Y2K fashion is seemingly making a comeback as JNCO — notable purveyors of those ultra, ultra wide-leg jeans so popular with young people in the late '90s — brings back its nostalgic denimwear, only to quickly slash prices in the face of buyer backlash. At least, that's one delineation that can be drawn from two successive email messages issued by the revived clothing company over the past several days.

Last week, JNCO relaunched with a brand new line of jeans, hoodies and T-shirts for 2019, promising in a June 28 statement to "re-introduce the brand as fans once knew it. From the labels, buttons, and flashers, to the quality of the fabric, washes, and embroidery, the brand is back and better than ever."

The prices, however, seemed exorbitant to many. Items reportedly ranged from $225 to $350 a pop. (Back in the '90s, you could probably snag a pair of JNCO jeans for under $100, as Jezebel pointed out.)

JNCO's reply was swift. Reacting to cost concerns apparently lodged by customers, the company dropped the prices of all the pieces in its new denim collection. In addition, those who already placed orders for items at their original price will receive a refund or store credit. An email from Monday (July 1) outlined the move.

"We have heard you and we have listened," it said. "All weekend, we worked on all possibilities to get the prices lowered. We have now updated the site with those prices. To those of you who have already placed orders, we will either refund you the difference or issue you a store credit (your choice)."

Earlier this week, HuffPost charted JNCO's lifecycle. Started in 1985, the company was sold to a Chinese firm called Guotai Litian Group in 2014. But per conventional streetwear wisdom, JNCO clothes produced after the buyout felt inferior in quality to their early counterparts. Naturally, original pieces found new life on the secondhand market (e.g. eBay), leading to the brand's reappraisal and subsequent relaunch by the original owners.

Read the full text of JNCO's recent response below.

Thank you for staying with us on the JNCO journey.

We are back in business for the long game and want to retain the quality and sustainability of the product. We discovered, to our dismay, that the business has changed in our absence.  The factories that we work with are few and far between because of the complexity of the product and we demand an extremely high standard of excellence.  We use premium materials and want to ensure at the same time that we are not hurting the environment. We also are committed to paying fair wages to our entire team, and to those who work in our factories. All of our tops and most of the denim custom processes are done here in Los Angeles, even though some of the denim sewing is done in one of our original factories in Mexico. The fabrics we use are also customized to our specifications. This is not regular weight and weave— it is old school JNCO denim, and we want to keep it that way.

We proudly launched a beautiful line of originals, and we have been developing other styles to release in the near future. We have heard you and we have listened. All weekend, we worked on all possibilities to get the prices lowered. We have now updated the site with those prices. To those of you who have already placed orders, we will either refund you the difference or issue you a store credit (your choice).

Best wishes from all of us here at JNCO,

Milo & Camilla Revah

 

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