男装也有春天

    至于那种更时髦的风格，大家得感谢千禧一代和中年男性群体。

    经济衰退结束后不久，千禧一代就重新拥有了可支配收入和购买力。NPD集团的科恩表示，这个群体借助自己的穿着（而不是使用的物品）来构建自我身份。此前的X和Y世代则以自己拥有的电子产品凸显自我，但现如今，就使用时髦电子产品而言，许多消费者都处在同一水平线，年轻一代正在把更多的钱花在装点自己的外形上面，他说。此外，千禧一代热衷于社交媒体和那些“节操尽碎”的自拍，意味着他们过的是一种更加公开化的生活。

    “他们似乎从小到大都生活在舞台上，”Thrillist媒体集团(Thrillist Media Group)联合创始人兼CEO本•莱勒说。这家公司经营着一家叫做JackThreads的会员制在线购物俱乐部。“这种成长经历让他们更在意自己的外貌，更容易接受为自己购物的想法。”

    随着千禧一代进入职场，他们的技术水平正在对更有经验的男性员工构成威胁。这些老员工希望给人留下跟年轻同事一样时尚、一样精通技术的印象。

    贝勒大学(Baylor University)家庭和消费科学助理教授杰伊•柳说：“五六十岁的男性员工觉得，要想在职场保持竞争力，不丢掉饭碗，就必须显得更年轻一些。”

    因此，更成熟的购物者需要一个款式更多，因此也更昂贵的衣柜，而且服饰类型远远不限于10年前穿的碳色西装。柳说：“男士选择更休闲的服饰，不仅仅是一种文化变革，也代表着显著的生意增长。”

    此外，衰退过后，男性对服装的需求也高于女性。经济衰退时期，购物支出逐渐减少，男性就把手头上的衣服多穿一段时间。由于男性的衣柜通常小于女性，能换穿的服装自然也就更少一些，意味着他们的衣服很可能经受了一些磨损。“一条牛仔裤能穿多久？你可以把一件领尖带扣衬衫穿多长时间？”科恩说。“经济衰退之后，男人们更加渴望一个全新的衣柜。”

    男装的崛起当然逃不过零售商的眼睛，无论是在线零售商，还是实体店。

    许多百货公司已经扩充、升级了各自的男装销售区，欧睿国际的孔德说。比如，洛德与泰勒百货公司(Lord & Taylor)最近宣布，它在纽约的旗舰店将把男装销售区的面积增加一倍。萨克斯第五大道(Saks Fifth Avenue)去年发布公告称，该公司将扩大同名男装系列以满足大众需求，同时还将开设店中店，专门出售这个品牌的服饰。著名奢侈品商店古德曼(Bergdorf Goodman)表示，它将为旗下的男装门店新增一个奢华配饰销售区。

    电商们也开始利用这一趋势。Bonobos、Frank & Oak、Combatant Gentleman、Alton Lane和JackThreads这些在线零售商正在把各式时尚产品与内容结合在一起，为男性提供轻松的购物体验，同时提供如何购置服装的专业建议。

    “这些全新的品牌正在迅速崛起，它们非常懂得这些极具社交意识的消费者的心理，”莱勒说。“许多男士不喜欢去平庸的传统零售店购物。让人看到你与老妈一起在这类场所购物是一件挺尴尬的事情，有可能给人留下负面印象。这对在线服饰零售商来说是一个机会。”

    实体店和在线品牌正在为男士提供更多的产品，而男性消费者也不愿错过这样一个购置新装的好机会，隆德里根说。“所以说，男装市场的增长已经成为一个自我实现的预言。”（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒

    For that sharper style, you can thank millennial and middle-age men.

    Millennials -- who grew into their discretionary income and purchasing power soon after the recession -- construct their identity through what they wear, not by what they use, says Cohen of NPD. The previous X and Y generations defined themselves by the electronics they owned, but now that many consumers are on the same gadget playing field, the younger generation is spending more on what they look like, he says. Plus, millennials' penchant for social media and those shameless selfies means that they live a more public life.

    "They've grown up like they're on a stage at all times," says Ben Lerer, co-founder and CEO of Thrillist Media Group, which operates a members-only online shopping club called JackThreads. "That leads to being more thoughtful about the way you look and more comfortable with the idea of shopping for yourself," he says.

    As millennials enter the workplace, their tech skills are presenting a threat to more experienced male workers, who want to come across as just as hip -- and therefore as technologically savvy -- as their younger counterparts.

    "Men in their 50s and 60s, they think to compete and remain in the workplace, they think they have to look younger," says Jay Yoo, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences at Baylor University.

    So the more mature shopper needs a more extensive, and therefore more expensive, wardrobe that goes beyond the uniform charcoal suits he wore a decade ago. "It's a cultural change of men adopting a more casual [wardrobe], but it also represents significant business growth," Yoo says.

    Men have also built up a larger post-recession demand for clothing than women. When shopping tapered off during the recession, men simply wore what they had on hand for longer periods. And because men typically have a smaller wardrobe than women, they have fewer items in rotation, which means their clothes likely suffered some wear and tear. "How long can a pair of jeans last? How long can you wear that button-down," Cohen says. "After the recession, men were hungrier for a new wardrobe."

    The growth in menswear is certainly not lost on retailers -- online and brick-and-mortar alike.

    Department stores have expanded and upgraded their men's sections, says Kunde of Euromonitor. Lord & Taylor, for instance, recently announced that it was doubling the space dedicated to menswear at its flagship store in New York City. Saks Fifth Avenue announced last year that it was expanding its namesake menswear line due to popular demand and was opening in-store shops devoted exclusively to the brand. And Bergdorf Goodman said it would add a luxury accessories section to its men's store.

    And e-commerce is cashing in on the trend too. Across the web, online retailers like Bonobos, Frank & Oak, Combatant Gentleman, Alton Lane, and JackThreads are mixing fashion products with content to ease men's shopping experience and advise them on their expanding wardrobe.

    "There are these new brands that are emerging that understand this socially minded consumer," says Lerer. "There's an opportunity for guys to not shop at stodgy, traditional retailers that have a negative connotation for being embarrassing places to shop with your mother."

    And as stores and online brands offer men more products, guys are availing themselves of it, says Londrigan. "So the trend of growth in menswear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."