Remembering Jack Wills, the awful brand we couldn’t get enough of

Pink and navy just haven’t been the same since


In 2013, Jack Wills posted about their £9.7 million pounds pre-tax loss for the year, which gave us the confirmation that we needed: their reign is over.

Jack Wills, the same brand that gave a certain superiority and admiration to our early teenage selves: admit it, there was nothing more desirable than owning something with a JW logo.

Perhaps it was the brand, perhaps it was that everyone wanted to look like a middle-class polo player. Either way, there’s no denying that we all wanted to wear it.

There was something so grown-up and rebellious about climbing those dark wooden stairs with your mates, stepping into the overly-perfumed room and loudly announcing “I’m getting this” to everyone in the vicinity.

We thought we were being so cool, buying an overpriced pink and navy pencil just to walk around town with a Jack Wills bag. Even the clothing tags were sacred, plastered all over the bedroom walls of every teenage girl in the country.

You wouldn’t just keep the carrier bags in your room though – anytime you were staying at a mates after school your pyjamas would be packed in a pristinely-kept Jack Wills bag you’d been using as decoration since last Christmas.

We weren’t original at all – we were obedient sheep trying with desperation to fit in with the other girls at school, alongside the New Look leggings, Ugg boots and Paul’s Boutique handbags.

Although it wasn’t just girls that were addicted to the trend – the ultimate boy goal was to roll up to Costa in town with JW trackies below the arse crack.

Despite being incredibly generic and lame, we were all guilty of worshipping the kings and queens of Jack Wills. The creme-de-la-creme walked around in their Jack Wills underwear, slept snuggled in a Jack Wills duvet cover, and wore a £300 Jacks Wills dress to parties.

And, of course, the ultimate life goal was to work there.

So what went wrong? Well, we grew up.

School became sixth form, Disney Channel became Gossip Girl, and Jack Wills became fashion bloggers and Urban Outfitters. Almost overnight, people would frown on the brand they used to lust after.

Wearing Jack Wills became childish, something worn by people whose parents still bought their clothes. When the phenomenon reached an end, so did our lame early teenage years.

The pink and navy colours no longer make our hearts skip a beat with excitement, while the JW logo just brings back traumatic memories of acne, snogging and D of E.

However, while we now cringe looking back at this questionable phase, Jack Wills will always be a classic symbol of our youth – and will be remembered by everyone who once had a side fringe.