From Claire's to Limited Too, Tween Mall Brands Are Cool Again
Mallrats, rejoice: Your favorite tween haunts are making a comeback.
Earlier this week, Limited Too — a bastion of style for kids growing up in the '90s and early 2000s — appeared to tease a relaunch on its official Instagram account.
"Share the Nostalgia," the brand captioned a snapshot of a model wearing a Limited Too varsity jacket. "Rediscover an icon," a second post reads.
Reaction to the posts are overwhelmingly positive. "Are yall [sic] coming back to our malls?! Don’t play with my emotions," one top comment reads. Another enthusiastically reminisces on the Y2K trappings of the Limited Too shopping experience: "Inflatable chairs! Purple glitter hair brushes! Destiny’s Child playing on the speakers!"
The future of Limited Too wasn't always certain. In 2006, the company changed its name to Tween Brands. Two years later, it discontinued the Limited Too line and began closing hundreds of its stores. Then, in 2015, Bluestar Alliance, LLC, acquired the Limited Too trademark and quietly relaunched it online. Now, the brand management company seems to be reviving Limited Too in earnest.
The timing is right. Last February, the Washington Post queried: "Are you ready for the return of the Limited Too aesthetic?" And customers are feeling sentimental — according to a recent report by the Los Angeles Times, young shoppers are craving the social interaction that malls often facilitate. They "want more than just a place to spend money: a place to hang out, dine and meet friends."
The reemergence of malls coincides with the slow-but-steady revamp of the several shopping center hotspots. Claire's is reinventing itself under the creative direction of Nicola Formichetti, the fashion editor and designer who helped shape Lady Gaga's now-iconic aesthetic. Forever 21, moving forward after filing for bankruptcy in 2019, is reinvesting in brick-and-mortal retail.
Banana Republic has developed a quietly luxurious new look that won the brand a buzzy partnership with Peter Do.
And PacSun has made strides to maintain relevancy with Gen Z via TikTok-first marketing initiatives and the introduction of the "PacSun Collective," a group of content creators and creatives across visual art, fashion, and music who will "help shape the youth clothing retailer’s future campaigns and merchandise," per a press release.
To young shoppers, malls are a place to shop and socialize without parental supervision. And older shoppers fondly remember malls as places they once did the exact same thing. Malls, and mall brands, are the ultimate generational bridge.
I might be a jaded Millennial, but fro-yo and a trip to Limited Too sounds pretty damn good to me.
