Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 132 total)
  • Brands who used to be good?……
  • mattk
    Free Member

    No fear.

    When I was at school in the 90s they were really exclusive and only the rich kids wore No Fear. I remember the slogans seemed really inspirational, to a teenage lad anyway.

    Nowadays they are the epitome of chavtastic.

    shotsaway
    Free Member

    I used to like Firetrap stuff but since they were bought by the Ashley empire the quality had gone downhill.
    I also now avoid USC as this starts to look more like Sports Direct everytime I pass it. I do wonder how long the likes of Diesel will continue to supply USC now Ashley owns them?

    hora
    Free Member

    North Face

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    speed12
    Free Member

    North Face all got a bit high street for a while but back on track now.

    Same with Berghaus as well. They went very dog walker/chavvy at one point producing baggy not well thought out kit. That is still there in some forms sadly, but the top end Xtrem kit is absolutely bloomin brilliant! Am very much toying with buying a Kanchenjunga to replace my current mountain jacket, and have tried on a Velum and the fit was just as good if not better than the ‘big’ names (Rab, ME, Haglofs, etc).

    Some might see it as cynical marketing, but the sponsorship of Leo Houlding etc does seem to have bought some focus to them. Leading the way on things like waterproof(ish) down jackets and other technologies as well. Sorted!

    mrmoofo
    Full Member

    Onza
    Salmon Racing
    Kodak
    No Fear
    Mistral/ F2/ Sailboard
    Rucanoor

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Belstaff

    talltom
    Free Member

    welsh rfu

    patriotpro
    Free Member

    Evisu

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Same with Berghaus as well

    I’m going to disagree with that. Have been wearing mens Berghaus long sleeved zipped technical tops and am really pleased with them. An alternative to merino so you don’t end up feeling damp.

    If you look around there’s some to be had at reasonable prices. 🙂

    hora
    Free Member

    No mention of Specialized. Maybe because theyve always had good ride mixed with DESIGN FLAWS

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Apple
    Used to be a brand of free thinking arty creative types wanting to be an individual – now just mass marketing and bland 😉

    Kodak is a good one, now just a patent file
    AOL – anyone know what they do anymore (not saying they were good though)
    MBR – used to have bits worth reading

    hora
    Free Member

    Dirt mag. Thinned down like Berlusconi’s hair piece.

    stanfree
    Free Member

    I think Timberland boots are fairly poor compared to 20 years ago , the first pair I bought were so good when the soles eventually went I sent them off to get re-soled . These days they aren’t much better than Caterpillars.
    Also Fila and Tachinni were the ultimate in Soccer trendy coolness , Now they copy old designs but still fail miserably.
    Also see Stone Island , though I always thought mediocre quality and very overpriced.

    In the bike world see :

    Kona , Always fairly cool but now very poorly specc’d.
    Spesh again compared to the new breed of German bikes fairly poor value for money.

    oomidamon
    Full Member

    Howies

    Animal

    footflaps
    Full Member

    North Face all got a bit high street for a while but back on track now.

    You sure, still seems like high street tat to me. Very few decent outdoor brands left, only Rab and Haglofs spring to mind.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Howies +1

    Used to buy loads of their stuff but not seen anything half decent for years. Their T-shirts used to be great in the early years.

    tazzymtb
    Full Member

    Very few decent outdoor brands left

    mountain equipment, arcteryx, mountain hardware, patagonia, mammut

    there’s loads

    athgray
    Free Member

    I am sure Black and Decker were half decent once upon a time. Their power tools seem crap these days.

    angeldust
    Free Member

    TNF have such a huge range that they comfortably cover both high street fashion-ware and decent technical clothing, with lots in-between. Much of their technical stuff is just as good as any other outdoor brand. Much of the negativity towards TNF is some form of snobbery because there isn’t any exclusivity left in the logo.

    jamj1974
    Full Member

    Marin. No market presence.
    Kona. Seem to have lost their way.
    Karrimor. Same as everyone else’s perception really.
    Black & Decker. As above.
    Howies. Just no longer interesting in terms of products and the t-shirts simply don’t feel as nice.

    stugus
    Free Member

    Syncros

    Used to be ace. Especially the seatposts.

    speed12
    Free Member

    What angeldust said.

    Again, like Berghaus, TNF top-end kit is properly good. They’ve come out with some UK specific jackets (Point Five and another one I can’t think of) recently which have had great reviews. Funny thing is that if you head over to Sweden, you see people wearing Haglofs kit like you do TNF over here so you can’t really judge a brand by who wears it!

    hora
    Free Member

    Mammut?

    I still use a softshell of theirs on the bike that I bought in 2000.

    timber
    Full Member

    Howies – over-priced, falls apart, cut for people that don’t do any sport. Old pair of trousers cost half as much and outlasted the most recent which have massively improved my sewing skills. What happened to the ‘rocking chair test’?

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Howies – over-priced, falls apart, cut for people that don’t do any sport.

    I sent a jacket back as the waist was wider than the chest – god knows what model they used for the design, but whoever it was needed to cut down on the pies….

    samuri
    Free Member

    Juniper
    Checkpoint
    Cisco
    IBM (although really, I’m struggling to remember the last decent thing they made. They must have been good at some point)

    And non-IT related.

    I think budweiser must have made some tasty beer at some point, it’s horrible now.
    Little Chef

    teamhurtmore
    Free Member

    British Airways
    Ralf Lauren
    Alfa Romeo
    Olympus
    Nomura
    Barings Bank
    Triumph
    W H Smiths
    Xerox
    Preston NE
    Moseley/Richmond Rugby Clubs
    Élan skiis (Stenmark era)
    IBM
    Grandstand, Newsnight, Question Time, QoS, BBC Sport
    The (Manchester) Guardian
    CND
    The Liberals (and the Lib Dems)
    Minced beef
    Sainsbury
    NUM
    Body Shop

    Northwind
    Full Member

    athgray – Member

    I am sure Black and Decker were half decent once upon a time. Their power tools seem crap these days.

    We’ve got an ancient B&D hammer drill which I think Noah used on the ark, it’ll be going long after all the orange plastic crap they sell now is in landfill.

    lilesy
    Free Member

    2nd that howies t shirts and trousers falling apart

    rab sizing since they sold out and started aiming there products at go outdoors

    mrmoofo
    Full Member

    Triumph is a little unfair – they are making far better bikes that they used to! Car wise , I guess they don’t exist
    I can only agree with Belstaff – great functional barnd , now a fashion brand. Same goes for Lewis Leathers.
    MG – now just producing rubbish cars (some would say, they always did)
    Benelli – a bye word for unreliability
    Lonsdale – esp with it’s far right association
    Arsenal FC
    I fail to see how “minced beef” was every a brand !! Certainly Fray Bentos isn’t what it used to be
    Shipphams
    McVities
    Oxo
    Trebor
    Squirrel Horn
    Stella
    Tag Heuer – chav watches are go!
    BMW 3 series. Does anyone actually not own one?
    The BBC

    oddjob
    Free Member

    Don’t laugh

    Marks and Spencer – used to be reliable good quality but now mostly cheap tat

    samuri
    Free Member

    The amount of times we’ve gone into M&S and walked out with nothing. My wife simply can’t get her head round the fact that they’re shit now until she gets inside and then realises they only do purple jumpers in size 24 and red jumpers in size 6.

    The worst suit I own is an M&S suit. After wearing it about ten times, it looks like a sack. My £60 Tesco suit is better quality.

    chipsngravy
    Free Member

    Diamond Back
    Mongoose
    GT

    All three used to make some of the most desirable BMX bikes BITD. Nowadays? No thanks.

    How to kill a ‘cool’ brand overnight? Sell out to a big corporation.

    Edit.

    Add:

    Haro
    Redline
    DC shoes
    Etnies
    Vans

    kilo
    Full Member

    Smythsons.

    Used to be a nice shop selling, now just chasing the market for handbags and lost a lot of style

    binners
    Full Member

    Howies?

    I sent a jacket back as the waist was wider than the chest – god knows what model they used for the design, but whoever it was needed to cut down on the pies….

    That’s me, that is! 😀

    I’ve got loads of Howies stuff that’s lasted for years. They used to justify their prices as stuff was UK made. The new gear seems to carry the same hefty price tag, but all seems to be made in China. Taking the **** somewhat. Mind you, I suppose that’s just following every other clothing manufacturers buisiness model

    toby1
    Full Member

    Everyone loves a Howies bash, I still think their jeans are spot on.

    Pretty sure I judge most things on merit individually rather than brand in general, but I could be wrong.

    hora
    Free Member

    Everyone loves a Howies bash

    No, I’ve never ‘gotten’ why its so pricey. Its a given that a menswear product should be of a certain quality.

    The brilliant knack of the founders was to add a subtle-lifestyle spin to essential a 90’s BOSS/ARMANI-branded product for the 00’s but on a more subtle/tactile level.

    All the power to them. Marketing is about a new message- they got it spot on with a market/audience who didn’t want the brashness of 90’s ‘brand’.

    ianv
    Free Member

    http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/Pictures/web/f/u/v/top100BIG.jpg

    Fair number of STW brands that used to be good feature in this list. IBM number 2 even.

    Just because a brand is not seen as cool by a pretty small segment (perhaps even one the brand is not positioned for) does not make it bad. eg. Triumph was the fastest growing motorbike brand in europe last year apparently and is market leader in the UK (20% for bikes over 500cc).

    Haro
    Redline
    DC shoes
    Etnies
    Vans

    I would love an explanation why these are failed brands.

    For me, raleigh is a good example of a brand that once had enormous credibility, but has now pretty much lost all of it.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    British Airways
    Ralf Lauren
    Alfa Romeo
    Olympus
    Nomura
    Barings Bank
    Triumph
    W H Smiths
    Xerox
    Preston NE
    Moseley/Richmond Rugby Clubs
    Élan skiis (Stenmark era)
    IBM
    Grandstand, Newsnight, Question Time, QoS, BBC Sport
    The (Manchester) Guardian
    CND
    The Liberals (and the Lib Dems)
    Minced beef
    Sainsbury
    NUM
    Body Shop

    Lord Nelson
    Lord Beaverbrook
    Sir Winston Churchill
    Sir Anthony Eden
    Clement Attlee
    Henry Cooper
    Lady Diana
    Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me?
    Maggie Thatcher your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    MrMofo…no one actually owns a 3 series any more, they’re all lease cars!

    I don’t mind some of the Howies stuff, although I’m tight so only ever buy it when its in the sale or I have an offer code! DC and Etnies still make some good stuff and sponsor loads of people.

    Azonic used to be pretty cool in the bike world but seem to have all but vanished or make tosh.

    Roadrunner Records used to be pretty cool if you liked heavy music but started signing absolute garbage like Nickelback.

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 132 total)

The topic ‘Brands who used to be good?……’ is closed to new replies.