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Menswear Execs Talk About How to Get Into Men’s Wallets

By: Harry Sheff

September 30, 2009

Last night GQ hosted a panel discussion for the Fashion Group International at the Conde Nast building in Times Square.

The topic was the male apparel consumer and the panel, moderated by GQ publisher Peter Hunsinger, consisted of designer John Bartlett, PVH president of furnishings Marc Schneider, TAG chief executive Dana Telsey, and Macy’s marketing EVP Martine Reardon.

From left to right: Hunsinger, Reardon, Schneider, Telsey and Bartlett.

The panel started slowly with a lengthy and inappropriate pitch for Macy’s. Martine Reardon, a marketing executive, would have done better to talk about the big picture. Too often she focused on Macy’s and used women as examples. Dana Telsey, an analyst at the Telsey Advisory Group, was also disappointing, but only because no one in the financial sector has a clear enough crystal ball.

So it was even more refreshing to hear from Philips-Van Heusen’s smart and articulate Marc Schneider.

“What we do—I don’t consider it dressing up—it’s getting dressed for work,” Schneider said in response to a question about the state of men dressing up. “I think there’s been a clouding of what’s appropriate dress for [various] occasions.”

Schneider pointed out that about half of GQ’s 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years were wearing shirts and ties. Which is pretty good. He highlighted the variety of style that can be evoked with a shirt and tie, comparing the two “kings”: Muhammad Ali and Elvis Presley. We, the fashion industry and all of its outlets, Schneider said, need to do a better job helping the American male understand how and when to dress well.

I also liked what Schneider had to say about cause marketing. Men (and women) don’t buy a product because it’s "green," or because a percentage of the proceeds go back to a charity. This, Schneider said, is a “gift with purchase.” Men will shop for fit and price and fashion before they shop organic or sustainable. “If it got in the way of style? Forget it.”

John Bartlett, who was on the panel representing his lower-priced collaboration with Liz Claiborne, seemed to be knocking current styles even as he praised the workwear and preppy/Ivy League trends in menswear. “Designers at the high end are treading water,” he said, explaining that exploring American style’s roots was not advancing men’s style.

The future for him is in new fabrics and washes. He singled out women’s wear company Lululemon, a yoga outfitter, as an innovator to watch. “Best t-shirt on the market,” he said.

When the discussion turned to Fashion’s Night Out (which our editorial Assistant Talia Morales covered here), Bartlett laughed, saying that it was the first time in months that his West Village John Bartlett store sold anything at full price, calling it one of the best sales day in the two years it had been open. Tim Gunn, a colleague at Liz Claiborne, was his guest at the store. Bartlett said he stayed open until after midnight.

Value, Bartlett and Schneider agreed, was a complicated equation. Price is just one dimension of value, Schneider insisted. When vendors say, “we’re delivering great value...wink, wink...we’re lowering our prices,” they may be sending a dangerous message. Whether a product is in the good, better or best categories, there should be value. After all, he quipped, “If price is a euphemism for value, we all know who’s going to win that game.” Wal-Mart being the unspoken player.

How can vendors deliver that value in such an uncertain market? Schneider said that shorter lead times between design and manufacture help. And he added that one small upside of the recession was that the partnerships between vendors like PVH and its retail partners was that it forced a much closer working relationship, one that enabled them to compete with verticals like Gap.

“Do consumers care about American-made products?” Hunsinger asked the panel. “No,” said Schneider. “Consumers don’t care. It’s PR.” As he said this, he cringed, knowing no one wanted to hear that. PVH still has a neckwear factory in Los Angeles, but much of its domestic Superba operations have moved overseas. “There’s been ample opportunity to make apparel in the U.S.A. but no one’s taking advantage of it,” Schneider lamented. “Who’s at fault, the maker, the retailer, the consumer?” We all are, he says. Sadly, for most American consumers, country of origin is a small number in the equation that comprises a product’s value—far smaller than price.

Schneider ended with a an anecdote about shopping in Vancouver with his family. He sees a great porkpie hat, but his wife and daughter ridiculed him when he tried it on. He bought it anyway. “Encourage!” he admonished the audience. “Guys are willing to step out, but they need help.” He has yet to wear the porkpie.

 

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