The Council of Fashion Designers of America announced today the launch of New York Fashion Week: Men’s, a standalone showcase for American men’s fashion that will kick off with the Spring 2016 collections.
The biannual event will showcase a combination of runway shows, presentations and special events from designers including Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein Collection, Rag & Bone, Public School, Billy Reid and more. Hilfiger was an early champion of the event. It’s intended to give American menswear the same stage as designers in London and Milan.
Steven Kolb, CEO of the CFDA, says American menswear “has never been stronger,” and the event is backed not only by the CFDA and designers, but by editors and retailers throughout the industry who want to shine more of a spotlight on men’s clothing.
“It gives the designers a business platform to show during their market dates and is an opportunity to demonstrate the collective talent of an important segment of our industry,” says Kolb.
The addition of the menswear shows comes at a crucial time for the industry: The NPD Group found that the menswear market in theUnited States grew by 5% from 2012 to 2013, outpacing the womenswear market, which grew by 4, largely due to young, urban professionals with plenty of expendable income.
And thanks to expanding markets in China and elsewhere (and the slow recovery from the global recession), this trend is seen across the world, not just in the U.S. MarketLine predicted the global menswear market would exceed $402 billion in 2014, and the United Kingdomsaw an increase of 18% in the past five years alone.
Notably, brands like Michael Kors, Coach and Jack Spade are putting more effort and resources into their menswear lines.
New York Fashion Week: Men’s will take place from July 13 through the 16 in Skylight Clarkston Sq. Amazon’s fashion sites and Shinola are the main sponsors of the event.