Filed under: FASHION | Tags: American Apparel, Brooks Brothers, Gap, Mad Men, NPD Group, Paul Stuart, Ralph Lauren, Topman
According to David Colman of The New York Times (December 17, 2009), “Mad Men” has become modern men’s version of what “Sex and the City” was for contemporary women. But what is often overlooked about the “Mad Men” phenomenon is the fashion paradox it represents. In the show, the older men are the best dressed characters, while the young copywriters are too cool and rebellious to even wear a tie.
But now the wingtip shoe is on the other foot. Today the über-successful 50-year-old is likely to be wearing jeans and a rumpled sweatshirt, while the cash-starved intern is the best dressed man in the office. According to Mr. Colman, “young men are embracing the ‘Mad Men’ elements of style in a way that the older men never did, still don’t and just won’t. ”
“I think it’s a reaction against the homogeneity of casual wear” claims Gordon Richardson, design director of Topman. “There’s nowhere to go with that in terms of personality, whereas a suit sets you apart. And now there are suits that are a cut for young people. There’s never been that before, so it’s new to them.”
The evidence of this transformative shift in men’s fashion across the generation divide is everywhere. The trend extends well beyond Rodeo Drive and Madison Avenue, crossing over to every shopping mall in the country. Michael Ostrove, executive vice president at luxury menswear retailer Paul Stuart says that that the store’s growth is in its trim-tailored Phineas Cole line, courtesy of customers in their 20’s and 30’s.
Whereas the hippie generation of the 1960s rebelled against their grey flannel suit wearing dads, whom they derisively referred to as “suits”, the older generation today views casual wear as a badge of success. According to Marshall Cohen, NPD Group’s chief analyst, “the older generation say 45-plus, look upon success as being able to dress down. They think that being able to wear jeans is the epitome of achievement.”
And the data seems to support Mr. Cohen’s argument. NPD figures for the year ending November 1, 2009, indicate that sales of tailored clothing among men age 35-54 were down 17 percent. Among men age 25-34, sales were up nearly 4 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17CODES.html?scp=26&sq=december%2017,%202009&st=cse
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