NANA x Vivienne Westwood - What the Fuck

I’m sure by now every anime, fashion or even alternative girly has seen the latest Nana x VW collection. And fuck do people have something to say about it. On the surface, I would say the collection is an average, cottagecore-esque selection of chunky jewellery with a slim bearing on the character designs of Nana (as someone who has only read a few chapters of said Manga even I could tell). Despite this, fan reaction seems to be on both extremes: selling out online an hour BEFORE the collection dropped at midnight, or disliking the use of gold on iconic fan favourites and the overall quality control of the garments. So here is my two pence as someone who has dipped her toes in both fanbases. 

Stock Levels

Ever since the Labubu, Stanley, Starbucks cup false scarcity craze of the last few years, brands have clocked onto the fact that limited runs of “exclusive” products guarantee marketing. This collection was being hyped way before we even knew we were getting anything other than an exclusive manga (Which by the way is gorgeous and I will get to that later) which is why it’s unsurprising that stock sold out almost immediately. False scarcity tactics almost always give a product a level of exclusivity. Even if you find yourself not wanting to buy a product when it’s available, you might question when it’s out of stock if you SHOULD have bought it. It must be popular and worth the money if it sold out instantly right?

Lack of New Products

If you’re a longtime fan of VW then you probably already recognise the ‘new’ products in this collection. Many of the jewellery items such as ‘Shin’s Lighter’ but in a gold colour way. While I’m a gold girly myself, many fans were disappointed that the new release jewellery just had a metal switch. Especially when the majority of NANA characters wear silver only. 

While I don’t think my 2 pence is anything groundbreaking, I really needed that fucking rant.