Men set new trend for luxurious shopping

For years, most men have been maligned for thinking fashion is just for women but designers and retailers say more men are joining the luxury crowd and that the upmarket men swear business is booming.

Style has come into fashion as the likes of footballer David Beckham pushed the boundaries of what men wear and US television shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” persuaded men it was OK to care about looking good.

Now harried husbands or bored boyfriends waiting outside women’s changing rooms are turning into happy shoppers tripping down the racks of designer wear.

Not only that but, with the economy picking up again, men are also learning to punish the plastic on big-ticket buys.

“In tough times men stop buying whereas women go out and buy a pair of shoes. But now men’s is doing extremely well, up more than 15 percent this year,” Howard Socol, CEO of luxury US retailer Barneys, told Reuters.

“Men are shrugging off the tyranny of being told what to wear by women. They like shopping. Really,” Italian fashion guru Giorgio Armani said recently.

Designers and executives said young men in their 20s and 30s were fuelling the luxury boom and were buying suits again after the dress-down dotcom days of baggy trousers and youth fashion.

“Young men are waking up to the fact they have to look grown up to be taken seriously, while older men want to look younger so are going for new suits made with more innovative materials,” said Gildo Zegna, CEO of Italian suit label Ermenegildo Zegna.

Leading Italian designer Miuccia Prada said men were moving towards “formal but fun” fashion. reuters

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