Can Quince Be More Than a Dupe Brand?

Since it launched its online fashion store eight years ago, Quince has been called many things — accessible and disruptive by its customers and parasitic by the brands whose wares it knocks off.

Now the retailer wants to add one more adjective to the list: original.

Last week, the brand announced a partnership with A$AP Rocky to sell co-branded vinyl copies of his latest album, along with T-shirts emblazoned with its title, “Don’t Be Dumb.” On the same day, Quince also unveiled a collection of merino-wool overcoats and pleated wide-leg crepe pants curated by Erin Walsh, stylist to celebrities like Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez.

While A$AP Rocky is no stranger to a fashion collaboration, it was a major departure for Quince, which has built its identity around proudly selling inexpensive dupes. Product pages compare items directly to the brands they’re imitating — a Mongolian cashmere trench promises 92 percent savings compared to the Max Mara coat it resembles, for example.

That message has resonated with value-conscious shoppers. US sales doubled last year, according to Consumer Edge, which tracks credit and debit card transactions, and annual revenue will almost certainly cross $1 billion in 2026, if it hasn’t hit that milestone already. Last year, Quince reportedly raised funding at a $4.5 billion valuation.

Why bother dreaming up original designs, then?

Quince’s explosive growth hasn’t come without blowback. The company has been sued by Williams Sonoma for accusations of false advertising and Ugg-owner Deckers Brands for trademark infringement. (Quince declined to comment on pending litigation). Quince’s claims of high quality at a low price have also drawn scepticism. Last April, the TikTok creator Tanner Leatherstein released a video demonstrating in minute detail how a Quince bag wasn’t made with top-grain leather as claimed. (The company says its since brought Leatherstein — whose real name is Volkan Yilmaz— on as a contractor.)

What’s more, the economic conditions — chief among them, inflation — that have pushed consumers toward affordable brands won’t last forever. When people are feeling financially secure, discounters and dupe sellers can quickly fall out of favour. Even if hard times persist, Quince will always be looking over its shoulder for new rivals that can recreate luxury goods even faster and cheaper.

“Right now, it feels like you shop Quince ‘instead of.’ I don’t think that’s a long-term loyalty strategy,” said Emily Heyward, co-founder and chief executive of creative agency Red Antler. “Someone else is gonna come and give you an even better ‘instead of.’”

Quince’s best bet to avoid that fate might be to pitch itself as a destination for shoppers looking for more than the lowest price. Last June, the company launched a beauty marketplace stocked with high-end labels like Augustinus Bader and 111Skin. Items selected by a celebrity stylist and exclusive merchandise also plant the idea that Quince doesn’t just sell dupes.

Changing the perception of a brand is easier said than done. Fast fashion retailers, including Zara, Uniqlo, H&M and Target, have strategically used partnerships with high-fashion designers to remake their image. Uniqlo has longstanding collaborations with high-fashion talent like Christophe Lemaire and Jonathan Anderson, and appointed former Givenchy designer Clare Waight Keller as its creative director in 2024. Zara has launched capsule collections with former Yves Saint Laurent creative director Stefano Pilati, and emerging designers such as Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Samuel Ross and Aaron Levine.

Those efforts took decades to fully take hold, and didn’t always stick. While Uniqlo is known for its collaborations and high-tech fabrics, and Zara has managed to position itself as “premium” fast fashion, H&M has lost customers to ultra-cheap Shein, and Target’s apparel department has lost much of its aughts-era prestige.

The A$AP Rocky vinyl and tees are, perhaps, Quince’s way of proving it can sell anything, and that its brand has a point of view. A fashion arbiter like Rocky, a celebrity who regularly stars in campaigns for luxury giants like Chanel and Bottega Veneta, is the exact kind of tastemaker who can help Quince generate the lasting brand equity it needs for the moment when consumers flock back to luxury brands.

Walsh selected existing Quince items for her capsule, but the act of curation itself — and the quiet luxury theme of her picks — are designed to make the products feel special, even if they’re dupes.

“It’s two birds, one stone. It’s a new way to drive attention, and to elevate their overall quality perceptions,” said Brent Vartan, co-founder and managing partner at investment firm and creative agency Bullish. “It’s always the action, the initiative, the idea, the partnership … that always does better than just trying to convince people through rhetoric, and messaging and imagery alone.”