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

Men are hot right now. Men’s retail is booming, men are strutting the streets like proper peacocks, and there are now a flurry of websites and blogs devoted to all things manly. Indeed a whole new generation of men are hungry to be unabashedly masculine. What’s happened?

I think it’s all part of the evolution of modern men which I originally chronicled in my book, Branding the Man: Why Men Are the Next Frontier in Fashion Retail (Random House/Allworth Press, 2009, $27.50) but it’s also the fact that men have become the willing participants in a marketing boom. Men truly are the next frontier in consumer markets and with the breakdown in gender roles and expectations (i.e., metrosexuals, homosexuals and those who are in-between) the process of male identity has hit a crescendo.

Enter a book like The Dangerous Book for Men by Rod Green (Sourcebooks, 2012, $12.99 paperback), which offers many humorous and even useful tips for not being quite such a wimp when faced with, say, fighting off an alligator, or worse yet, opening a bottle of beer without an opener. Here’s an excerpt from one of the chapters which deals with the sticky subject of a parachute that just won’t seem to open.

How to Survive if Your Parachute Doesn’t Open

 To leap out of an aircraft thousands of feet up, pull the cord to open your parachute, and find it doesn’t work might well be the definition of “a pickle.” You will have precious time to think and will need to rely on your survival instincts kicking in. Whatever the outcome, it will most certainly hurt. The question is, will you live to see another day? Well, you just might if you can find a friend.

What to Do

1) As soon as you know there is a problem, indicate as such to a colleague who has yet to open their own chute. You should do this by waving your arms and pointing at your chute.

2) Your fellow jumper will hopefully move over toward you. When you are face to face, you must lock arms. And remember to add them to your Christmas card list.

3) Now, you must hook your arms up to your elbows into your partner’s chest strap or, alternatively, through both sides of the front of his harness. Then grab hold of your own strap.

4) By now, you and your chum will be hurtling through the sky at what is disconcertingly called terminal velocity (roughly 130 miles per hour), with all sorts of unpleasant forces wreaking mayhem on your combined weights.

5) When your colleague’s chute now opens, you will experience a massive shock which will most likely break your arms or pop them out of their sockets. I did mention that it would hurt.

6) Your partner must keep hold of you with one hand while using the other to steer the canopy. If his chute is big, your descent will hopefully be slow enough that you get away with just a broken leg. If it’s a small canopy, he’ll have to steer hard to slow things down. If there is a body of water nearby, he should make for that and you should get ready to tread water. You’ll have to rely on him to get you to safety before your chute takes on water and takes you under, but he will have seen you right so far, so have faith.

 Needless to say, your best bet is to make sure your chute is in good working order and perfectly packed before you get anywhere near an aircraft.

©Sourcebooks

---

Brian Spaly is one man who sees opportunity in men’s retailing – if it’s done right. In 2007, along with business partner Andy Dunn he founded Bonobos, which became one of the biggest start-up success stories to come out of the recession — especially in fashion retail. Together they created a men’s clothing brand that became instantly famous for having the best fitting pants on the planet.

 But for Spaly, It wasn’t enough to sell 40,000 pairs of pants (as Bonobos did in their first two years of business), or raise $18.5Million in capital (as the company did in 2010.) Even today, Spaly is forever focused on how to make the shopping experience even easier for Everyman.

 His “Big Idea”? What if all a guy had to do was have an online or telephone séance with a stylist and then, Voila: a box of perfectly fitting clothes arrives in the mail? Welcome to Trunk Club. Founded in 2009, Trunk Club is quietly making inroads in an area most ordinary stores have never bothered to push: personal styling for men.

Bertrand Pellegrin: What is it that sets Trunk Club apart from other personal styling services, i.e. ones one might find in a department store, or even a private service?

Brian Spaly: I think many other personal style services can still be intimidating for a lot of guys from both a style and a price perspective. At Trunk Club our consultants are all experts on a wide range of men’s style but even more importantly, they are great listeners. We’re not here to tell you what your style should be. We’re here to understand your personal style and provide you with all the right clothes to knock that look out of the park.

At the same time, there are no fees for the service and no minimums for purchase, so there’s nothing for guys to lose by giving it a try. I think most guys view the personal stylist as a province of the rich – but we’re hoping to change that.  We’re not pushing couture, we’re just selling high quality clothes that fit well and flatter you.

BP: Who is the Trunk Club customer — what is their profile?

 BS: We have found that Trunk Club has resonated really well with 30-45 year old urban professionals like lawyers, consultants, and bankers. A lot of these guys don’t have [the] hours to spend shopping and while they often have dressing for work and formal events covered, they appreciate our stylists help putting together outfits for first dates, nice dinners with the wife, getaway weekends, or nights out on the town.

BP: What was your “Aha” moment when you realized your concept for Trunk Club?

 BS: A lot of the inspiration for what we do comes from my experiences at Bonobos, where I learned first hand that guys simply don’t like to shop and don’t want to invest the time to learn how to find great clothes.  At the same time, it became clear to me that more than ever, guys loved looking good.  We know there’s a better way to get guys awesome clothes.

BP: Do you think most contemporary men’s stores are still missing the mark? If so, what is it that they are overlooking?

 BS: I think most contemporary men’s stores continue to sell clothes in a very traditional approach – establish a brick and mortar presence, lay out what they have to offer, and have customers browse their products during set store hours – and have not thought enough about whether or not a customer enjoys this experience.  For some customers, this may be perfect.  But for a lot of the guys we have been talking with having to go to multiple stores, being overwhelmed with choice, and not getting personalized service is not a great experience.

BP: A lot of attention has been paid to brands like J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and Club Monaco for trying to modernize their merchandising and buying strategies. Does this “curated” approach resonate with you?

 BS: Sure, it resonates with us.  We admire all of these companies – they are some of the best in the business.  What doesn’t resonate with us is the service, the location, and the shopping experience.  I recently checked out a J. Crew men’s outpost in SoHo on a Saturday.  It was a mad house, I couldn’t find anyone that worked there, I couldn’t tell who worked there, it didn’t look like there were any dressing rooms — the place was a mess.  Were the “curated” clothes cool? Absolutely.  But I will never go back and I didn’t buy anything because the experience sucked.  

 BP: Is Trunk Club planning to expand beyond online services to actual storefront locations (or will this only be located at the Chicago HQ)?

 BS: We haven’t made any firm plans at the moment.  We are always looking for the best way to serve our customers and will evaluate opportunities as they come up.

 BP: What is the pattern you notice most in terms of the difficulties/obstacles men find with shopping for themselves? How does TC address those hurdles?

 BS: Just because men don’t like to shop doesn’t mean they don’t want to dress better. Guys settle for baggy, boxy shirts and stale style because they don’t have the time or interest to track down better fitting, more stylish clothing. At Trunk Club we handpick a selection of awesome clothes to match each customer’s unique style and fit preferences. When a customer receives his first trunk, all that’s left for him to do is the fun part: choosing favorites from a personalized selection of great looking, great fitting clothes.

 

 

---

Brian Spaly is one man who sees opportunity in men’s retailing – if it’s done right. In 2007, along with business partner Andy Dunn he founded Bonobos, which became one of the biggest start-up success stories to come out of the recession — especially in fashion retail. Together they created a men’s clothing brand that became instantly famous for having the best fitting pants on the planet.

 But for Spaly, It wasn’t enough to sell 40,000 pairs of pants (as Bonobos did in their first two years of business), or raise $18.5Million in capital (as the company did in 2010.) Even today, Spaly is forever focused on how to make the shopping experience even easier for Everyman.

 His “Big Idea”? What if all a guy had to do was have an online or telephone séance with a stylist and then, Voila: a box of perfectly fitting clothes arrives in the mail? Welcome to Trunk Club. Founded in 2009, Trunk Club is quietly making inroads in an area most ordinary stores have never bothered to push: personal styling for men.

Bertrand Pellegrin: What is it that sets Trunk Club apart from other personal styling services, i.e. ones one might find in a department store, or even a private service?

Brian Spaly: I think many other personal style services can still be intimidating for a lot of guys from both a style and a price perspective. At Trunk Club our consultants are all experts on a wide range of men’s style but even more importantly, they are great listeners. We’re not here to tell you what your style should be. We’re here to understand your personal style and provide you with all the right clothes to knock that look out of the park.

At the same time, there are no fees for the service and no minimums for purchase, so there’s nothing for guys to lose by giving it a try. I think most guys view the personal stylist as a province of the rich – but we’re hoping to change that.  We’re not pushing couture, we’re just selling high quality clothes that fit well and flatter you.

BP: Who is the Trunk Club customer — what is their profile?

 BS: We have found that Trunk Club has resonated really well with 30-45 year old urban professionals like lawyers, consultants, and bankers. A lot of these guys don’t have [the] hours to spend shopping and while they often have dressing for work and formal events covered, they appreciate our stylists help putting together outfits for first dates, nice dinners with the wife, getaway weekends, or nights out on the town.

BP: What was your “Aha” moment when you realized your concept for Trunk Club?

 BS: A lot of the inspiration for what we do comes from my experiences at Bonobos, where I learned first hand that guys simply don’t like to shop and don’t want to invest the time to learn how to find great clothes.  At the same time, it became clear to me that more than ever, guys loved looking good.  We know there’s a better way to get guys awesome clothes.

BP: Do you think most contemporary men’s stores are still missing the mark? If so, what is it that they are overlooking?

 BS: I think most contemporary men’s stores continue to sell clothes in a very traditional approach – establish a brick and mortar presence, lay out what they have to offer, and have customers browse their products during set store hours – and have not thought enough about whether or not a customer enjoys this experience.  For some customers, this may be perfect.  But for a lot of the guys we have been talking with having to go to multiple stores, being overwhelmed with choice, and not getting personalized service is not a great experience.

BP: A lot of attention has been paid to brands like J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and Club Monaco for trying to modernize their merchandising and buying strategies. Does this “curated” approach resonate with you?

 BS: Sure, it resonates with us.  We admire all of these companies – they are some of the best in the business.  What doesn’t resonate with us is the service, the location, and the shopping experience.  I recently checked out a J. Crew men’s outpost in SoHo on a Saturday.  It was a mad house, I couldn’t find anyone that worked there, I couldn’t tell who worked there, it didn’t look like there were any dressing rooms — the place was a mess.  Were the “curated” clothes cool? Absolutely.  But I will never go back and I didn’t buy anything because the experience sucked.  

 BP: Is Trunk Club planning to expand beyond online services to actual storefront locations (or will this only be located at the Chicago HQ)?

 BS: We haven’t made any firm plans at the moment.  We are always looking for the best way to serve our customers and will evaluate opportunities as they come up.

 BP: What is the pattern you notice most in terms of the difficulties/obstacles men find with shopping for themselves? How does TC address those hurdles?

 BS: Just because men don’t like to shop doesn’t mean they don’t want to dress better. Guys settle for baggy, boxy shirts and stale style because they don’t have the time or interest to track down better fitting, more stylish clothing. At Trunk Club we handpick a selection of awesome clothes to match each customer’s unique style and fit preferences. When a customer receives his first trunk, all that’s left for him to do is the fun part: choosing favorites from a personalized selection of great looking, great fitting clothes.

 

 

---