
There is a retail store girls rant and rave over. The styles, variety, and value draw them in, while music and a fun, flirty atmosphere keep them shopping for hours. Representing style and affordability, Forever 21 gives young women the opportunity to wear the latest styles, without breaking the bank. However, located in select stores, between rooms of pink wallpaper and jewelry stands, are...wait for it...mens clothes. Excuse me?

Labeled as "
21 Men," this clothing line offers men the metropolitan "GQ" look, beating the cost of stores like Urban Outfitters. It has its own room sectioned off in Forever 21 stores, and a separate section on the
Forever 21 website. Although honestly... what man in his right mind is going to walk into their local 21 store or log online to shop. Forever 21 has been branded as a women's retail store. The advertisements, store decor, and website, are all geared on making women feel young, beautiful, and fashion forward. Most men won't even think about walking through store doors unless tightly gripping their girlfriends hands. Some refuse to enter the store all together, waiting outside for their significant other to finish shopping. Many males are unaware the mens line even exists. This is a huge issue if the company plans on having "21 Men" explode.

The mens line needs its own identify (perhaps even a new name). The clothing needs to break off into its own separate store creating a new brand, while still keeping company values and goals. With the use of new strategies, 21 Men (more masculine name needed) could begin trending, competing with stores like
H&M,
Pacific Sunwear, and
Urban Outfitters in no time. In its current state Forever 21 has mastered the fashion, their mens clothes look great, appealing to a certain crowd and demographic. This is great, the beauty of fashion is in the eye of the shopper. 21's next step should be to take this appeal and built upon it. Take the inspiration found in the clothes, and build it into a new store, a new experience. The same goes for the website, pictures of wedges and skirts on the homepage are not going to intrigue men to dive deeper into the site.

Forever 21 INC. has a product with huge potential. The question now is, should they expand it? Maybe the company wants their mens line to be exclusive, maybe not. Whatever the goal is, they need to change something. For some reason mens clothes surrounded by feminine colors, jewelry, and frilly dresses just never seemed to work...