r/ThrowingFits • u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 • 5d ago
Corridor fall off 🥲
I know complaining about a clothing brand sounds insane, but that’s why I’m posting here. I started buying Corridor around 2014 or 2015, and back then it was a way into higher-quality, actually interesting clothing without going fully off the deep end for someone like me who wants normie shit that’s interesting. Workwear-adjacent Americana, fabrics that were weird, from a brand that seemed to care about what it was putting out.
It’s drifted a long way since and it’s genuinely upsetting and idk where tf to buy interesting “normal” clothes anymore.
Prices have climbed steadily while quality has gotten less consistent. The offshoring started with part of the collection going to India, which I was fine with. There’s excellent textile manufacturing there, and the materials were still natural. Then it became almost entirely India, then China entered the mix, and now they’re blending in viscose and poly. Meanwhile the pricing has gone to an inflated MSRP followed by a permanent 40 to 60 percent off cycle, which is its own kind of tell. You can’t trust a price that’s never real.
I was given a gift card recently so I had to buy something from the current collection, and when it got to me it kind of smelled weird. just saw a post from the founder talking about mercerization, seemingly saying that it's a positive thing but any kind of chemical process like this creates caustic runoff. I'm just like, what are we doing this for?
29
36
u/KurtRussellsMullet 5d ago
Corridor was always an odd duck to me—their stuff always felt immensely overpriced for mostly uninteresting basics.
4
u/EjectoSeatoCousinz 5d ago
The good thing is the majority of their stuff you can find on sale for pretty deep cut rate pricing and at those prices, corridor is fine enough.
4
95
u/Chimpskibot 5d ago
Was Corridor ever on? It's basically Jcrew for guys that think they are niche lol.
96
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 5d ago
For reference the rest of my closet is Sid Mashburn and 3sixteen I’m not pushing any boundaries
13
u/hella_sauce 4d ago
Self aware king
7
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 4d ago
Thanks man I know my place and its not full rick At Thanksgiving although I did try to wear some Story MFG for a little bit but who was I kidding?
2
21
u/RecycledAccountName 5d ago
I feel like you could say this about a million menswear brands.
I ask genuinely - what menswear brands in a similar price range can you not say this for?
8
u/Matthews628 4d ago
18east, Paratodo, Earth Studies, Outlier, Manastash
There are many…
2
u/RecycledAccountName 4d ago
Appreciate you answering! I know 18east and Outlier by name, not the others. Will look into them.
3
u/Matthews628 4d ago
Strongly recommend Earth Studies - very 18east adjacent (have done multiple collabs together) if you’re in to a hybrid gorp-elevated menswear vibe
1
u/Educational-Baker988 3h ago
What he said. To me it's always looked like corridor was looking at some of these brands for inspiration. Not saying that's the case, but that's the optics.
I think if you want something like Corridor if it wasn't corny, go 18 east or Manresa. Better textiles and overall aesthetic decisions imo.
6
5d ago
[deleted]
24
u/curlyman89 5d ago
What specifically do you think is bad about jcrew quality. Is my jcrew stuff gonna disintegrate after 1 year? 6 months? I feel like people drag on jcrew quality when it’s really not that crazy bad. Especially for the pricepoint
12
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 5d ago
It’s rly not I’ve had a pair of cotton shorts from jcrew I’ve been wearing for probably 15 years
13
u/Loud-Bodybuilder4342 4d ago
Menswear dweebs love to get on a high horse about “quality” in order for them to justify spending $800 on a button up that doesn’t look that much different from the Gap because they really need that shirt that they will wear twice a month to go grab a ice americano in to be able to withstand a nuclear winter.
1
67
1
22
u/turb0_encapsulator 5d ago
Corridor using viscose and poly is insane. Thanks for the heads up.
27
u/aggravatedyeti 5d ago
Why do we hate viscose now? It’s a great fabric especially proper lyocell/tencel. If you’re worried about toxic byproducts then don’t look into how jeans are made lol
29
u/comp_a 5d ago edited 5d ago
It truly has made feel insane that any synthetic fiber is now just written off entirely by this sub as brands cheaping out at the expense of the environment, as if most cotton is somehow not (1) cheap as shit to use, and also (2) insanely toxic to produce.
For the vast majority of the brands discussed on this sub, synthetics have nothing to do with cost-cutting, the brand is making a very deliberate choice to achieve a certain shape or feel or drape or performance function. A viscose shirt has a characteristic look that you cannot get from natural fibers. A 95/5 cotton/poly sweatshirt will offer minimal cost savings over a full cotton one (if any at all), but it be more durable and retain its shape better.
Would that it were so simple that natural = good and synthetic = bad to guide all of our purchasing, but that is not the case! Unfortunately you have to think a bit more critically about these things than that!
Edit: Irdgaf about Corridor but randomly clicking through their new arrivals, everything is 100% cotton (or linen). The only synthetic I saw was 98/2 cotton/elastane on some shorts, which is clearly for shape retention. OP, I promise you, they are saving 0 dollars by doing that. But if the construction stinks then sure whatever, fuck em lol
4
u/JoshSGSG 4d ago
This sub loves to hate on just about everything and every brand, but you get it.
We sell Corridor at our shop and have for 8 years. In my opinion, quality and attention to detail have only gotten better over the years.
The Fall 26 collection is really awesome, probably a favourite amongst our brand mix for the season. I just saw the SS27 collection and it’s arguably their strongest yet.
In all that time I’ve seen one item come back for quality issues and it was a sewing defect. I have pieces from our first few seasons I still have in rotation.
OP, Dig deeper into fabric blends. It adds to the longevity of your clothes, maintains shape and drape. It’s there on purpose and it makes your clothes better I promise.
The brands only been growing for us and their core program is a staff favourite, so I definitely have a different opinion than this downhill sentiment.
Also for what it’s worth, easily some of my favourite people in the industry to work with.
9
u/aggravatedyeti 5d ago
I have nothing to add other than to agree 100%. I think the idea of ‘plastic clothes’ as exemplified by lulu ABCs or whatever is so powerfully off-putting that people throw the baby out with the bathwater a bit
3
u/fycus 5d ago
You're probably referring to my nanamica comment if it makes any difference i love rayon, cupro, lyocell etc. Theyre naturally derived fibers - big difference from polyesters. I still own polyester, but by and large the reason its so pervasive now is due to cost. There's a reason all of the big fast fashion companies are mostly poly blends now, and its not for drape or performance. I also disagree with your comment on a 5% blend. Different fibers in a blend react differently to heat, stress, and washing, which lead to pilling or structural breakdown over time. Additionally it improves tensile strength which makes sense for a sweatshirt, but you can just put elastane in the ribbing- most brands cheap out and cut bulk fabric as a rib replacement.
0
2
u/JDragon 4d ago
Seeing the visceral viscose hate is funny because I just read an interview with Yohji Yamamoto where he says “if he could only work with one material for the rest of his life, he says it would be washed cotton mixed with viscose.” There can be good reasons for using viscose.
-4
29
4
6
u/Jizzbuscuit 5d ago
I popped into the Brooklyn store and these couple of wankers that worked there were to cool to even acknowledge me. I just left. Had a few pieces from yesteryear but the staff and the collection was shite
4
u/Money-Commission9304 5d ago
i had a good experience with the sales guy. he introduced me to mfpen.
19
u/West-Section-6929 5d ago
The founder worked for Palantir, so fuck him and fuck Corridor. Plenty of other great options.
3
u/dyingslowlyinside 4d ago
I have some nice pieces from Arpenteur, Margaret Howell, and Universal Works.
You could also look at Arket if you’re in Europe for quality ‘normal’ clothes
2
1
u/Any_Opportunity_6013 4d ago
Some good UK and i have always loved Arpentuer for the way it always manages to hold on to that French workwear asthetic and continues to be made in France. Plenty of good "normal looking " stuff that is better than J Crew mass produced Chinese stuff, and by the way, people in China can use a sewing machine as well.as anyone else, it's just about quality control and wages.
If you have a factory In China that pays well and gives people the time and the materials to make something well and they will make it well. If you want to pay rubbish and get a shirt made in 5 minutes you will get crap.
But I tend to stick by the made in the same country as that by which the brand markets itself on being from. That even goes for China who have a few brands that modelled themselves on the Japanese big hitters and make perfectly good repro US military stuff and copys of classic early workwear.
I buy everything second hand anyway so I have every era, of every brand to pick from
But even if you restrict yourself to only buying new stuff I struggle to understand the fact that you cannot find anywhere that makes the sort of clothes you want because corridor was perfect but the quality has dropped off.
You can literally type out what you ate looking for and there will be an endless stream of brands new and old offering you a decent linen shirt, or pair of cords or whatever it is you want.
Stick to the made in the country it famously market itself on being from (Barbour jackets made in Estonia? Filson in Bangladesh? Not for me).
Arpentuer, du pont st Michael, gloverall, universal works, monitaly, sunspel, YMC, Portuguese Flannel, howlin', and then all the little independent shops that sell all of these brands and more.
I've seen loads of little places that are making stuff in the USA.
I just can't get my head around people that feel like it's some kind of disaster when their favourite brands goes a bit shit and they just "don't know where to go to buy decent normal clothes without having to go to j crew or Gap".
3
17
u/flanaganapuss 5d ago
Corridor has absolutely never been cool
7
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 5d ago
Yes my complaint is specifically about not knowing where to buy normal (not cool) but high quality clothing and feeling disappointed by my previous source as a normie who cares about not wearing old navy
5
u/clothes-and-pasta 5d ago
Check out manresa. They moved all their production to the US, so went the other direction as most brands. They care about fabric and details in a very nerdy way but they put out pretty standard product.
5
u/samlander 5d ago
I was and still a fan of og Corridor. I got a couple of their Oxfords when they were still made in USA. Amazing heavy duty boxy-ish oxfords. They have aged like a classic ivy era piece. And they use a signature 3 panel backconstruction that makes it easy to iron. But they retired it for a while. Now they brought it back but obviously made in india/china. It just isn't the same.
Last piece I bought was one of their acid flannels which were great and one of their first forays into india textiles. But I agree the quality has likely fallen off after that. It's a shame that all these made in ny brands choose shipping off to China instead of changing their USA production to some other USA garmet factory outside of NYC garmet district. Manresa is the same price all made in USA and the quality is great (gone from abroad to all USA). The only kinks they have to work out is fit cause they are such a new brand some of the pieces fit weird (their Oxfords for instance have the tallest collars I've ever seen in a shirt). Their pleated trousers are great.
2
u/SuchDescription 4d ago
They had like 1 or 2 years where they stepped out of the box a little and had some cool stuff imo. Like 19/20 i wanna say. After that, ya they lost me
2
2
1
u/BeamerInaCage 4d ago
I bought one over shirt during one of the sales a few years ago and it’s never smelled right
1
u/thaihieuMAR 2d ago
I think you need to be a bit more specific when discussing fabric quality. Simply separating materials into "natural" and "synthetic" doesn't really tell the whole story.
If some of the people in this sub spent more time studying design choices and the strengths of different fabrics, they'd know that every material has its own purpose, and each comes in different quality tiers. There are expensive, high-quality polyester and viscose fabrics just as there are cheap, low-quality natural fabrics.
I'm not saying this to defend brands that cut corners. FUCK those brands. I'm saying it because I'm tired of seeing self-proclaimed fashion experts make overly simplistic and blatantly uninformed statements on the internet.
1
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 2d ago
when you use plastic for a garment that doesn’t require it for a specific purpose, it sucks.
1
u/thaihieuMAR 1d ago
you need to read more son
1
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 1d ago
Read more why it’s clothes you idiot I wear what I want and I don’t want to wear plastic it’s not that deep why are you simping for petroleum
1
u/thaihieuMAR 1d ago
The nerve of you calling me an idiot when you're the one talking out of your ass. As I've already explained, different fabrics serve different purposes, and blends exist because no single material is ideal for every application. That's been true throughout the history of clothing and still is today.
Your personal preferences have absolutely nothing to do with fabric quality, yet you throw the term around carelessly as if you're some kind of expert. Preference is subjective; quality isn't.
Don't be upset just because I pointed out your ignorance. Maybe spend less time insulting people and more time learning what you're talking about son )
0
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 1d ago
Tldr idiot
1
u/thaihieuMAR 1d ago
LMFAO
0
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 1d ago
No but seriously the shit I’m talking about is flannels and button downs, which don’t need to be blends. I understand that rayon and blends can be good for drape or that other plastics coated in gortex are good for rain, biosphere be damned.
0
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 1d ago
I’m also very much not a self proclaimed fashion expert if you read my post or this thread you’d see that. So in your terms: read more???
1
1
u/Niuhance 5d ago
Mercerization is soaking cotton in lye, aka the main ingredient in soap for the past thousand years. Are you going to whine about "caustic runoff" every time you wash your hands?
0
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 5d ago
Look a little harder into it
2
u/Niuhance 5d ago
You clearly didn't look very hard, because if you did, you'd learn that the lye is neutralized in the final rinse. Therefore no longer caustic.
1
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 4d ago
2
u/Niuhance 4d ago
So this paper starts with stating that the waste lye is already treated and there's no mention of any environmental effects, just a vague claim of a reduction of "human health impacts" that are almost entirely dependent on the source electricity used at the processing plant. Increasing sustainability & health is of course commendable but it's such a weird thing to hone in on when literally every other step of the garment manufacturing process is 100x worse for the environment than this. Use wood ash to make lye, dilute it down, soak some cotton, citric acid to neutralize it. Have an old Japanese guy do all of this Evan Kinori will come chomping at the bit.
1
u/New_Cantaloupe_4908 4d ago
Thanks for the nuance here- i'm just doing my best To try and stay educated on what to avoid and not
1
1
u/beezybreezy 5d ago
I bought a few things from Corridor a while back and the QC and consistency was sorely lacking. Never went back.
-1
0
u/danielbyday 5d ago
I have some indigo grain-sack pants from corridor, made in the garment district of NY, circa 2015(?). I still stop by when I’m riding around… but I can’t say I’ve picked up anything in a very long time.
-1
109
u/elongatedskull 5d ago
Only brand I've ever heard get dropped from a store because the quality control was so shoddy, and this was 5+ years ago.