Branding the man: why men are the next frontier in fashion retail

Serge Gainsbourg’s reputation as a singer, lover, and all-around bad-boy is legendary. As husband to actress Jane Birkin and father to singer-actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, Serge had the je ne sais quoi that most men only dream about.

To top it all off, he was a short little chain-smoking Jewish man and women loved him for it. His Mod, louche style was pure Parisien, from his trim Levi’s jackets  and striped Breton sweaters to his long loopy scarves; bell-bottomed tuxedo pants paired with velvet blazers.

And then there were the shoes.

Gainsbourg allegedly disliked wearing most shoes and if he could have had his way, would walk the streets barefoot. His “69 Années Erotique” duet-partner (in more ways than one) Jane Birkin had just the thing for him: a pair of crisp, white Repetto dance shoes, a model called “Zizi Homme.”

Gainsbourg was smitten and throughout his life had dozens of pairs of the supple shoe, and the Zizi became as much a signature of his look as a cigarette.

Since 1947, Repetto has provided hand-made dance shoes to every major dance company but has also been adopted by the fashion world. In 1999 Jean-Marc Gaucher, a former executive from Reebok, took over the reigns with bold plans to make Repetto a major player in luxury fashion. Limited-edition collections have been created with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Veronique Branquinho. Hedi Slimane, Martin Margiela, and countless other designers have designed shoes in homage to the Zizi Homme.

Three years ago, on a trip to Paris, I made a bee-line to the Repetto boutique on the rue de la Paix.  I had become obsessed with pictures I had seen of Gainsbourg, lolling around his apartment in his exquisitely white (and diminuitive) Repetto’s.

Their legendary comfort is true: the shoes are the closest thing to walking barefoot. Made from the softest of calfskin, Repetto ballet shoes ar not for urban trekking — the soles are wafer thin. But for lounging at your corner watering hole or holding court in a pied-a-terre, there is nothing more chic.

Repetto shoes have limited availability in the U.S. Try www.farfetch.com, or better yet, book a ticket to Paris.

Boutique Repetto

22 rue de la Paix, 2eme. Tel: 01 44 71 83 12.

51 rue du Four, 6eme. Tel: 01 45 44 98 65.

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Massimo Bizzocchi is the Chairman of the Kiton Corporation, producer of arguably the finest (and maybe the most expensive) suits in the world.

But Kiton  (pronounced kee-tun) is also one of the most discreet Italian brands you’ll find. There is little to no advertising and no obvious logo. We are seldom told that a celebrity is wearing a Kiton on the red carpet — although if he’s someone like George Clooney, he probably is. Founded in 1968 by Ciro Paone, Kiton is the quintessential example of Neapolitan tailoring: less structured than a Brioni, more svelte and body forming than an Armani.

Of all Italians, Neapolitans are perhaps the most flamboyant and obsessive when it comes to tailoring. A stroll down Via Montanapoleone in Milan is like stepping into a scene from “La Dolce Vita,” with huddles of young men in knife-sharp suits, admiring one another not to mention themselves.

I met with Mr. Bizzocchi one Saturday afternoon after a private party at San Francisco’s Neiman Marcus, and he shared the story of the Italian and his passion for tailoring.

I actually wanted to be a diplomat, but you know, in Italy it is about connections and my family is not of high rank or part of government. We did not know anybody in the Vatican, so I decided to work in international business, with something I know very well: the Italian tailored suit.

You see from the time I was 6 or 7 years old I would spend Saturday afternoons in the wintertime with my father in the tailor shop. My father would be there talking to friends and drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. This is part of the Italian culture: to take time with your tailor and watch him make your suit. It is like the barbershop in the United States. It is the place you learned to be a man.

This is the beauty of what a brand like Kiton continues to represent. Too often you see someone wearing a suit and they look “Tom Ford” — not like themselves.  We don’t want that, we want the man to be himself.

When the consumer is buying the product and putting the product on, he is the architect, he is the designer, he is the mood, he is the mind, he is the evocation; he is all of those things make the man different because of how the suit changes how he feels.

This is where all the Neapolitan heritage of tailoring comes out.  The Neapolitan tailor developed their style based on the desire to make everybody feel very comfortable but making everybody also looking very natural. We are not trying to make a man with a sloped shoulder looking like he has a straight shoulder. We are leaving his shoulder but we will correct other details in order to make him look good.

Ciro is a genius in interpreting that style of life, where people are in love and enjoying themselves with clothing. This is why the Italian people enjoy dressing up a lot, because this is part of expressing how they feel about life. A man walks around in a suit and he is telling people: this is who I am. Now people go in jeans and t-shirt and they are anonymous.

Ciro is such a maniac that he will walk to a suit a touch all the buttonholes to make sure they are not stiff… he wants them soft, and he tells the tailors to use the correct number of threads for the fabric. He can feel with his fingers if there are too many threads in a buttonhole.

Did Ciro know about the American market before he decided to open in the U.S.?

He knew Ralph Lauren was very powerful in U.S. and he met him once when Ralph was in Italy. So when he go to New York for the first time, we go to Ralph’s big office building but we are told we cannot see him and that we must make appointment. Ciro gets very upset and he says to me, “No, tell him we are here! Tell him that we ate mozzarella together in Napoli!”

Finally Ralph Lauren comes out and says hello and Ciro gives him a beautiful jacket to try on. Ralph says, “Oh Ciro, it is very nice!” and Ciro says, ‘Thank you,” and takes the jacket back. He shakes Ralph’s hand and he leaves. And we never saw Ralph again.

Read more about Kiton’s craftmanship and one man’s experience ordering a custom jacket, in a story exclusive to the San Francisco Chronicle. Click here.

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(SAN FRANCISCO) — Not one to be left behind when it comes to collaborating with edgy designers, Macy’s has partnered with New York’s dynamic design duo Ruffian to create Threads & Heirs. The exclusive collection is only available at Macy’s and will be followed with future collaborations from a different designer each season.

At last Thursday’s store event, an eager crowd awaited the designer’s arrival, not to mention the chance to see an attractive posse of models wearing the new collection.

While models strutted onto the stage, I chatted with the designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais, an affable duo who clearly enjoy working together. “This collection was fun for us because we really were able to draw from what we love,” said Wolk. “It’s all about American classics, which I have always been fascinated with,” said Morais, a native frenchman.

The designers — with their own award-winning collection called Ruffian — stayed true to their signature urban aesthetic, but folded in plenty of wearable basics that weren’t so fashion-forward they’d scare away a Macy’s customer. The collection is heavy on plaid shirts, gunmetal-grey tees and v-necks, and  my personal favorite — a wonderfully rumpled cotton utility jacket with a nicely tailored waist.

“Tailoring is one thing we can’t compromise on,” said Wolk.”With this entire collection you’ll notice that everything is slim cut, from the shirt to the jackets.”

The limited-edition collection is priced between $24.99 – 99.99 making this one of the better values when it comes to designer collaboration collections. A second delivery of new items will arrive in stores later in the month.

After the presentation, the designers lingered behind and met with customers, many of whom knew the designers from their Ruffian collections. Those that didn’t were nevertheless pleased with what they saw. “I’m getting the utility jacket for my boyfriend,” said one female customer. “But if he doesn’t wear it, I will.”

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