"When J.Crew's relevancy peaked in 2011, it launched a menswear label called Wallace & Barnes that tapped into the vintage workwear zeitgeist. Named after the intersecting streets where the then CEO Mickey Drexler grew up in the Bronx, it was an outlet for Men's Creative Director Frank Muytjens to offer deep-cut designs for the #menswear scene."
"As the company's fortunes changed, Muytjens left the brand in 2016, and Drexler stepped down a year later. Wallace & Barnes kept rolling with repeated designs until the current Men's Creative Director, Brendon Babenzien, took over in 2021. It makes sense that Babenzien wanted to start with a clean slate, and Wallace & Barnes had lost its charm. However, the sub-label's early roots in 1950s and 1960s American blue collar nostalgia strongly overlapped with the new creative director's personal style."
"The elevated - and pricer - men's brand is back, and with it comes one of the best collaborations in J.Crew's long history of cross-branded design. J.Crew teamed up with Schott, a fellow New York brand with even deeper roots in the city, for a limited edition black leather moto jacket. It puts a clever twist on one of the heritage jacket brand's most beloved designs."
Wallace & Barnes launched in 2011 as J.Crew's menswear label focused on vintage American workwear and deep-cut designs from Men's Creative Director Frank Muytjens. After Muytjens departed in 2016 and Mickey Drexler stepped down in 2017, Wallace & Barnes continued repeating earlier designs until Brendon Babenzien became Men's Creative Director in 2021. Babenzien reset the sub-label while aligning its nostalgic 1950s–1960s blue-collar DNA with his personal aesthetic. J.Crew relaunched Wallace & Barnes at a higher price point and executed a notable collaboration with Schott, producing a limited-edition black leather moto jacket.
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