FROM OUR FEBRUARY ISSUE: PUMP UP THE VOLUME
The entire MR team is proud to present our February 2024 issue. You haven’t gotten your copy yet? Feel free to page through a digital copy at Issuu, and we’ll continue to post individual stories here on MR-mag.com. If you haven’t been getting MR in print, be sure that you are on our mailing list for future issues by completing this form.
If a fashion cycle lasts around 20 years, menswear is due for a change. Thom Browne, king of the shrunken suit, released his first collection in 2005, the same year I started at MR as its fashion director. I watched that skinnier, shorter silhouette roll in, and by the time I left the magazine eight years later, it was the standard. Now it’s 2024, and the pendulum has been swinging the other way, to a fuller silhouette, for the last few seasons. As the first images from Milan Fashion Week rolled in, it was clear that it was time for a new model. The wider, almost pajama-like silhouettes out of Italy are evocative of voluminous cuts from earlier decades but seem birthed from Covid lockdown’s “all-sweats, all-the-time,” comfort-first wardrobe.
Of course, it takes a little while for runway and street trends to make their way to mainstream retail. Still, after writing about the denim market just a few months ago, it seemed clear that the five-pocket jeans model—very often
done up in non-denim fabrics—was king of the new professional dress code. These are traditionally sold in a straight or relaxed-straight fit, not the skinny fit that so dominated the contemporary market for a while, and certainly not in the athletic or relaxed fits that we might associate with this coming trend.
Retailers, though, seem ready for a breath of fresh air. Says Alan Gibeley of Giblees in Danvers, MA, “Jeans continue to have great sell-throughs, especially since our customers want to wear them with their new soft-shoulder sport coats. Even at luxury prices (Jacob Cohen at $495 to $550 retail, for example), jeans are doing well. Basic dress pants have been a struggle, but corporate casual dress pants have been growing, especially if the pant has stretch, contrast details, heavy pic stitching, etc. The best-selling fabrics blend comfort stretch with a high percentage of natural fiber. These items breathe, drape better, and last longer.”
“Our pant business is flat,” admits Jason Novosel of Toggery in Nantucket, MA. “Same goes for denim. Denim is a fairly new classification for us, and our guy likes a straight fit rather than slim/skinny. As for pants, we introduced PennBilt last spring, a well-made, straight-fit chino. Going into fall ’24 market, we’ll be looking for a more traditional fitting pant.”
Finally, David Levy of Levys in Nashville, TN, says, “Pant business has been better this season, led by casual fabrics from Brax in multiple colors. Also, travel pants have blown out: Clients want more performance and fewer wrinkles. Dress flannels have been good again. I look forward to reviewing new models at the Chicago Collective.”
It would seem the days of a classic trouser in black, gray, brown, or taupe may be returning, but we counter that, given men’s newfound penchant for buying clothes that span events—from the office to the home office to the weekend—it would be best to approach this category with a different mindset. For those customers pairing their soft shoulder sport coats with jeans, why not add a pair of relaxed trousers to the sale? They could be in flannel, jersey, or any soft drapey fabric, or even have a pleat to add some swagger. Depending on the customer, they don’t even have to scrape the floor or billow like sails.
David Sweedler at Zanella anticipates that “non-solid solid” pants will come into play for next season; from textured twills to nail-heads, to neater plaids and checks. He cautions against stores giving in to what he calls the ‘slingshot effect,’ though, going to extremes on any of these patterns. “Base the buy in core,” he says, “then sprinkle in the right amount of fashion.”
That’s advice that we think should be taken…in proportion.