The State Of The Menswear Union

While #menswear might be dead, menswear has never been bigger. Online menswear sales in particular grew faster than every other category between 2010 and 2015, and show no signs of slowing down; research firm Euromonitor International speculates that the global menswear market will rise from $29 billion in 2015 to $33 billion by 2020. (By comparison, the women’s clothing market actually declined by 0.9 percent annually between 2011 and 2016, according to research company IBISWorld.) One-third of men reported they’d like to spend more money on clothes in 2016 than they did in 2015, according to Rupa Ghosh, a retail analyst at Mintel. Menswear is moving to the masses. While the average man won’t become a Pitti peacock, go to Pitti, or even know what Pitti is, his style is influenced by what sells there and what shows well at the other men’s fashion weeks, like those in London and New York, that have become buzzed-about events in recent years. More guys care about their clothes than ever before, full stop. “I think you’re seeing a generation of men who are defined by a sensibility,” says Michael Hainey, Esquire‘s executive director of editorial. “It’s not an age thing or a generational thing. Men have integrated style into their lives in a way that we haven’t seen in a long time.” There’s a strong throughline from the #menswear originals to today’s man on the street. Read more at Racked.