Menswear, the perennial
poor relation of women's high fashion, is staking a larger claim on the
lucrative fashion stage, as retailers tap a growing men's clothing market and
runways in New York reflect American men's rising interest in high fashion.
Never in the vanguard of U.S. fashion, menswear is striving to catch
up,
canada
goose parka jackets say fashion experts taking stock of the collections
showing at New York's Fashion Week which runs through Thursday.
With the
luxury menswear market growing at about 14 percent a year, or nearly double that
of luxury womenswear, according to consultancy Bain & Co., the financial
stakes are high.
"High fashion menswear used to be a bit of a joke, but
it's becoming a genuine influence. It's beginning to duplicate women's wear,"
said David Wolfe, creative director of retail consultants Doneger Group.
A demographic that was once "style conscious young men and very label
conscious," is "now grown up, and bringing that same style sensitivity and label
snobbery as adults," Wolfe said.
Tom Julian, author and retail trends
expert, noted growth in the expanding $50 billion-plus menswear arena for
clothing such as jeans, knits and accessories.
Julian cited major
retailers like Saks adding a denim room, and Ralph Lauren's new Rugby concept.
With about a dozen stand-alone stores, Rugby specializes in edgier styling and
lower prices targeting younger shoppers than Ralph Lauren's traditional
clientele.
"There is more interest in tailoring touches for sportswear,"
he noted. Accordingly, "casual has shifted beyond what was — khakis and
button-downs. Unstructured or knit jackets, sweater jackets and the like allow
for layering and individualizing."
The collections at New York's Fashion
Week, when hundreds of designers show both men's and women's fall lines, bore
that out.
And like the women's shows, some of which displayed hallmarks
of popular 1920s-era films like "The Artist" and "Midnight in Paris," menswear
took a page from the popular "Downton Abbey" British TV series, set on the eve
of the 20s, with heavy use of cord, velvet and grosgrain trims and round-collar
shirts.
DRESSED-UP CASUAL
Wolfe characterized the looks as "much
more well-behaved than 'rebel rocker,'" while Julian noted that "men have
embraced colour in unexpected ways — a bright coloured check shirt, the coloured
chinos, the coloured shoes."
"Many men today like the idea of taking a
tailored item like a blazer or a necktie and making it less formal to play into
their look," Julian noted.
Tommy Hilfiger's ambitious show on Friday
reflected trends seen throughout the week: quilted sleeves and vests, lots of
narrow horizontal stripes, high-collared doubled breasted coats topping striped
vertiginous turtlenecks.
While Hilfiger showed a lot of leather, it was
softer, nonthreatening and decidedly non-biker. Unstructured jackets suggested
English schoolboys, while colours included dark rose, greys, mustard, teal and
lots of reds.
John Bartlett, who once hewed closely to militaristic
influences, showed plaid vests, checked pants that suggested pyjamas and blanket
coats that paid homage to LL Bean's Hudson Bay classic. Even his motorcycle and
racing jackets revealed softer, less-structured tailoring. Splashes of yellow
and orange livened the looks even more.
Plaids and checks also figured
highly at Duckie Brown's show, which made heavy use of textured grey and
charcoal fabrics including tweeds. Crocheted sleeveless tops typified many of
the relatively un-macho looks.
Richard Chai's show meanwhile was
dominated by denim and blue work clothes, featuring car coats and separates in a
range of sombre tones of grey, black and charcoal.
"Even affluent men
are questioning whether fashion is the best use of their money," noted Candace
Corlett, president of retail strategies consultancy WSL Strategic Retail.
"That says there has to be a semblance of utility, function and
longevity — it's got to span a few seasons, even a few year and withstand the
hot and cold of trends."
There were still more plaids and nubby fabrics
to be seen at Robert Geller, who showed looks mostly in grey, charcoal and
black. Edwardian-influenced models sported oversized, wrapped neck scarves,
while trousers were rolled up above the ankles. A poncho coat was emblematic of
some designers' voluminous cuts.
From Rag and Bone came more horizontal
stripes for pants, jackets and sweaters, while topcoats featured wide
fleece-accented lapels that suggested the shawl collars that could be found on
sweaters and outerwear of many collections.
"We're finishing dress-down
casual and moving to a dressed-up casual," Wolfe observed. "The changes are
subtle, mostly in colour and fabric, with colours moving richer and fabrics more
luxurious."
"It's nothing too challenging, which would scare the average
guy off. But we now have a generation of men who shop for themselves instead of
their mothers or wives doing it for them."
