $378 USD price tag? There's a snowball's chance in hell that I'm spending that kind of money just because it has an NHL logo on it. I can find plain blue or black jackets for less and sew my own NHL patch on for a fraction of the price that FE wants to charge. These jackets are neither fashionable or affordable.

The reversible parkas that the website shows at least come in colours so they look like a team jersey, but that $458 USD price tag is insanity built on ludicrousness. The reversible bomber jackets come in team colours, but they'll set you back $348 USD so I'm thinking there won't be a lot of these sold unless you're making NHL money. The reversible vests are $178 USD and the crew-neck hoodies are $148 USD, so let's just state the obvious: most fans would rather buy an NHL ticket and go to a game for $150 USD than drop that kind of money on a hoodie. These prices are simply unrealistic for the majority of fans.

I appreciate that there's a time and place for wearing brand-name designer clothes, but the average NHL fan simply wants a hoodie that's warm and won't require a second mortgage to purchase. I commend the efforts made by AW Chang Corporation to be a greener business in using recycled materials for their clothing and renewable power sources to power their mills, but it's hard to support a business when their product is above one's financial means.

I'll opt out of wearing fashionable clothes so I can do things important to me like buying groceries and keeping the lights on at my house. My jeans-and-polo-shirt combination may not get me on Mr. Blackwell's list, but they won't put me on a collection agency's list either.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!