It's about the money – puting men in skirts in your collection has two effects it gets your name in the press for being cutting edge and it makes the image of a man in a skirt more recognisably mainstream.
The current costs of selling skirts for men are minimal because the initial take up will be small and the costs will be well covered from the advertising budget given the media exposure – look at your article - H&M; get free exposure.
There are close to five hundred million men in Europe and America who only wear pants.
Skirts and trousers are not completely interchangeable women tend to wear pants when doing practical things. Thus when a man buys a skirt he will still buy nearly as many pants. That means skirts for men is an almost completely untapped market. A 0.1% take-up, or one in a thousand, men wearing skirts represents half a million sales or at $50 each or $25 million. At a 5% take-up or, one in twenty, men that's $1.25 billion dollars of new market.
Why Is H&M Designing Skirts for Men?
- January 17, 2010 18:12:54
- Read all 21 opinions
I mean no offense to skirt-wearing men. If you enjoy wearing skirts, lots of power to you. You're also probably from Scotland. But if not, that's cool, totally cool. I'm not saying men in skirts aren't awesome; I'm just saying you're going to have a tough time finding a man who wants to put a skirt on. In public, anyway.
But H & M must be confident men want to wear skirts, and not just in private. They're including a men's skirt in their Spring/Summer 2010 collection. For the USA. My question is, how the heck can H & M expect to sell skirts to men in America? It's H & M. Yes, everyone loves Marc Jacobs in a skirt (well, some people do); but do you know any men who would actually pick up on this style cue?
H & M is for the common man here in America. You can be fashionable in H & M, but most people who shop there are not totally into super high-style and aren't looking to break any style barriers. H & M is about fashion with an edge, but it generally doesn't go overboard. H & M is not Marc Jacobs and it doesn't have the same customers.
Skirts are the scariest of H & M's 2010 men's fashions, but there are other scary pieces as well. Pieces that include lots of fringe, over-sized tie-dye scarves, too-small faded denim vests, Moroccan-inspired tunics, and more.
Perhaps the worst part of the whole skirt fiasco is what the model is wearing along with the skirt: a pair of tights. Find me a man who will wear a skirt and a pair of tights, and, well, I'm pretty sure you can't. H & M is totally setting themselves up for failure with the upcoming season's line for men. I have a feeling men are going to be running as far from H & M as they can get.
But H & M must be confident men want to wear skirts, and not just in private. They're including a men's skirt in their Spring/Summer 2010 collection. For the USA. My question is, how the heck can H & M expect to sell skirts to men in America? It's H & M. Yes, everyone loves Marc Jacobs in a skirt (well, some people do); but do you know any men who would actually pick up on this style cue?
H & M is for the common man here in America. You can be fashionable in H & M, but most people who shop there are not totally into super high-style and aren't looking to break any style barriers. H & M is about fashion with an edge, but it generally doesn't go overboard. H & M is not Marc Jacobs and it doesn't have the same customers.
Skirts are the scariest of H & M's 2010 men's fashions, but there are other scary pieces as well. Pieces that include lots of fringe, over-sized tie-dye scarves, too-small faded denim vests, Moroccan-inspired tunics, and more.
Perhaps the worst part of the whole skirt fiasco is what the model is wearing along with the skirt: a pair of tights. Find me a man who will wear a skirt and a pair of tights, and, well, I'm pretty sure you can't. H & M is totally setting themselves up for failure with the upcoming season's line for men. I have a feeling men are going to be running as far from H & M as they can get.
Read more: http://hypebeast.com/2009/11/hm-2010-spring-collec...
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Richard January 30, 2010 13:36:26
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If everybody would turn into skirted we would have the same like today: Uniformed men.
The current costs of selling skirts for men are minimal because the initial take up will be small and the costs will be well covered from the advertising budget given the media exposure – look at your article - H&M; get free exposure.
There are close to five hundred million men in Europe and America who only wear pants.
Skirts and trousers are not completely interchangeable women tend to wear pants when doing practical things. Thus when a man buys a skirt he will still buy nearly as many pants. That means skirts for men is an almost completely untapped market. A 0.1% take-up, or one in a thousand, men wearing skirts represents half a million sales or at $50 each or $25 million. At a 5% take-up or, one in twenty, men that's $1.25 billion dollars of new market.
I don't think that H&M; will sell men's skirts in all their stores because I heard that they decided to sell them only in "trend-stores".
In case of common man in America: I think men have to change and have to get out their "common-view-cage"; we have to learn that men should be treated like a stereotyped 'somebody' but more an individual. I believe that men deserve the same access to finery as women. "They are no less beautiful creatures and they are no less deserving of a wide range of clothing in which to express their style. We've come to accept that men's sense of style comes down to their shirt, cuff links and tie, and it is an utterly ridiculous concept at the best of times." And fortunately, skirts can look just as good on men as they do on women. So, let's just go with open mind to a new area of understanding and accepting.
Any questions?
If you could get over the hump, plenty of men would be wearing skirts.
It looks like there isn't enough pressure to get over the hump. They would need more companies and more than one or two skirts. Pity. It would have been a paradigm shift in apparel that I would have been around to see.
Besides, they'd have to start manufacturing mens' bikes with women's frames. :-P
The same with men and women's bodies, they are different. But the clothes can be the same - see example bike.
I would love to see more men in skirts.