Mirror, Mirror: '80s' Esprit returns - but it's a new millennium

Remembering the fashions of my younger days makes me smile.

Benetton was the epitome. We all lived for the Gap. Forenza T-shirts were a must. In college, Cross Colours ruled.

But before those labels started luring me weekly to the mall, there was the super-trendy, pre-teen sportswear brand Esprit.

How can we forget the magenta, olive green, and orange-speckled sporty knitwear set that celebrated the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles? Esprit was one of the first to blend fashion with lifestyle advertisements featuring perfect, windblown teens. For better or worse, Esprit helped mold a generation of shoppers.

"I first started to love clothes through Esprit," said Corie Moskow, 33, fashionista and executive director of Rittenhouse Row. "It was pre-Juicy. I remember shopping at the Bloomingdale's in Willow Grove Mall. That's all we wanted."

So it's no wonder that GenXers were excited about last week's arrival of the area's first Esprit store since all were closed in the mid-1990s. Last Wednesday, the glass doors opened at 1729 Walnut St.

Don't do your Hammer-pants roll just yet. Esprit may be back, but it's not the same.

Gone are the '80s styles - the legwarmers, the matching tote bags, the sweatshirts with Esprit blazoned across the front with the trademark broken E.

The new Esprit is much more sophisticated. The labels are tiny. This time, the brand looks much more H&M-meets-Zara. And with everything under $200, this seems more reasonable for adults to spend than back in the day for parents of teens - who had to pay more than $50 for an adolescent-size sweater.

The collections feature men's and women's wear in fall's bold plaids and soothing watercolor prints. A sleeveless silk, kelly green and purple V-neck sheath dress strikes a chord of simplicity and sophistication. Little black dresses abound.

Denim is neatly stacked according to fit, flared or slim. Men can choose from a plethora of slightly shrunken plaid button-down shirts.

The pieces are sharply tailored, yet roomy enough for my hips.

I can't knock a brand for changing with the times. After all, sweatshirts with shoulder pads and matching pleated knit pants aren't appropriate for millennium fashionistas. Even though I saw a few pieces I'd consider buying, I have to admit I'm slightly miffed.

I want to know what happened to my Esprit.

So I asked.

After enjoying a fashion heyday that included expansion into Germany and China, Esprit founders Doug and Susie Tompkins divorced and sold their American interests in the brand to a private equity company. By the mid-1990s, all of the Esprit stores in the United States had closed.

Meanwhile, Esprit in Germany and China grew.

In 1998, the company went public in China, and in 2001, Esprit bought back all of its American interests. At that point, the German, Chinese, and American branches merged to form one Esprit. In 2004, the company began opening specialty stores here, its flagship landing in New York's Flatiron District. Today, there are more than 30 Esprit stores in the U.S., and the company grosses $4 billion annually worldwide.

Interesting business story. But I'm still missing the good old days. Esprit is like fashion comfort food.

Clare Sauro, curator for Drexel University's historic costume collection, feels my pain. She's working on a yet-to-be-titled book about clothing's place in our collective memory. According to her, my reaction is quite normal.

"Clothing is so much of a part of how we remember ourselves and other people," Sauro said. "It's intimately connected to who you think you are and once were."

Funny thing is, although I aspired to wear the clothes, I couldn't be an Esprit kid. I spent most of my time in the mid-'80s in a Catholic school uniform, and purchasing expensive preteen play clothes, in the Reagan era, wasn't my family's idea of wise spending.

It's the time period associated with those clothes that I miss (not to mention the knockoffs). That was when we ran relay races in the parking lot after school and our only worry was making it home by 8 on Thursday nights to watch The Cosby Show - whose stylish children, I must mention, most certainly were consumers of Esprit.

"Esprit triggers happy memories," said Sauro, 37, herself a proud owner of a vintage striped dress and oversized Esprit blouse. "I remember saving my money for that blouse. It was neon print and it had dinosaurs on it. I loved it."

Aaahhh.

I guess even Esprit had to grow up.

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