US's Trendy New Demographic Scaling Menswear like Differio

It’s not an overstatement to say that the majority of Americans would rather use their paycheck on a new wardrobe than a fully stocked fridge. Among today’s most popular ecommerce categories, apparel and accessories currently rank as the most-bought products online, even beating groceries, health and entertainment, according to shopping data by Statista.

While the impact of ecommerce signals amazing growth for online retailers, it’s left a scathing mark across brick-and-mortar stores. The New York Times recently reported findings from Coresight Research that U.S. retailers have already announced up to 5,994 physical store closures in April 2019 – an amount surpassing 2018’s annual total of 5,854 closures.

As the American retail landscape transforms into one that predominantly thrives online, U.S. fashion retailers are also finding a new demographic of e-shoppers steadily boosting sales across online apparel: fashion-observant men.

According to Euromonitor’s menswear sales forecast reported by Quartz, trendy men’s clothing is projected to grow by 1.9% in 2021, exceeding the estimated 1.4% sales growth among women’s wear.

Bain, global management consulting firm, suggests that globally known brands currently facing financial difficulties, such as Topshop’s U.S. store closures, are failing to “adapt to market changes.” These market changes not only involve creating productive omnichannel strategies, but also finding ways to capitalize on emerging demographics affecting trending apparel like men’s streetwear.

From luxury to fast-fashion clothes for men, retailers across the board are looking for a way to cash in on this growing male demographic with a more diverse variety of mens clothing online, such as cutting back on suits and investing in more urban clothing for men.

Coach recently launched their first global menswear ad campaign featuring Michael B. Jordan, which is a progressive step away from their traditional campaigns with female stars like Selena Gomez. Even women’s underwear brands are now opening up a men’s underwear line, like La Perla’s men’s underwear launch in spring/summer 2015.

Today’s trendy male shoppers are putting importance on style not only while they’re at the office or bar, but also at less dressier places like the gym. Differio, leading online men’s trendy clothing store, found in a recent survey that 61% of male shoppers actually wear sexy clothes for men at the gym in case they run into someone they know or would like to know.

Nick Sullivan, Esquire’s fashion director, told Adweek, “There was always a fashion market—what they used to call a ‘metrosexual’ market—that could sustain designer brands in a healthy way in bigger cities in America, but in the last few years there’s been a much wider acceptance of fashion among regular guys that previously were shy about it.”

Additionally, Generation Z is now filtering into this trendy male demographic with a spending power of $200 billion, which is yet another factor that’ll shape the direction of trendy men’s ecommerce.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.