A couple of thread with some info on the relaunch:

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?189146-Really-Duckhead

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?113104-Duck-Head-Khakis-Southern-Trad

 

I'm sure it's been noted before, but I don't see much there that I couldn't find elsewhere, better and maybe even cheaper.

 

Unless something new happened, the relaunch was a massive disappointment as they offered an overpriced pair of pants with generic modern styling.

 

I grew up in FL and GA and remember seeing duckhead around quite a bit back in the 80s and 90s. Can't say I was ever really attracted to them. Always looks like something you see being delivered by Cintas.

 

Unless something new happened, the relaunch was a massive disappointment as they offered an overpriced pair of pants with generic modern styling.

+1, that's how I felt, and I was inclined to try a pair, but the launch was so uninspiring that I lost interest.

 

Just checked out their website not a very big selection at all and prices are well above other competitors.

 

A couple of thread with some info on the relaunch:

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?189146-Really-Duckhead

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?113104-Duck-Head-Khakis-Southern-Trad

Thank you. I was not aware there was such a large discussion about Duck Head previously.

 

Just checked out their website not a very big selection at all and prices are well above other competitors.

All true. I just looked at it. Not much change from earlier discussions here. It could be a B-school case study of how not to do a re-launch.

 

All true. I just looked at it. Not much change from earlier discussions here. It could be a B-school case study of how not to do a re-launch.

You mean a re-re-re-launch? I think this is the third in five or so years.

 

You mean a re-re-re-launch? I think this is the third in five or so years.

You're probably right. That could be part of the case study.

 

My unsolicited suggested to Duck Head: Because you don't have something truly original or uniquely vintage to bring to the very crowded chino space, forget manufacturing your own chinos - and all the overhead and need for economies of scale that entails - and forget being your own stand-alone company with all the fixed and marketing costs that entails - just partner with J.Crew. Let J.Crew create with you a "Duck Head" special line of chinos. J.Crew does this with several brands - and does it very well.

This way you can let J.Crew use its infrastructure, marketing power, etc. to sell whatever vintage / sentimental value Duck Head has left and you can just get a royalty off of each sale.

 

https://www.ivy-style.com/index.php?s="duck+head"

 

My unsolicited suggested to Duck Head: Because you don't have something truly original or uniquely vintage to bring to the very crowded chino space, forget manufacturing your own chinos - and all the overhead and need for economies of scale that entails - and forget being your own stand-alone company with all the fixed and marketing costs that entails - just partner with J.Crew. Let J.Crew create with you a "Duck Head" special line of chinos. J.Crew does this with several brands - and does it very well.

This way you can let J.Crew use its infrastructure, marketing power, etc. to sell whatever vintage / sentimental value Duck Head has left and you can just get a royalty off of each sale.

Duck head had a pretty committed following in the south back in the day. Every frat boy or middle man type from the I-4 corridor up wore them. They were pretty bland in my opinion but still, they did have their fans. Having been absent from the market for so long though I can't see them recovering that following by marketing themselves at premium prices, at least initially. If their intention is to remain a stand alone entity they are going to have to price their goods the way All American Clothing or Diamond Gusset prices their jeans and chinos.

 

The idea of taking Duck Head upscale is a branding failure on par with the Volkswagen Phaeton. Duck Head pants were essentially light duty work pants, a la Dickies or something, that passed as casual pants. Taking that and marketing it as a premium American heritage item is totally goofy. They should be competing with those Stan Ray/ Gung Ho chinos, not Bill's.

 

Duck head had a pretty committed following in the south back in the day. Every frat boy or middle man type from the I-4 corridor up wore them. They were pretty bland in my opinion but still, they did have their fans. Having been absent from the market for so long though I can't see them recovering that following by marketing themselves at premium prices, at least initially. If their intention is to remain a stand alone entity they are going to have to price their goods the way All American Clothing or Diamond Gusset prices their jeans and chinos.

I agree. My suggestion - half tongue-in-cheek - was that if DH wanted to do a sort of higher-end, one-off chino offering to capture some brand nostalgia and maybe move upscale from its roots, then a partnering with J.Crew might have made more economic sense than the costly and - seemingly - not successful re-launch of the brand as a premium chino that doesn't feel premium (and has no clear website description of fit etc. - J.Crew would have solved all that for them).

My thinking is that the name probably has some residual value (we're all talking about it and I would have invested in a pair for nostalgia sake if the website had made sense), but not enough to support a separate business - a licensing / partnership would have made more sense. By the time J.Crew got done marketing the "heritage" of the brand on its website, they would have sold a decent amount of pants.

 

The first pairs were sold at the Ole Miss bookstore and quickly became extremely popular with the male student population throughout the 80s and early 90s. I grew up in Oxford in the 80s and 90s and I owned more Duck Head khakis than jeans. They really were part of the uniform for a generation of southern men. I have a really nostalgic attachment to the brand and when I heard about the latest re-launch, I was pretty excited. I am not, however, willing to pay that much just for the sake of nostalgia. I might buy a pair when the company fails again and they end up at TJMaxx or something. Their problem is that Duck Head khakis were never expensive. In fact, they were downright cheap; even though they were good quality and made in the USA. If I remember correctly, they cost somewhere in the range of $20-$25 (probably the equivalent of $30-$40 today). This new iteration has priced themselves out of the market by trying to charge at least 3 times (even adjusted for inflation) what they should cost.

 

The first pairs were sold at the Ole Miss bookstore and quickly became extremely popular with the male student population throughout the 80s and early 90s. I grew up in Oxford in the 80s and 90s and I owned more Duck Head khakis than jeans. They really were part of the uniform for a generation of southern men. I have a really nostalgic attachment to the brand and when I heard about the latest re-launch, I was pretty excited. I am not, however, willing to pay that much just for the sake of nostalgia. I might buy a pair when the company fails again and they end up at TJMaxx or something. Their problem is that Duck Head khakis were never expensive. In fact, they were downright cheap; even though they were good quality and made in the USA. If I remember correctly, they cost somewhere in the range of $20-$25 (probably the equivalent of $30-$40 today). This new iteration has priced themselves out of the market by trying to charge at least 3 times (even adjusted for inflation) what they should cost.

You grew up in OXFORD? It is one of my favorite College Towns. My brother went to Ole Miss, as well as both of my step brothers and my father was an adjunct professor there. Since I'm a Mizzou Alumn, Columbia Missouri is my favorite college town, but Ole Miss is a close second. Your recollection is the same as mine. The khakis were Fairly cheap, but decently made. When I wore them they were better a little frayed anyway!

 

^Just writing to second the thumbs-up for Oxford. I never visited until I was well out of college, but I went to an Ole Miss game a few years ago with some alumni, and it was fantastic. The student body was warm to visitors and the whole experience was great.

 

You are a genius.

My unsolicited suggested to Duck Head: Because you don't have something truly original or uniquely vintage to bring to the very crowded chino space, forget manufacturing your own chinos - and all the overhead and need for economies of scale that entails - and forget being your own stand-alone company with all the fixed and marketing costs that entails - just partner with J.Crew. Let J.Crew create with you a "Duck Head" special line of chinos. J.Crew does this with several brands - and does it very well.

This way you can let J.Crew use its infrastructure, marketing power, etc. to sell whatever vintage / sentimental value Duck Head has left and you can just get a royalty off of each sale.

 

I have to agree, I wore Duck Heads throughout college, they were quite cheap back in the day, that's why I had stacks of them. We'd usually get them tapered and cuffed as they were rather wide-legged and shapeless. They faded nicely and became really soft, but they weren't any great quality item. When they got too ratty I'd cut them off and wear them as shorts. They were supplanted some in my last years by Boar's Head chinos which cost a little more and were of a better quality. No idea what became of them, I liked those pants more.

 

You grew up in OXFORD? It is one of my favorite College Towns. My brother went to Ole Miss, as well as both of my step brothers and my father was an adjunct professor there. Since I'm a Mizzou Alumn, Columbia Missouri is my favorite college town, but Ole Miss is a close second. Your recollection is the same as mine. The khakis were Fairly cheap, but decently made. When I wore them they were better a little frayed anyway!

Yes sir! I lived in Oxford for the first 25 years of my life, went to Ole Miss and moved away for law school. It was a great place to grow up. My family has lived in and around Oxford since the late 1840s or so. My parents still live there so we (my wife, daughter, and I) go back for holidays and football games. Someday, probably in retirement, we'll move back.

 

I would give them a whirl, high priced and all, if I had any indication that they would fit the way I want. The size guide claims rises exceeding 11 inches on the sizes 30 and 32, but what few pictures I can find don't seem to support that. That being the real problem--Duck Head supplies no fit pictures and I can't find any helpful reviews online.

 

I took a gamble on their relaunched pants during one of the sales. The 36/30's fit is close to RL Polo's flat front basic khaki, making them slightly more voluminous than say JCrew, but not by much. The fabric is decent - heavier weight than most and not shiny, and they've worn in well. The price was still a bit higher than I'd like to pay, but the made in USA process probably had something to do with that. Are they Bill's competitive... well if you like the (by old school standards) trimmer fit then maybe... the cloth is nice and they seem well made. They don't seem to have much relation to the old Duck Head other than the logo. I still have a couple old school pieces floating around - they were aiming for a cheaper market then, and it showed in materials, and they were for the most part a very 90's cut - i.e. - big. So, not sure about the new brand, but it's a fine pair of pants.

 

I took a gamble on their relaunched pants during one of the sales. The 36/30's fit is close to RL Polo's flat front basic khaki, making them slightly more voluminous than say JCrew, but not by much. The fabric is decent - heavier weight than most and not shiny, and they've worn in well. The price was still a bit higher than I'd like to pay, but the made in USA process probably had something to do with that. Are they Bill's competitive... well if you like the (by old school standards) trimmer fit then maybe... the cloth is nice and they seem well made. They don't seem to have much relation to the old Duck Head other than the logo. I still have a couple old school pieces floating around - they were aiming for a cheaper market then, and it showed in materials, and they were for the most part a very 90's cut - i.e. - big. So, not sure about the new brand, but it's a fine pair of pants.

Would you comment on the fit? Does the size 36 measure in at 36" or is there vanity sizing? The website claims a 12" rise on the 36; is that accurate as measured from the crotch seam?

 

Would you comment on the fit? Does the size 36 measure in at 36" or is there vanity sizing? The website claims a 12" rise on the 36; is that accurate as measured from the crotch seam?

Alright - broke out the tape measure here to verify my guesses.

Duck Head
Waist: marked 36", actual 36.5"
Rise: 11"
Leg width at crotch: 11.25"
Leg width at hem:9"

Bills M2
Waist: marked 36", actual 36"
Rise: 12"
Leg width at crotch: 12.5"
Leg width at hem:9"

JCrew
Waist: marked 36", actual 36"
Rise: 11"
Leg width at crotch" 11"
Leg width at hem: 8.5"

BB Advantage Chino - Clark
Waist: marked 36", actual 37.5"
Rise: 11.5"
Leg width at crotch: 12"
Leg width at hem: 8.25"

Polo RL:
Waist: marked 36", actual 36"
Rise: 11.5"
Leg width at crotch:11.5"
Leg width at hem: 8.5"

Pretty much accurate guesses earlier. The BB/Bills are a bit more generous up top in waist/rise and crotch width, the Duck Heads trend toward the Polo RL/JCrew end of the chino spectrum.