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With luxury prices rising more than 50 per cent since 2019, entry-level designer goods have in recent years become a rare concept. An alternative way to score a premium look, within a more constrained budget, may be emerging — see the revival of the second (or the diffusion) line.
Typically at a lower price point and often with a more sporty or youthful aesthetic, a recent cluster of brands with high cultural capital have launched second lines. There’s Marc Jacobs’s Heaven, revered for its Y2K aesthetic and sold-out collaborations since its 2020 debut, and then there’s No Problemo, quietly launched by casual brand Aries this past January — a line dedicated to slogan pieces that have been spotted everywhere from White Lotus to the wardrobes of football stars such as Norway’s Erling Haaland. Both of these are cheaper than their main lines, with No Problemo prices typically half that of Aries.
More are coming. Bode, which has built a reputation from craft-centric clothing, will debut Bode Rec – a sports-focused line – this autumn. (Prior to the launch, Bode Rec collaborated with Nike on a sold-out capsule that featured sneakers.) And Luar, Raul Lopez’s brand known for its sell-out Ana bag, will debut its Basics line at an upcoming show in September; it will start with five items — a hoodie, sweatpants, leggings and two T-shirts — and nothing will cost more than $500.
Luar chief brand officer Adrián Díaz, says the decision to create a diffusion line was twofold: “At Luar, we speak a lot about accessibility. This is a collection that allows for that, but also opens us up to an audience that would maybe not typically look at us.”
It is focused around rethinking the classics — using buttons and zippers to, say, take off the sleeves of a hoodie in warmer weather. The versatility and digestibility, says Díaz, should instantly appeal. “We want this product to really move. We don t want to sit on ‘X’ amount of SKUs.”
Existing second lines are popular. Lyst reports that searches for “Heaven” increased 10 per cent in Q1 2024, while at Depop, searches for pre-loved pieces from the brand are up 63 per cent since January. Luca Solca, managing director of global luxury goods at Bernstein, believes they are filing a vacuum and a desire for impactful design with an attainable price tag. “I think streetwear brands have faded to the background, leaving a significant blank space in the fashion market,” he says.
The second line is, of course, nothing new. Japanese brands excel at them. Pleats Please, the much-loved brand from Issey Miyake, launched in 1993, is enjoying a new lease of life with younger customers (searches on Depop were up 24 per cent between March and April). Play, the Comme des Garçons spin-off, focusing on tees and trainers, dates back to 2002. With its recognisable friendly heart logo and equally friendly prices (around £80 for a T-shirt), Play allows customers to purchase the equivalent to merch, if they can’t afford — or sometimes digest — the more conceptual ideas on the runway, which typically retail from £800 for a jacket and £230 for a T-shirt.
Margaret Howell’s MHL brand was launched in 2003. The line has a more casual feel, and retails at half the price of Margaret Howell collections, so it brings with it a more entry-level customer. Revenue is spread evenly across the two lines, according to the brand. The most popular pieces are shirting and denim, with customers often shopping across both lines. “They go well together,” says Howell. “Men and the younger people, they probably mix them more… Someone who knows how to dress themselves would wear [the two lines] together.” The premium fabrics — whether cotton for MHL or tweed for Margaret Howell — are a unifying thread.
Solca says the growth of second lines could signal the need for premium brands to diversify their offerings. “The onus is on mega-brands to stay relevant to a broader consumer audience, and avoid the risk of exclusive, very important client (VIC) confinement.”
Bosse Myhr, director of menswear and womenswear at Selfridges, reports that brands like Pleats Please, Max Mara’s Sportmax and Rick Owens’s DRKSHDW are strong sellers in store. He thinks this may be the start of a bigger trend. “As younger brands establish and evolve I would definitely anticipate that second lines become a new way to experiment, grow and react,” he says.
Many might be inspired by the recent Miu Miu boom. While the brand, which launched in 1993, is hardly a second line to Prada (prices between the two are comparable), it is often called a ‘little sister’ (Miu Miu is the childhood nickname of Miuccia Prada) and it does have the requisite youthful feel of a diffusion line. It’s also proving hugely successful — with sales up 89 per cent in Q1 2024, compared to Prada’s 7 per cent — suggesting it’s the second-line look, and price, that consumers are responding to.
Katy Lubin, Lyst’s VP of brand and communications, reinforces this: “Prada fans appreciate that they’re buying into a formula that’s been perfected over years… It feels like we’ve all fallen madly in love with Miu Miu as the fun little sister of Prada that’s youthful and girlish, but tough.”
The second line is not always a long-term way for a brand to appeal to different consumers. Fashion’s recent history is littered with loved-but-now-defunct labels. D&G, created by Dolce Gabbana in 1994, became an after-dark favourite, as did the original Versus Versace, launched in 1989 — they closed, respectively, in 2011 and 2005. In a statement, Dolce Gabbana said the decision was made to give “even more strength and energy to our collections”, with the idea that the two lines would be merged, while Versus was the victim of Versace’s financial difficulties. Marc Jacobs previously had Marc by Marc Jacobs, a quirky label founded in 2001 that closed in 2015, after a tenure of Luella Bartley and Katie Hillier as creative directors. (The closure was due to the same merging strategy as suggested by Dolce Gabbana.) 2019 brought More Joy, Christopher Kane’s product line popular for its slogan tees and novelty sex toys, which is no longer trading with the main business in administration.
If the new wave of lines is to have long-term success, perhaps the focus needs to be less on affordability, and more on creating collections with a legitimate identity. Something that can be seen at both established brands and those starting out.
Howell’s taste underpins the success of her brand. “It’s based on my lifestyle,” she explains. “As a working person, I need to feel comfortable in functional clothes, but with a bit of style. That’s where MHL came from.” Díaz echoes this idea in terms of Luar’s Basics; he sees it as a way to bring the tropes of the brand into the world. “Everyone knows about the bag,” he says. “Now there’s going to be another visual element that makes them say, ‘Oh, that’s Luar.’”
A retail perspective implies a rounded approach is crucial. “Second lines are not just about bringing a lower entry price to a brand,” says Selfridges’s Myhr. “[It’s] creating the opportunity to offer something new and connect with different audiences.”
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