What Menswear’s Stalled Momentum Means For Its Future

The last few years have seen an explosion in men’s fashion, both in a monetary and cultural sense. The menswear market as a whole has been growing faster than women’s, though it remains smaller overall. In 2018, Balenciaga said millennial men are among its biggest sales drivers and Euromonitor estimated that men’s would continue to outpace women’s at least until 2022. And thanks to the flourishing crossover between streetwear and luxury led by designers like Virgil Abloh and Alessandro Michele, menswear has embraced daring creative possibilities, including playing with notions of masculinity and femininity. But with much of the fashion industry hit hard and brands going into consolidation mode, the menswear market’s momentum is at risk. John Varvatos filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of May, around the same time as J. Crew, whose shining star Madewell just began selling menswear in late 2018. In March, menswear orders were down 22% according to Oracle NetSuite. Last year, menswear outgrew womenswear for a third year in a row, with more than 30% sales growth in men’s luxury footwear alone. Read more at Glossy.