SWOT Analysis

Accessible street wear clothing for anyone to wear.

Logo that can be recognised by different consumers globally.

Doesn’t follow trends so less risk of the garments decreasing in sales suddenly (Hypebeast, 2015). Limited clothing designs and types such as basic t-shirts (Hypebeast, 2015).

Limited social media presence and website interaction may lead to people forgetting about the brand or not seeing new designs released (COMME des GARÇONS, 2022).

Logo may be seen as child-like which may limit the age range of the consumer. Simple designs so can easily collaborate with other brands to expand their audience reach into new markets (Hypebeast, 2015).

Sold in high footfall stores such as Selfridges allowing viewing of the products while shopping other brands (Primary Research, 2022).

Accessible to different markets due to basic style of garments (Hyperbeast, 2015). Other luxury brands also sell basic garments with logo on which may have a higher brand loyalty due to range of clothing available.

Other luxury brands are known for their quality within their basics which may affect the sales of PLAY.

Limited promotional campaigns may lead to consumers purchasing from other brands for basics rather than PLAY (COMME des GARÇONS, 2022).

Current Marketing

COMME des GARÇONS PLAY are famously known for their long living collaboration with Converse. It was first introduced in 2009 and is still as popular today within both the middle market and luxury market. The collaboration continues to release new collections with their newest being COMME des GARÇONS PLAY x Converse Chuck 70 with red soles released March 2022 (Li, 2022). COMME des GARÇONS PLAY lack in their marketing which may be due to iconicity of their logo that they feel that it is unnecessary but when it comes to their collaborations, they rely on the other brand to market on their platform such as Converse (Vuog, 2022).

COMME des GARÇONS International’s President and Rei Kawakubo’s husband Adrian Joffe said “there’s no point to collaborate with another designer or artist unless there’s something that can be found in between. So many collaborations these days are meaningless, therefore we try to find collaborators who can have an added value for both parties (Hypebeast, 2011).