Menswear Trends

Aki Choklat

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781472591715
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781474269735
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Fashion Design
• Index: Business

Menswear Trends will help you understand the relationship of menswear to society, enabling you to become both a forecaster and trend thinker – and bring new ideas, innovation and strategies to men's fashion. With designer and educator Aki Choklat you'll learn how menswear trends fit within the larger context of retail, how brands can use trends to be more competitive, and how to create an inspiring trend forecast. Later chapters show how to analyse catwalks, gather information from street-style coverage, compare short-term and long-term analysis and how to analyse and forecast colour trends. In the final chapter you'll explore the various job roles within the trend industry, learn to differentiate between trend services and how to navigate the contemporary job market and illustrate your skills in a portfolio. Industry Insight Interviews:
Peter Betsche, CEO, Arvenco
David Edgar, one of the founding partners of Bureaux Design Associates (BDA)
Michael Fisher, Creative Director – Menswear, Fashion Snoops
Jaana Jätyri, founder of Trendstop
Volker Ketteniss, Head of Menswear, WGSN
Sandy MacLennan, founder of East Central Studios
Ember Todd Colour and Trend Manager for Chaco Brand, Wolverine Worldwide
Barbara Vinken, Chair of Comparative and French Literature, University of Munich
Geraldine Wharry, founder of Trend Atelier

1.1

The Nonchalant Dandy, 1901, by Edward Loevy. The painting depicts how in the early twentieth century even leisurely activities involved rather formal dress.

1

Society, Menswear and Trends

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

•Explore the key moments in history that shaped what men wore in order to understand the relationship between past and present menswear.

•Analyse historical factors and their role in dress.

•Learn how trend agencies were born out of a specific need in the clothing marketplace.

•Examine the connection between society and menswear.

•Discuss the role and the influence of youth subcultures in menswear.

INTRODUCTION

Fashion and menswear are often influenced by socioeconomic and cultural influences in society, and this has been the case since their earliest days. A historical foundation of trend knowledge is necessary for better analysis and foresight; we can learn much from historical patterns about what men will want to buy in seasons to come. In this chapter we discuss the importance of history and its role in menswear trend practice by looking at some key events and how they influenced what men have worn. Historical information is essential to understand how ideas and men’s dress concepts came to be; having this basic awareness will provide a strong framework for analyzing the current norms and directions of men’s fashion.

In this chapter we also examine menswear concepts and terminology, which are essential tools for writing and speaking about products to a client or to a wider audience. The basic menswear terms and concepts may be familiar to fashion students, but they may be new to marketing and brand students, who will need to know these fundamentals when working with menswear.

It is also important to be well versed in trend concepts, their historical progression and why there was and is a need for trend services. Understanding the historical path helps to clarify where we are now with trends, and defining the key terms will provide a strong starting point for menswear trends in particular.

1.2

A group of fashionable men from Le Follet, a Parisian fashion plate magazine from 1839. Note the man in the middle wearing a dressing gown based on the Indian banyan, a favourite of the nineteenth-century creative set.

1.3

Today’s menswear often references the past. In this Gucci SS 2016 catwalk, clear references are made to bohemian looks. An absinthe green dressing gown; in its previous incarnation, it was popular with the creative set of the nineteenth century.

TRENDS DEFINED

Merriam-Webster (2017) defines a ‘trend’ as something that follows ‘a general course’, showing a ‘tendency’ or a ‘shift’. Trends by definition can be anything that gains momentum and moves in a direction. ‘Trending’ has become a buzzword in social media and online portals, used to catch people’s attention and to steer traffic to various different areas.

In contemporary society trends are often associated with design and the fashion world. A trend in the fashion world is generally a style of dress or other behaviour that is slowly gaining momentum and popularity. All aspects of fashion, such as colour, silhouette and accessories, can be separately analysed as trends.

In contemporary fashion some of the most important influencers are the designers themselves. Perhaps the most important menswear influencer of the past twenty years is Hedi Slimane, who introduced the slim suit for men in the early 2000s. This new cut was imitated and adopted by many, influencing the men’s silhouette for well over a decade. Another big influencer in menswear is Rick Owens, who introduced more unisex, androgynous looks for menswear. Longer silhouette, hip-hugging T-shirts layered with tank tops have gone mainstream recently. And today Raf Simons continues with his eponymous collections, merging art with fashion.

Trends are not only limited to tangible things such as clothing; they include changing attitudes and general behaviour. Societal factors such as music, food culture and sports can trigger menswear trends. Societal trends often anticipate fashion trends, and it is important to understand both because they are closely intertwined.

MENSWEAR DEFINED

Menswear is simply something designed to be worn on the male body – whether apparel, footwear or accessories. Apparel can be divided into several subcategories, such as casual wear, formal wear, outerwear and sportswear (to name a few). It is important to note that the above definition of menswear is in the most general terms. There is an ever-changing vocabulary that continues to further define menswear.

One of the main changes in the twentieth century that has also influenced these categories is the ‘casualization’ of dress in menswear. Ever since leisure activities, including travel and sports, started to be part of our lifestyle, we have looked for more comfort and ease in clothing. The beauty of trends and rapidly evolving fashion is that rules are constantly broken, re-written or re-defined in order to bring new elements to men’s fashion language.

MENSWEAR AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE CHANGING MOODS OF SOCIETY

Trends can be introduced to society through many channels. One of the bigger influencers is societal change, which shapes the opinion and attitudes of people that will ultimately influence what we wear. Historical influences, political figures, pop idols and designers are also drivers of menswear trends.

1.4

Popular culture has always been an important driver for trends to spread. Here, Malcolm McLaren, owner of the boutique SEX and manager of the Sex Pistols, is photographed in 1976 London, shortly before punk subculture became recognized worldwide.

MENSWEAR AND SOCIETY

Let’s look at some major historical moments to understand how changes in society can influence menswear. One of the most significant historical influences relating to dress was the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King (1638–1715), a true trendsetter of his time. His court’s lavish dress styles were an inspiration to many. Perhaps one of the most visible items that spread to other countries was the Talon Rouge, a red-heeled shoe that became the style of choice for many European courts. The French ruler required all the members of the court to wear shoes with red heels as a symbol of elite nobility. The lower classes of society were not permitted to wear them.

This type of restrictive decree or regulation – called sumptuary law – existed not only in Europe but also across other cultures. Sumptuary laws were designed to halt spending by the aspirational middle class and to reinforce class differences so that the nobility could maintain its superiority through the use of clear status symbols. Today clothing is regulated under rare circumstances, such as when it might relate to military gear or religious laws. However, although sumptuary laws are usually not formally stated, they are still very much part of the unspoken ‘rule book’ of fashion – particularly of menswear.

CONTINENTAL INFLUENCES

The expansion of travel options during the late 1700s brought continental influences to menswear in the UK and the capitals of Europe in the form of Dandyism. In fact, The Dandies were one of the most influential groups that shaped and created a foundation for modern menswear. Beau Brummel (born George Bryan Brummell, 1778–1840) was at the forefront of this cult of fashion, introducing various new ways of dressing. It was to his great advantage that the Prince Regent (later King George the IV of the United Kingdom) was a friend and adopter of the Dandy way of dressing. Brummel had rituals that sound extreme, even by today’s standard of cleanliness: soaking in hot baths for hours and refusing to wear perfume simply because he needed none. Daily bathing rituals in Europe were not practiced until over a hundred years later.

The Dandy’s fitted sleek new silhouette brought about the development of the contemporary suit. The modern trouser, a Dandy heritage, was developed from ‘pantaloons’, a type of trouser preferred by these fashionable men. Even the British Navy was inspired by the Dandy bee-line waist, and adopted the fashion to naval dress. This caused some questioning of the masculinity...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• CONTENTS
• Introduction
• CHAPTER 1 SOCIETY, MENSWEAR AND TRENDS
• CHAPTER 2 DEFINING TREND THINKING AND CONCEPTS
• CHAPTER 3 MENSWEAR RETAIL AND TRENDS
• CHAPTER 4 TREND DETAILS FOR BUSINESS
• CHAPTER 5 HOW TO RESEARCH TRENDS
• CHAPTER 6 APPLICATION OF TREND DATA
• CHAPTER 7 TRENDS AND THE INDUSTRY
• Conclusion
• References
• Recommended Reading
• Index
• Picture Credits
• Acknowledgements
• eCopyright