Mail order makeover

Remember the public opinion iceberg that in February crashed into the Lands’ End clothing company after it had pro-abortion militant Gloria Steinem offer her words of wisdom in its catalog? It turns out that Lands’ End’s glorification of Steinem, which led to boycott threats and ended with Lands’ End apologizing, was not an iceberg but only its tip.

Some background: Lands’ End for decades produced middle-class, nonsexualized clothing, including uniforms for some Christian schools. Its catalogs featured wholesome, well-scrubbed models. It was a marketing alternative to fashion-forward enticers. A snarky Washington Post story in February described the company’s “snoozy aesthetic … sensibly priced blouses … soft pastels, sea-sprayed golden retrievers.”

The Wall Street Journal last month quoted Lee Eisenberg, a former Lands’ End creative director, saying Gary Comer—who founded the company in 1963 and served as CEO and, later, chairman—did not want Lands’ End to be “a me-too clothing brand. … The F-word at Lands’ End was fashion.” Comer placed Lands’ End headquarters in Dodgeville, Wis., where, the Journal said, “the call center, staffed by farm wives, took pride in answering phones in one ring.”

Comer retired in 2002 and died in 2006, and a new generation arose that did not know Gary. A merger with Sears did not work. Quality and service declined, according to many customers. In 2014 the board of directors of Lands’ End, once again independent, had to make hard decisions: try to regain the confidence of its former long-term fans, or reposition itself as a flashy fashion brand.

‘Making personal connections and speaking to our customers on a much deeper level is so important to me and to Lands’ End.’ —Marchionni

The board moved toward the latter when it chose Federica Marchionni, 44, to be the new CEO. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called the Marchionni–Lands’ End match “an odd couple—the glamorous, Italian-born New Yorker, brought in from luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana to run the Dodgeville-based retailer of cable-knit sweaters and button-down Oxford shirts. If she was red stilettos, Lands’ End was a pair of sensible shoes.”Marchionni sneered at Lands’ End sweaters and pants: “Who would wear that?” She said her mission was “to evolve Lands’ End into a meaningful, global lifestyle brand” and in that way attract newer, younger customers. Marchionni works primarily from New York City, dropping in on Dodgeville for holiday parties and at other obligatory times: Her contract requires her to be in Dodgeville one week every month.

Although it’s too soon to say whether Marchionni’s red-stiletto changes will bolster corporate profits long-term, the early returns were not good. Lands’ End went from a $74 million profit in 2014-15 to a $20 million loss in the year that ended on Jan. 29, 2016.

It’s not too early to see other ramifications of Marchionni’s attempt to reposition Lands’ End for a different lifestyle. A company catalog early this year described pro-abortion Steinem as “our Legend” and had a photo of Marchionni listening attentively to her and gushing: “Making personal connections and speaking to our customers on a much deeper level is so important to me and to Lands’ End. You have spent your life making deep connections with people across the globe.”

Lands’ End did make a deeper connection with customers such as Sue R. Head, a vice president at the Point Lookout, Mo.–based School of the Ozarks, which had spent more than $150,000 on Lands’ End school uniforms. Head wrote to Marchionni: “In your short tenure as CEO, it is clear to me that you do not know who your customer base is yet. … I find it ironic that your cover features young children and their families having an Easter egg hunt when Ms. Steinem stands for ending life in the womb. We will not be part of advancing your agenda or hers.”

Others wrote comments like this one on the company’s Facebook page: “You obviously don’t know who shops with you, or maybe you do and don’t care. In the midst of the celebration of Easter (life), you interview and glorify a woman who fosters a culture of death.”

The negative response from customers was such that Lands’ End soon issued a statement: “It was never our intention to raise a divisive political or religious issue, so when some of our customers saw the recent promotion that way, we heard them. We sincerely apologize for any offense.” Lands’ End had promised to donate part of its receipts to the ERA Coalition’s Fund for Women’s Equality, but under pressure announced it would not do that.

That apology and reneging produced a counterprotest by supporters of Steinem and abortion. The New York Times complained that Lands’ End had decided to “prostrate itself to critics.” (More recently, the Times has wanted the state of North Carolina to prostrate itself to critics.)

Whether product or politics is Lands’ End’s main obstacle now, the price of a share of its stock has dropped by more than a third since Marchionni took over.