How the Men’s Fashion Consumer Will Save Our Economy, Brands, and E-Commerce

“As male consumers begin to take to style and fashion with the same fervor as their female counterparts, menswear is a growing priority for luxury and fashion brands. “ (Business of Fashion).

A $50 Billion Opportunity

By now the menswear and men’s e-commerce movement is in full swing. We are fortunate to be living in a golden age of men’s bloggers and brands creating great collections and even better content.

In an attempt to map out the future, we decided to take a snapshot of the men’s brands, bloggers, and e-commerce sites currently taking things to another level — consider it a men’s market refresher.

This rising crop (and countless others) has enabled men to seek and easily find the latest menswear looks, info, and product, and on any device. The men’s market has certainly come a long, long way. All signs point to the male consumer buying fashion at record levels — with no sign of stopping. How did we get here and why is this so important?

The Menswear Movement (A Quick History)

1985 only 25% of all men’s apparel was bought by men. 75% was bought by women for men. (NPD)

1998 men were buying 52% of apparel for themselves (NPD) but in….

2004 …it was 69% with no sign of slowing. (NPD)

2005 “The result is a full-blown category of menswear that draws equally from skateboard and surf culture, the preppy canon and the runways of Prada & Marc Jacobs.” (NYTimes, June 19, 2005)

2011 Does the Menswear Industry Matter? Um, yes. (Forbes)

2011 Study shows that men are more active social shoppers than women (E-Marketing and Commerce)

2012 “Men don’t shop; they buy. Men spend 30 percent less time browsing online than women, viewing fewer pages before purchasing,” Frederico Marchetti, CEO of Yoox

2012 “Men are the New Women……The luxury menswear market is growing at almost 14 percent per year, outpacing growth in womenswear by almost double.” (Business of Fashion, Bain)

2013 “Men, look how far you have come….the arrival of a generation of young men who are taking more risks with their style.” (NY Times February 13, 2013)

2014…….$50 Billion. At least.

In 2013 sales of Mens apparel were up 2.8% to $58.6B for the 12 months ended September (NPD).

According to Bain & Co, sales grew more quickly for men’s than for women’s apparel, which inched up only .9% to $111.63B in the US. In contrast, sales of men’s high-end and ready-to-wear apparel rose 10% over the same period.

The Armory New York, Photo Cred: (A Continuous Lean)

In our view, women’s brands are really just competing to shift existing market share in an already hyper-competitive, maxed-out market (emerging markets notwithstanding). A huge market for sure, but one with nowhere near the opportunity presented by the men’s market, especially for new brands. But how do you reach them? Part of the solution can be found by first taking a look at some of today’s most impactful men’s fashion blogs and emerging brands. It’s an expert combination of beautifully designed product, content, convenience, community building, and digital branding savvy.

Men’s Fashion Bloggers and Content Sites

Here is a short (and in no way comprehensive or quantitative) list of men’s bloggers and lifestyle sites to keep an eye on. As we’ve mentioned before, the best metric to follow is the level of content engagement — not necessarily size, traffic levels, or # of followers. The content in these sites tends to be straightforward, easy-to-follow, and educational from a men’s lifestyle perspective.

Niche, Tastemaker, Tailoring, Craftsmanship.

http://www.acontinuouslean.com/

http://suitupweird.com/

http://putthison.com/

http://www.anythingandeverythingla.com/

http://instagram.com/menwithclass

http://mensfashionpost.com/

http://www.fashionbeans.com/

http://streetetiquette.com/

http://thescoutmag.com/

http://www.unabashedlyprep.com/

http://www.dapperlou.com/

http://cultureclub.clubmonaco.com/ Club Monaco’s “Culture Club” content site

and of course http://www.thesartorialist.com/

A collection of (mostly) emerging men’s brands and E-commerce sites doing great things with product design, quality content, and social storytelling. We also recommend following these on Instagram to get the bigger picture.

http://www.bestmadeco.com/

http://www.coldsmokeco.com/

http://greatsbrand.com/

http://www.raenoptics.com/ (men’s and women’s sunglasses)

http://www.norseprojects.com/

http://www.bespokenclothiers.com/

http://wonderlandsun.com/

http://shopwittmore.com/

http://www.mrhare.com/

http://www.ernestalexander.com/

http://www.tannergoods.com/#

https://www.frankandoak.com/

http://www.ledbury.com/

http://thebkcircus.com/

http://www.grenson.co.uk/en_us/

https://www.everlane.com/ (men and women)

http://www.clubmonaco.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=12243591&ab=global_men

www.artcomesfirst.com

www.shinola.com

http://juniperridge.com/

http://www.gilt.com/giltmanual/

The granddaddy of them all http://www.mrporter.com/journal

As you can see there is a wide range of men’s style and culture resources now readily available. You no longer have to live in LA or NYC to have the latest and greatest intel.

What to Do

Brands: select blogger partners based on the quality of content and engagement — bigger is not always better. Build a community around great product and high-quality content.

Bloggers: reach out to brands that are a good fit for your content. All brands need content these days — and lots of it.

Build Your Story: to paraphrase designer Paul Smith, “there is a story in everything you do. If you can’t find one, look again.”

Curation and Editorial Content: present unique, educational editorial content that doesn’t try too hard — straightforward, informative, but elegant (and that doesn’t mirror women’s content).

Strategize, Track, and Measure: measure the effectiveness of the content you post whether you’re a brand or blogger. Content creators and brands should work together to co-establish key (and attainable) success metrics that can help extend the life of the content you both publish.