Over the past decades, Valentine’s Day has been about celebrating love by buying your significant other flowers, chocolates, and maybe a nice steak dinner (if you were lucky enough to grab that highly sought-after reservation). Yet, in the last several years, it seems that clothing brands have turned Valentine’s Day from a day of romantic love to a day of love for fashion.
Modern mainstream brands such as Parke, Set-active, Skims, and Alo have all adopted a similar marketing strategy in recent years: limited-time drops. These “collection drops” are usually based on the season. For example, every year, Skims drops its “Holiday Collection,” which sells out certain styles within hours. Similarly, all these brands have created a “Valentine’s Day Drop” featuring items with unique designs in reds, whites, and pinks.
Parke even has a whole tab on their website dedicated to these collections; their Valentine’s Day collection this year is dubbed “Valentine’s Day Cozies,” and they even have a tab labeled “Valentine’s Day Preorder.” In the preorder tab, of the 14 items available, every single one was sold out in every color, save for a pair of sweatpants in one color. The “Cozies” tab has more items available, but about 65% are sold out.
To be the first to get these items, customers wait in a queue to get the items they want the minute the collection is dropped, and even then, they are not guaranteed to get their desired item. “I’ve browsed the Parke website several times and have always thought about purchasing one of their mocknecks. I was especially interested in their Valentine’s Day collection when it dropped, but it sold out so fast,” senior Alina Parikh said.
Set Active and Alo have also been leaders in Valentine’s Day fashion, specifically activewear. Set Active released a limited-day “City of Valentine” collection featuring 40 pieces; some items are sold in only one color, and some in as many as nine. The collection features sport and loungewear in hues of pink, red, purple, baby blues, etc. Despite being an overall beautiful and chic sportswear collection, as I scrolled through, I could not find a single available item in any color in any size. “I honestly love the Set Active athletic sets, and the Valentine’s Day drop was the perfect mix of colors. They not only incorporated pinks, reds, and purples, but also blues and a burgundy color. Their athletic sets are very comfortable, and their sweatpants and quarterzips are definitely on my to-be-purchased list,” senior Addision Purvis said.
Alo, on the other hand, is a much larger and more established brand, and their “Valentine’s Day Edit” collection features 432 products. From lounge wear to sports wear, featuring items in their popular “Candy Heart Pink” color and others, Alo’s collection is mainstream for a reason. “Alo’s new Candy Heart Pink color is so cute. I’m definitely going to look into purchasing something,” freshman Natalie Shapiro said (this writer’s sister).
Compared to Set Active and Parke, Alo is a much larger brand; thus, their ability to keep up with demand, their Valentine’s collection is consistently available in every size and color.
