Demand for designer menswear is booming – and it`s all due to the

It’s a
man’s
world
Demand for designer
menswear is booming –
and it’s all due to the rise
of the style-smart male
Kenzo@Pitti Uomo AW13/14
Dior Homme AW13/14
“Catwalk shows, once an elitist event, now
livestream on sites such as style.com and
give everyone a window into the world of
luxury fashion.” Fashion editor and consultant
to brands Hackett and Dunhill, Mark
McMahon cites menswear blogs Tommy Ton
and The Sartorialist as great influencers:
“They show the general public fashionable
male attire on people in the industry and
are an easy guide to what looks good and
what to wear now. A Continuous Lean,
Style Salvage and High Snobiety also allow
the consumer to engage with fashion on an
accessible level, with a personalised point
of view.” Links to the subject’s website are
Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci
AW13/14
“Catwalk shows,
once an elitist event,
now livestream on sites
such as style.com”
Pitti Uomo
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Left: guest designer Kenzo at Pitti Uomo 83
Below: Mr Porter
Ermenegildo Zegna
AW13/14
L
uxury fashion – and the
theatre that fuels the business
– has historically been
the preserve of the female
consumer. Sprinting to Bond
Street in red-soled shoes, clamouring for
limited-edition handbags, women – for a
long time – have won the sartorial race, their
male counterparts left in the starting blocks.
However, menswear is having a renaissance,
with the emergence of a male, fashionliterate consumer.
The growing wave of enthusiasm for
menswear and sea change in the industry
is exemplified by the growth of the
international collections. Pitti Uomo
kicks off the twice-yearly proceedings.
A sophisticated trade fair that, once
visited, banishes all preconceptions of
corporate stalls and below-par products.
Kenzo and Bill Amberg mix with Camper
with international buyers jostling to place
their orders. Next up is The London
Collections, inaugurated in June 2012 –
with the launch event hosted by the Prince
of Wales – The British Fashion Council
has already seen the importance of guiding
menswear designers and are launching
the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund
with a prize of £200,000. The winner will
be mentored over an 18-month period,
with great emphasis on global growth.
Following London is Milan; its power
players including Armani, Gucci and
Zegna. Fashion big-hitter Paris closes
the collections with Dior, Louis Vuitton
and Givenchy, the latter presenting, in
the designer’s words, “more of a couture
collection for men.” For the AW13/14
shows, the setting was a reverential,
candlelit stage. A suggestion perhaps
that we need to pay more respect to
the craft of menswear.
Luxury menswear has gained
great impetus, but what’s driving this?
Information is key, Shaeren
McKenzie, Group Marketing
Director, McArthurGlen explains:
With this surge in interest,
the collections themselves
have become stronger, more
assured. Linda Newman,
Visual Development
Manager, McArthurGlen,
has seen the concept of the
suit as a fashion staple grow
over recent seasons:
“Our customer is informed, they
understand about cloth and cut and are
keen to invest in pieces that will prove
their fashion worth. Across our European
portfolio of outlets we have seen the rise of
investment pieces such as the designer suit.”
For designer sportswear brands such as
Stone Island, high-tech innovative fabrics
have become USPs. Raffaello Napoleone,
CEO Pitti Immagine sees these brands
“challenging themselves every six months
to present different stories, combining
innovative high-quality fabrics with
traditional materials, constantly working
on details, evolving their brand’s style”.
Quite simply luxury brands are doing what
found on the blogs, directing the reader
they’re best at and better than before.
to the products. Online retailers have
recognised the value of this and blurred the
With the new male consumer now
firmly ensconced in the retail landscape,
lines between the commercial and editorial
side of the business.
menswear can only grow; it’s up to the
The best example of this marketing/
designers to provide pieces that
will keep the new-found customer
retail hybrid is luxury retailer
base interested. Napoleone sees
Net-A-Porter and its menswear
key elements of storytelling
site, Mr Porter. From the
and artisanal work in future
inspiring fashion icon section
seasons. “Male consumers
to the styling segment
are more passionate about
advising on how to dress,
production and trends,
to The Journal, the weekly
they want more in terms
online magazine edited by
of historical and cultural
Jeremy Langmead, every
referencing, they want
element of the Mr Porter
clothes to feel
site is designed to educate
bespoke, unique.”
and assist the male buyer
and prime for purchase.
Design like that
should sort the men
Sartorial-savvy it seems is
from the boys.
simply a click away.
Stone Island
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L
uxury. The word alone conjures
seductive imagery and emotive
responses. Aspirational activities
come to the fore; a glamorous
hotel, a wardrobe of designer
clothes. Luxury by definition is rare and
therefore infinitely more covetable – or is it?
In a world where artisan perfumers are
setting up stalls in department stores and
permanently discounted specialist designer
online portals sit proudly and profitably
alongside their full-price cousins, it seems
the acquisition of luxury has become the
opposite of what it claims to be; it has
become the norm. So what does luxury
mean now?
“Luxury by definition is aspirational,”
explains Julia Calabrese, CEO,
McArthurGlen. “When you walk into a
designer store you enter a world of luxury.
Whether you buy a keyring or simply soak it
up, you’re hooked. You want go from a firsttime shopper to full-time luxury consumer.”
It is precisely this experience that
McArthurGlen champions. Their global
portfolio of designer outlet stores introduces
new customers to luxury brands, within a
welcoming environment, at attainable prices.
The outlets are designed as accessible villages
with spacious piazzas. Brands such as Versace,
Armani and Ferregamo are framed in this
backdrop while retaining their own individual
brand identities. The whole day provides a
complementary luxury shopping experience
to the full-price option and a gateway into
fashion nirvana. The partnership is also
beneficial to the brands themselves.
“Nobody knows more about luxury than
the luxury brands themselves,” explains
Calabrese, “so we work with them to
ensure visual merchandising, branding and
service are of an exemplary level. We learn
from them and provide expertise on outlet
operations only when necessary.” It helps
that staff have their roots firmly in fashion
retail from global brands, ensuring they are
speaking the same language. Rents are
profit-led and this encourages co-operation
between retailer and landlord. They work
closely and collaboratively on marketing.
“We ensure we speak to all our retailers
when putting together promotions, ensuring
the correct stock is in place for such events
guaranteeing the brands’ desirability and that
both parties are profitable.”
It is this kind of communication that has
cemented McArthurGlen’s reputation and
led to a convergence on marketing activity
with incumbent brands and growth with new
partnerships. Or simply, in Calabrese’s words:
“We trust each other.”
50
The Changing
Face of Luxury
Designer outlet stores are adding another
dimension to how we experience luxury
When Luxury Enriches
a Community
McArthurGlen exports its European values of luxury to North America
T
Above: La Reggia Designer Outlet, Italy
Left: denim promotion with Elle magazine
Below: timeless classics and innovative merchandising
he values of luxury, culture
and the enrichment of the
community have become
increasingly relevant over recent
years. From Louis Vuitton’s
REcreative programme for young artists
to the Cartier Women’s initiative awards,
brands have a greater desire than ever before
to connect on a deeper level with their
consumers. So how can this desire translate
into a luxury retail environment?
The marriage of commerce and
community is a concept McArthurGlen has
championed through their designer retail
villages. Their new venture is a collaborative
project with Vancouver Airport to create a
new village to serve the city and beyond. So
what can shoppers on the other side of the
Atlantic expect?
“We have a proven history with luxury
brand partnership in our European outlets
over the past 20 years,” explains Joan Jove
Development Director, McArthurGlen, “we
will be offering those brands to the consumer
here, something that’s not been done before,
enriching the city’s offering.”
Local qualities will inspire development, an
approach that has been historically successful
for McArthurGlen, while providing the
appropriate luxury environment for the
brands. Vancouverites are fans of blues and
jazz; large piazzas will be built. A regional
artist will be commissioned to create a
sculpture as a centrepiece for the village.
Dining will also play an integral role.
The notion of the American food court
is banished and the art of eating together
– definitely a more European concept –
Above: False Creek, Vancouver
Below: Vancouver Designer Outlet Luxury Piazza
will come to the fore, with restaurants
and cafes offering world cuisine nestled
around a piazza.
This aims to be a fantastic immersive
experience engaging shoppers on both a
retail and community level, but how can
McArthurGlen benefit Vancouver from a
more global perspective? Tourism is incredibly
important to this metropolis. Hosts to the
World Fair, then the 2010 Winter Olympics,
the city is loved by many; nine million tourists
visit on average per year.
McArthurGlen has instigated a
compelling strategy to complement the local
community’s tourism boom:
“We work directly with tourist boards
and lead travel companies across the globe,
in particular Asia to engage tourism traffic,”
explains Jove. Coupled with the free highspeed rail link from the airport to the new
outlet, alongside tourism information and
multilingual staff specifically on hand to aid
tourists, McArthurGlen is doing everything
in its powers to ensure the first impression
of Vancouver and its new retail village is a
glorious one.
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