2
Aug/09

New Excess Is OK website and brand launched

Yesterday saw the launch of the new EIO website and sister brand 'Rakes & Strays'. The new website is very similar to the old one, running on the Magento eCommerce system, with the big difference being the introduction of the 'Rakes & Strays' tab.

On first look, the name and logo seem like they should belong to a high end suit tailor or gentlemens clothing brand, however most of the garments on the site look like they'd be more at home under the EIO label. The designs are very similar, if a little less cutting edge, to the current EIO line; and one has to doubt what the merits of launching such similar clothes under an unestablished brand are. Continue reading...

I don't know what (if at all) the differences between the actual garments are as I own t-shirts from neither brand, but the differences in the design style are very subtle. I hope there is a greater distinction between the upcoming lines...but from what I've seen so far, I'd be more comfortable purchasing the Rakes & Strays designs I like if they were under the EIO brand. The whole 'Rakes & Strays' image seems to be trying to sell EIO clothes to an audience I don't even think exists.

The website claims:

"Rakes and Strays is the vagabond sibling of Eio Clothing, the child that left home early and ran away to join the circus, brought back into the fold for your wearing pleasure. Eio and Rakes and Strays share the same parent but are unique individuals with distinct characters."

"It is the clothing choice of the raconteur, the vagabond itinerant travelling the road with a fiddle and a paintbrush."

Personally, I think this conflicts with EIO's values and is rather unappealing to me. Which is why selling clothes so similar to those available under the EIO label seems like a step in the wrong direction for Excessisok.

Don't get me wrong, I love EIO's designs, and maybe the split in brand will create an EIO more focused on producing those cutting edge designs which we love. We'll be keeping our eyes close on Excessisok to see what happens in the coming months.

Check out the new site at EIO Clothing. There's also a competition to win a £100 voucher to spend in the new lines which you can enter here, although it seems to be broken at the moment.