Tweet
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/15/style/rsuit.php
Youth market gets suited up
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
NEW YORK:
Moms of the world, rejoice! The men's suit is on a roll. While your
20-something son might be giving up his disheveled look, he will likely
need to be bankrolled because it is this younger consumer, 25 to 40
years old, who is driving the designer and luxury suit market, fashion
executives say.
At the Dior Homme flagship boutique on Avenue Montaigne in Paris,
teenagers sometimes swing by with their fathers. Buying a ?1,300, or
$2,000, suit for a special occasion is not uncommon, notes Sidney
Toledano, Dior's president.
The teens that Toledano refers to make up a minority of luxury suit
sales. But they are part of the new and young male suit customer who
arrived on the scene about five years ago, at the same time that the
new suit styles did.
These consumers had never been obliged to, or felt the need to, wear
suits. Either they were still pursuing their studies or perhaps they
worked in creative professions like advertising, architecture, design
or dot-coms, which, until recently, favored casual dressing. Now, they
are looking for a fashion statement and enjoying dressing up.
"It's that post-'metrosexual' generation. They read Men's Vogue or
Details, and it's not considered 'gay' to be interested in fashion,"
said Michael Macko, vice president and men's fashion director at Saks
Fifth Avenue. "Going shopping with a girlfriend is an activity like
going to the movies."
Executives say this group's interest in suits is due largely to the
media's focus on fashion. With fashion everywhere from newspapers to
YouTube, young men are exposed at a younger age and more frequently to
fashion information.
But they are not interested in the suits that their fathers wear.
They know about and want the suits with the shorter, more tightly
fitting jackets; narrower lapels and skinnier pants without pleats, a
style pioneered by the New York designer Thom Browne, who shocked the
fashion world in 2004 with a ready-to-wear collection featuring
shrunken men's jackets and high-waisted nonpleat pants that fell to the
ankle.
They also know about Dior Homme's lean, slim suit silhouette
introduced by its former creative director, Hedi Slimane. The new
consumer sees male starts like Brad Pitt, Jude Law or Justin Timberlake
sporting these fine-tuned threads on the red carpet.
This new interest in fashion, and in suits in particular, translates to more action on the sales floor.
"We will see a increase in suit sales, as younger men with
expendable income are beginning to appreciate the elegance of a suit,"
said Ben Curry, an assistant buyer in men's tailoring at Harrod's in
London.
While there still remain endless racks of grey suits in stores,
there have also been new, exciting entrants into the men's suit market.
Tom Ford introduced his signature collection this past spring, created
in partnership with Zegna. Hickey Freeman launched a younger, snazzier
collection of suits and sportswear, Hickey, two years ago. At Dior
Homme, the new creative director, Kris Van Assche, will show his first
full collection on Sunday in Paris. And Brooks Brothers signed Browne
for a capsule collection of men's and women's wear, Black Fleece, which
debuted last fall.
These new brands and styles are revving up a fashion category that
has been slow to change, notes Gildo Zegna, chairman of the Ermenegildo
Zegna Group. Zegna and other suit vendors are actively catering to this
young, savvy male with style but also with great price points.
Zegna introduced the younger Z Zegna brand for spring-summer 2004
and suits retail for about ?900, or $1,330. Zegna, a privately held
family company, has not released 2007 figures yet but, in 2006, profits
rose 20.3 percent, to ?63.3 million, on sales of ?779.4 million, which
was up 9.4 percent from 2005. The company does not break out figures
for Z Zegna, but Gildo Zegna said the collection's sales had "exceeded
expectations."
Z Zegna's price points reflect a trend in demand for the "under $1,000" or "under ?1,000" suits, executives say.
About three years ago Brooks Brothers introduced the 1818 Collection
of suits, which retail for less than $1,000. The range has three
styles, two of which are more fashion-forward - the Regent, with its
more European-inspired fit, and the Fitzgerald, which recalls the suits
that John F. Kennedy bought when he was a client of Brooks Brothers.
1818 is now the fastest growing collection of suits for Brooks
Brothers, representing 60 percent of the company's suit business, up
from 25 percent from three years ago, says Louis Amendola, the brand's
chief merchandising officer.
Six months ago, Brooks Brothers introduced "Suiting Essentials," a
semi-custom-made suit range whose prices start at $580. Amendola said
that this collection also is aimed at the new, young suit customer "who
never thought he could afford a custom suit."
Brooks Brothers is privately held and does not disclose financial
figures but, based on press reports, 2007 sales may have reached $875
million.
The uncertainty of the American economy makes vendors and retailers
cautious about sales for the overall suit sector in coming months.
Yet Toledano believes that the Dior Homme business can grow in the
United States, even in a potential downturn, by taking market share
from traditional suit brands.
Last year, sales for Dior Homme achieved "very strong double-digit
growth," said Toledano, without disclosing specific figures. Dior plans
to open 10 more wholly owned stores this year, for a total of about 40
shops worldwide. Dior Homme is part of Christian Dior Couture, whose
sales for the first half of 2007 grew 16 percent, to ?368 million, and
whose operating profits more than tripled to ?28 million, compared with
the first half of 2006.
And other fast-growing markets like Asia or Eastern Europe can help
offset a downturn in the United States, executives say. Moreover, many
say that the designer or luxury suit market will be relatively immune
to jitters.
"At the high-end level, there continues to be a consumer who will
spend significant amounts of money on clothes," said Robert Burke, a
luxury-goods consultant and founder of Robert Burke Associates in New
York. If this consumer does change his habits, he will still spend
money, just on fewer items, Burke said.
***I am feeling extremely uncomfortable reading that TB was the originator of the shrunken-skinny-suit trend that teenagers love. Do you think the author never saw a men fashion show before, or she just talked "US only"?
I remember an article about skinny suit in NYT - it was all about the 60s, Helmut Lang, Raf Simons and Hedi Slimane. As long as teenagers are in context, Dior Homme is the one to start from imo.
Comment