While a young Do Won Chang, the creator of the brand Forever 21, washed dishes and served coffee for less than $3 an hour, he felt shortchanged. Months ago he had crossed the North Pacific from South Korea to fulfill “the American dream” and what he was living seemed more like a nightmare than the story of opportunities that his parents had told him when he was a child. .
It is true that in his native country things were not good in 1981, when he decided to emigrate, but at least he was not a foreigner who had to work 19 hours a day to survive. Since what he got in the cafeteria was not enough, he also ran a service station and since that was still not enough, he cleaned offices at night. Meanwhile, her new wife, Jin Sook, whom he had married in Korea shortly after their first date, earned her living as a hairdresser (a trade she brought from her country) in various beauty parlors. of The Angels.
That enormous sacrifice was the foundation on which one of the most emblematic fast fashion brands of the late 20th century was built. and that today, in the new millennium, seeks to reinvent itself after a turbulent period: “We didn’t have studies, we didn’t speak English well, we didn’t sleep at night and each worked 3 different jobs while building Forever 21“, Chang said about that very hard time, in which he was an Asian immigrant looking to fulfill the American dream.
The revelation
Every time Chang filled up at the gas station and painstakingly cleaned a car’s windshield for a tip, he would strike up a brief conversation in strained English with the person behind the wheel. In those seemingly unimportant talks she had a revelation: He discovered that the ones who handled the best models were related to the fashion industry.
It was then that She decided to look for a job in a clothing store to learn the secrets of that unknown world that could open the doors to a better life. “I worked in that business day and night as if it were my own,” Chang said in an interview about the job that would change the ultimate course of his life and that of his family.
In 1984, After three years living in the North American city, The couple managed to raise $11,000 with a lot of effort.. with that capital bought a clothing business that was for sale near the small apartment they shared with Do Won’s parents. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something of his own. They call him fashion 21 and against their own odds in less than a year it was a success.
The name Forever 21 refers to the young public (its main buyer) and the desire for eternal youth
Forever 21, the name behind the wish for eternal youth
While the previous owner had managed to make around $30,000 in sales over the last 12 months, Chang had achieved sales of $700,000 in the same period. The secret? Copy models from their country of origin and replicate them with Korean manufacturers who lived in the humblest neighborhoods of LA. In this way, he avoided buying from intermediaries and made sure he had the fast and low cost product. Quality was something Chang didn’t care for.
In the beginning, Fashion 21 was a clothing store designed for the asian community of the United States, but attractive and cheap fashion soon began to attract customers of all kinds. Such was the success that they began to open new stores in different areas of the city and they renamed the brand with the name Forever 21, which referred to the young public (its main buyer) and the desire for eternal youth.
The Changs had always been fervent Catholic believers, to the point of introducing the Bible into their brand. In fact, John 3:16 on the bottom of the yellow plastic bags is famous, which refers to that verse of John and which goes against all marketing rules of never mixing business with religion.
“We hope people know the love of God, that’s why we put that scripture in the bags”, explained the couple to face the criticism, which did not stop raining. However, the verse from John may hide much more than a religious message. It can also be taken as a statement of business principles “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Eternal life, forever. The Changs weren’t willing to get anything less than that.
Abrupt growth of Forever 21
Just five years after that first location, Forever 21 already had 11 stores throughout California, and in 1995 it crossed over to the East Coast and opened its first location in Miami. That leap meant the burst: by 1999 the brand had already expanded throughout the United States, with 100 stores of several thousand square meters and multiple floors to serve all audiences: women, men, children and babies.
By then, Chang had already been able to prove that his assumption about cars, drivers and the fashion industry was correct. He already drove a latest model.
A little later, it would be the turn to cross the borders. Forever 21 diversified into new lines of business such as beauty and expanded its stores to 47 countries in less than six years. she came to have 800 localone of 25,000 square meters in New York. That growth was too abrupt and uncontrolled and, for many, it meant the beginning of the end. Even so, Mrs. Chang herself confessed.
“We weren’t prepared to put up with that kind of globalization. Having to adapt our assortment to different countries created a big problem for us,” the woman who helped build the fast fashion empire acknowledged with brutal honesty.
Suddenly, hundreds of stores, of enormous dimensions and thousands of employees, became a difficult monster to operate, especially in times when people prefer to buy online. than spend your time going to a local.
Bankruptcy and resurrection of Forever 21?
In 2019, drowned by debts and lawsuits for copying designs, as well as complaints of labor exploitation, Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy. But that did not mean his disappearance.
In February 2020 Simon Property Group, Brookfield Property Partners, from the real estate segment, and Authentic Brands, the holding company that has brands such as Nine West and Aéropostale, bought it for the modest value of US$81 million. and settled debts for more than US$50 million.
The new owners started a drastic downsizing process and hundreds of stores closed Worldwide. In addition, they reinforced the channel of electronic salewhich began to have great relevance within the recovery of the company, and they sealed alliances with designers and influencers young to reach the heart of the Generation Z.
A couple of years ago, the Changs watched their great empire crumble before their very eyes. Despite faith and longing for eternity, one of America’s wealthiest families realized that, in the long run, nothing lasts forever.
