Men’s Apparel (Study Guide)

Men’s Apparel Key Concepts ● Categories of men’s apparel ● Roles of brand names and designer names in the marketing of menswear ● Advertising and promotional activities in the marketing of men’s apparel History of the Men’s Apparel Industry Acceptance of Ready - to - Wear ● Store bought clothes finally broke the class barrier during the last half of the 19th century. Financial crisis sent men who had formerly only worn custom tailored clothing into the ready-to-wear stores. ● Even though custom tailoring remained a vital part of the menswear industry longer than it lasted for women. It was dealt a final blow during the Great Depression. Because of WWII, the men’s wear industry ground to a halt and turned its attention to making uniforms. Restrictions were placed on design and use of fabric. ● Today custom tailoring only represents a small segment of the industry, because men are not only wearing suits now Trends in the Twenty-First Century ● Sportswear: found its way to the market in the 1940’s in Southern California where suburban living and a climate conducive to leisure created a demand for clothes to be worn outside of work. Sportswear gained more momentum when buyers from major department stores such as Marshall Field, Macy’s and Lord & Taylor decided to cash in on the trend and bring it to the East Coast. ● Revolutionary Fashion: he social revolution of the 1960’s was reflected in the “hippy” style dress code of longer hair, jeans, love beads, tie-dyed tops, denim work shirts, flower- powered tops and sandals. In the 1970’s we saw technology influence men’s wear with knit synthetic fibers. Poorly designed and constructed clothing gave polyester a bad image. Organization and Operation of the Industry Size and Location of Manufactures The menswear industry traditionally has been divided into firms making different kinds of clothes. ● Tailored Clothing: Suits, overcoats, topcoats, sports coats, trousers and formal wear. ● Furnishings: Dress shirts, neckwear, sweaters, headwear, underwear, socks, robes and pajamas. ● Outerwear: Raincoats, coats, jackets, and active sportswear ● Work Clothes: Work shirts, work pants, overalls and related items. ● Other: Uniforms and miscellaneous. Dual Distribution ● It’s far more common in the men’s wear industry than women’s apparel for clothes to be distributed on a two-tier system called Dual Distribution. ● In Dual Distribution, apparel is made available through both wholesale and retail channels. The manufacturer sells it in its own retail stores as well as to retail stores owned by others. Designing a Line (Importance of Name Designers) ● By the late 1960’s designer names in the menswear industry mushroomed. Most of them were women’s wear designers who wanted to expand their line and try their creativity in men’s fashion. ● Designers included Bill Blass, John Weitz, Oleg Cassini, Christian Dior, Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent. Ralph Lauren was the only designer to actually design for men first, then move onto women’s wear only after success in the men’s market. ● The fact that much of menswear, particularly furnishings and sportswear were purchased by women for men, aided in the acceptance of designer styles. Women were familiar with the names and had confidence with the designer’s taste. Market Segments Most are based on style differences, but some exist because they involve different production methods. The 5 main segments in menswear are: ● Tailored Clothes: Structured and semi-structured suits, overcoats, formal wear, trousers that involve hand-tailoring operations. ● Sportswear: or casual clothes runs the gamut from unconstructed jackets, knit and woven shirts, slacks, leisure tops and bottoms. This has been the fastest growing segment of the menswear industry since the 1970’s! ● Activewear: Popular since the 1980’s, consists of clothing worn during sports participation as well as leisure time. Sweat suits that can be worn in and out of the gym. Tennis shirts that can be worn on and off the courts etc… ● Contemporary Apparel: a specific type of styling that provides high quality and fashion for style conscious men of all ages. ● Bridge Apparel: clothing that spans the style gap between young men’s and men’s wear collections. Also the price gap between contemporary and designer apparel. Retailers tend to interpret “bridge” to fit their own customer profile. Industry Trends Specialty Trends in Men’s Retailing ● From the very beginning independent stores like Brooks Brothers and Men’s Warehouse were important to the growth of fashionable menswear. ● They all attribute their success to an unwavering devotion to their customer. ● These are one stop shops where a man can be fitted from head to toe. Strong customer service is key to this type business. ● In 2013 Men’s Warehouse brought in 2.3 billion dollars in sales. They operate over 1200 stores in the US and Canada.