MAN of the Week

Sub ParWhile Tiger Woods is making strides putting his golf game back

together, his fashion sense still finds the rough. Page MW8

Plus: Barneys New York continues to tweak its layout and fine-tune its mix. Page MW2

PhoTo BY RoDoLFo MARTINEZ

Forward, March

MOD

EL: a

LiM

@ v

ny; S

TyLE

D By

aLE

X Ba

Dia

March 29, 2012

Brunello Cucinelli’s cotton jacket, Rag & Bone’s linen

suit and Ermenegildo Zegna’s cotton shirt. Rag & Bone tie;

To Boot New York shoes.

by DAVID LIPKE and JEAN E. PALMIERI

Men’s wear is reap-ing the rewards of a revitalization.

Spurred on by key trends such as slimmer fits and vivid color, as well as a resurgent economy and improved consumer confidence, men’s apparel sales have been one of the brightest cat-egories for many retailers. Updated silhouettes in everything from suits and dress shirts to jeans and khakis have driven guys to the cash regis-ters to modernize their wardrobes. Important trends like colored bot-toms, military themes and prints and patterns have given a boost to sportswear segments.

Last year, total men’s apparel sales increased 4 percent to $55.71 billion, up from $53.48 billion in 2010, according to figures from The NPD Group. The jumps were driv-en by big increases in workplace clothes, with tailored clothing up 22 percent, dress shirts up 14 percent and neckwear up 34 percent.

{Continued on page MW5}

w29b001a.indd 1 3/28/12 7:09 PM03282012191117

by DAVID LIPKE

TOM BRADY will be getting some fancy new footwear this fall.

Ugg, the footwear maker endorsed by the quarterback, is launching an upscale men’s line of shoes, boots and gloves under the Ugg Collection moniker. Sourced and made in Italy, the high-end offering follows on the heels of a women’s Collection line launched last fall.

“We wanted to take the brand up a notch and celebrate the craftsmanship that comes out of Italy,” said Leah Larson, vice presi-dent and creative director of the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company. “There are some core Ugg customers that will be inter-

ested in the Collection product, but it will also bring in new customers for us.”

The men’s Collection footwear ranges from $325 to $795, while core Ugg for Men footwear ranges from $90 to $325.

The men’s Collection launch this fall comes after a major marketing push for the core Ugg men’s business, centered on an advertising campaign featuring Brady last fall. The New England Patriots quar-terback will return in a new men’s cam-paign for the brand this fall. A separate campaign, without Brady, will herald the launch of the men’s Collection range.

The new lineup is centered on rugged, rock ’n’ roll-inspired designs, incorporat-ing hand-dipped vachetta leathers, stacked leather heels and Italian wool shafts. The effect is broken-in and masculine but with a

sophisticated, hand-crafted look.One café racer boot in Buffalo leather is

adorned with brass buckle details while others have wool insets. Some pre-fall styles include a dressier aesthetic, with suede chukka boots and lace-ups in bright colors of teal, blue and green, with contrasting painted outsoles.

Larson said she was inspired by musi-cians like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and The Beatles when designing the collec-tion, as well as the café racer subculture of Sixties Britain.

In another move meant to bolster its men’s business, Ugg will open its first men’s-only store at 600 Madison Avenue in New York on June 5, in an 800-square-foot space adja-cent to an existing Ugg Australia store. The men’s shop will feature its own interior de-sign scheme to provide a masculine shopping environment for men, who may best know the brand for its female-centric sheepskin boots.

Ugg actually was originally launched in 1978 in Southern California as a men’s footwear brand by an Australian surfer

named Brian Smith. The sheepskin boots were

popular among surfers in his native Australia and Smith aimed to

popularize them in the U.S. Deckers Outdoor Corp.

acquired Ugg in 1995 and by 2000 the much-copied boots were one of Oprah Winfrey’s “favorite things.”

Last year, wholesale sales of Ugg in-creased 38 percent to $915.2 million, up from $663.9 million in 2010. The company does not divulge men’s versus women’s sales figures.

There are 31 full-price Ugg stores world-wide, including 13 in North America, in ad-dition to 14 outlet stores. Another seven full-price stores and 13 to 17 outlets are slated to open this year.

The men’s Collection product will be avail-able in Ugg Australia flagships, on uggaustra-lia.com and at wholesale partners. The com-pany is still finalizing wholesale orders. Key Ugg retailers for the core men’s and women’s lines include Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, Journey’s, David Z. and Zappos.com.

Men’s WeekMW2 WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012

A look from the new collection.

by JEAN E. PALMIERI

TOM KALENDERIAN LAUGHS when he acknowledges that his latest merchandising move is hardly earth-shattering.

But it’s something different for the Barneys New York Madison Avenue flag-ship, and the shift is already paying off in higher sales volume.

“We know it’s not revolutionary,” said Kalenderian, executive vice president and general merchandise manager of men’s wear at Barneys New York. “But we’ve never mixed sportswear and clothing in the classic genre before.”

Earlier this month, Barneys relocated the sportswear offering from four vendors — Isaia, Brioni, Kiton and Andrea Campagna — from the main floor to the seventh, where they are now being showcased alongside the company’s suits and furnishings. Zegna sportswear was also added to the upper floor.

“We’re branding it ‘The Luxury Wardrobe,’” Kalenderian said. “The con-cept is to make it simple so our customers can shop in one room. We’re positively posi-tioning the product to enhance the customer experience. And since we made the move, we’ve had quite a few transactions.”

He said that by moving the sportswear from the main floor, “it changes the perspec-tive of brands that are known for their cloth-ing and makes them more of lifestyle collec-tions.” Some customers who purchase Isaia

suits may not even realize the brand has a comprehensive casualwear assortment. “It’s a different experience and creates a sense of discovery here on the seventh floor,” Kalenderian said. “It should encourage more inter-selling between categories.”

Because Zegna represents such a large business for the store, Kalenderian said the brand is being double exposed and some sportswear is still carried in the classifica-tions area. “But there are different styles on the seventh floor,” Kalenderian said — ones that best complement the suits. The other four vendors are only available on the sev-enth floor.

The shops for these brands were also tweaked to showcase their casual side with tables and fixtures added to accommodate the sportswear.

Kalenderian said this is the way Barneys merchandises these brands in its branches, which have smaller men’s stores. But in the eight-level men’s store on Madison Avenue, it represents a shift.

It also hints at upcoming changes at the flagship, which is in the midst of a multimil-lion-dollar renovation. Sometime next year, the men’s main floor will be “rejiggered,” he said, “so why wait until next year to [train the customer] to shop all the floors of the men’s store? We said, ‘Let’s try and build a business now.’”

Barneys has been on a reinvention cam-paign since Mark Lee joined the company as

chief executive officer in 2010. He has made significant changes in the executive team and merchandise offerings, and has worked hard to add new and exclusive labels. In men’s, that includes the Andrea Campagna collection, as well as Piombo, Black Fleece and a special collection of Michael Bastian tailored cloth-

ing and furnishings. “We were very successful with his sportswear so we asked him to cre-ate a tailored collection for us,” Kalenderian said of the Bastian line. Other new lines in-clude Thom Browne underwear, dress shirts and neckwear; Ovadia & Sons; Camoshita by United Arrows; Salvatore Piccolo, and Rake.

Barneys Tweaks Tailored Clothing Floor

PHOT

O BY

JOH

N AQ

UINO

THE LACK OF cold weather took a bite out of the business at Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. in 2011, and it’s still ham-pering sales.

On Wednesday, the Hampstead, Md.-based specialty store chain reported a 3.3 percent rise in income for the fourth quarter to $44.2 million, or $1.58 a diluted share, from $40.9 million, or $1.47, in the prior-year period. Sales rose 8.8 percent to $346.3 million from $318.3 million.

In a telephone interview with WWD, R. Neal Black, president and chief ex-ecutive officer, said, “Where we’re get-ting into the most trouble is in cold-weather merchandise. We would have doubled our [comparable-store sales] in the fourth quarter if we could have taken cold weather out. That’s more important to us than to many other [retailers.] We have a gigantic business in sweaters and coats and we also have a big cold-weath-er accessories business. It doesn’t affect the sales of suits, shirts and ties, but when you have no winter, it hurts cold-weather sales.”

Black said comps in the fourth quarter rose 3.7 percent, “but when you take out the cold weather number, it would have been closer to 8 percent.”

He said cold-weather merchandise is “huge for us in the first quarter as well.” So to counteract the lack of business there, Black said the company will “pro-mote suits pretty aggressively. We’re also up against a weak April, so with those two things we have a good chance of turning it around.”

What is doing well, he said, is tailored clothing and furnishings. “Suits, shirts and ties led the way in 2011,” he said. “And we expect that to continue.” Suits account for more than 30 percent of the company’s net sales, according to the company’s annual report.

Much of the business is coming from slimmer silhouettes. “We’re focusing a lot on fit,” Black said. “We added a slim fit, what we call the ‘tailored fit,’ about three years ago and we’ve been building it aggressively. It’s a significant part of the business.”

The slim cuts are also making big in-roads in dress shirts, sportswear and pants, he said.

This spring, Black said the compa-ny will be adding an even slimmer fit, which will be merchandised under the name “slim.” He said: “To wear the slim fit, you really have to be slim. It’s very tapered. The tailored fit will probably be the way to go for most guys. It takes out all the excess material and looks different but is still comfortable.” Still, he added, “we have enough action in the younger segment so we know there will be a business there.”

Despite the strong showing for the year and the fact that the company has posted earnings growth in 41 of the past 42 quarters, analyst reaction was mixed on Wednesday.

Richard Jaffe of Stifel Nicolaus, who rates the stock a “hold,” noted fourth-quarter EPS was 1 cent below estimates. He also cited two challenges, writing in his report that the traditional fit tai-lored clothing “has become less appeal-ing, when compared to the ‘modern fit,’ a leaner, more contemporary style suit that is capturing the ‘millennial’ young man’s interest.” He also pointed to the company’s “large assortment of cold weather apparel.”

Margaret Whitfield of Sterne Agee rec-ommended the stock, citing strong sales of suits and shirts, particularly the “high-end Signature and Signature Gold prod-ucts” whose sales increased 20 percent last year to grow to more than 30 percent of total merchandise sales.

For the year, income rose 13.6 percent to $97.5 million, or $3.49 a diluted share, from $85.8 million, or $3.08, in 2010. Sales rose 14.2 percent to $979.9 million from $858.1 million, as comparable-store sales rose 7.6 percent for the year.

On a day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 70 points, Jos. A. Bank stock closed Wednesday at $49.82, down $4.66 or 8.5 percent. The company will hold a conference call today to discuss the results. — J.E.P. WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY VICKI M. YOUNG

Jos. A. Bank Hurt by Lack of Cold Weather

Inside the Zegna shop.

Ugg Goes Upscale With Men’s Collection Line

Yves Saint Laurent’s wool suit and Burberry London’s cotton

shirt. Burberry London tie.

Men’s WeekMW4 WWD thursday, march 29, 2012

Men’S MaintainS MoMentuM

PHOT

OS B

Y RO

DOLF

O M

ARTI

NEZ;

MOD

ELS:

ALI

M @

vNY

AND

TAR

Ik @

SOu

L; g

ROOM

INg

BY J

OANN

A PE

NSIN

gER

FOR

ExcL

uSIv

E AR

TIST

S/DI

OR H

OMM

E; F

ASHI

ON A

SSIS

TANT

: LuI

S cA

MPu

ZANO

; FAS

HION

INTE

RN: q

uENT

IN R

uckE

R

w29b004(7)a;10.indd 4 3/28/12 7:33 PM03282012193633

Men’s Week MW5WWD thursday, march 29, 2012

Men’S MaintainS MoMentuM

Men’s jeans were soft, with sales down 1 percent, along with certain sportswear categories like woven shirts, which were down 8 percent, and knit shirts, which were flat.

Overall, however, most mer-chants are upbeat, believing the uptick they enjoyed last year — and have continued to see through the first quarter of this year — has the momentum to sustain itself through 2012.

“Business is certainly hot here,” said David Fisher, executive vice president and general merchan-dise manager of men’s wear for Bloomingdale’s. “We came out of an incredibly strong 2011, and it hasn’t let up.” Although the store is up against strong comps from last year, business so far this spring is up in the high single digits, and is running “ahead of plan,” according to Fisher.

Durand Guion, vice president and men’s fashion director for Macy’s, said: “Business continues to trend very nicely and there are a couple of [categories] that are driving it. Tailored clothing is on fire. It’s a real win-win for us, es-pecially when you look at what was going on a couple of years ago. And the retails are higher than you get with sportswear.”

Tom Ott, senior vice president and gmm of men’s for Saks Fifth Avenue, pointed out that men’s was the category most negatively im-pacted in the recession and it is now bouncing back impressively. Among the areas seeing the greatest growth are accessories and shoes. “Men are now asking what the right bags and shoes are,” said Ott, with the upticks driven by guys in their 20s and 30s who are “very interested in fashion and tailored clothing.”

He said the luxury arena did extremely well in the fourth quar-ter of last year and the trend has continued into spring. “Between the wealthy feeling OK and the international tourists responding to luxury apparel, we expect the trend to continue,” said Ott.

At online retailer Bonobos, sales more than doubled last year and the 2012 business plan proj-ects sales to double again. The improved retail climate means customers are less focused on discounts, said founder and chief executive officer Andy Dunn, with the company reducing promo-tional spends and improving mar-gins. “Historically we’ve leaned on discounts to drive rapid new customer acquisition, but as we’ve built out more organic ways to ac-

quire customers, promotions have become less necessary,” he ex-plained. “Specifically we’re rely-ing more on our social and loyalty tools, including our relaunched referral program and our loyalty program, the Great Apes.”

At flash-sale site Gilt Man, holi-day sales were strong, but the first months of 2012 were negatively impacted by increased competi-tion from the steep discounts at

department stores. “The walk-in from January has been lighter than we hoped. Our value proposition erodes in January and February because department stores are having major sales,” said Chris Ventry, acting general manager of Gilt Groupe’s Gilt Man and Park & Bond sites. “However, we are start-ing to see pickup in March.”

David Zant, executive vice presi-dent and gmm of men’s for Belk, said the overall business continues to be good. “Certain businesses are bet-ter than others, but men’s has been trending well since the beginning of February,” he noted. “As long as we continue to execute well, identify op-portunities and put initiatives and strategies in place to drive business,” the momentum should continue.

Lou Amendola, chief merchan-dising officer for Brooks Brothers, was tempered in his optimism, with spring sales up in the single digits over last year. “It’s OK, but not ecstatic. I don’t see that people are in a buying frenzy. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that we scaled back on customer appre-ciation events,” he explained.

Amendola said anything “fash-ionable and novelty is selling — basics are slower. The more tra-ditional businesses, such as basic shirts and ties, are more sluggish than they were for fall. But the one business that continues to beat plan is clothing. It’s good to see a big-ticket item selling, but sports-wear is more sluggish.”

“Business continues to trend very nicely and there are a

couple of [categories] that are driving it. tailored clothing is

on fire. it’s a real win-win for us, especially when you look at what

was going on a couple of years ago. and the retails are higher

than you get with sportswear.”

— durand guion, macy’s

PHOT

OS B

Y RO

DOLF

O M

ARTI

NEZ;

MOD

ELS:

ALI

M @

vNY

AND

TAR

Ik @

SOu

L; g

ROOM

INg

BY J

OANN

A PE

NSIN

gER

FOR

ExcL

uSIv

E AR

TIST

S/DI

OR H

OMM

E; F

ASHI

ON A

SSIS

TANT

: LuI

S cA

MPu

ZANO

; FAS

HION

INTE

RN: q

uENT

IN R

uckE

R

Moncler Grenoble’s nylon jacket, BLK DnM’s cotton shirt and Levi’s cotton denim jeans.

Brunello Cucinelli tie.

From top: eton’s shirt, isaia’s shirt and Boss

Black’s shirt, all in cotton.

Miansai’s bracelets.

{Continued from page MW1}

{Continued on page 06}

w29b004(7)a;10.indd 5 3/28/12 7:34 PM03282012193634

Men’s WeekMW6 WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012

Sales are up double digits year-to-date over 2011 at Mario’s, oper-ator of specialty stores in Seattle and Portland, Ore. “Ultimately, fit and modeling drives the majority of sales,” said Simon Chan, senior men’s buyer. “Clothing with up-dated silhouettes, sportswear and furnishings with a trimmer and a sportier fit, and, of course, novelty in fabrics, patterns and colors cre-ate a reason to buy.”

With the Internet and mobile apps making comparison shop-ping as easy as the click of a but-ton, pricing has become a more important factor in many purchase decisions. “Today’s clients are very savvy, so price does play a role. It is all about price-value and we try to be strategic in creating great price-value in the different tiers of our businesses,” added Chan.

Steven Giles, owner of Miami’s Base, agreed. “If anything good came out of the recent reces-sion it was consumer education. At least in the demographic we serve, the consumer is not only savvy but deeply conscious — ten-tative perhaps — of where and when they are going to spend their money,” he noted.

Laure Heriard Dubreuil, ceo of The Webster in Miami, pointed out that both tailored clothing and sportswear sales have been boosted by the blurring of lines between work and weekendwear. “Men used to spend money exclu-sively on business clothing, but as the traditional lines become blurred between work and lei-surewear, they are spending more on quality, high-end sportswear and even on tailored clothing that is worn casually,” she observed.

TAILORED CLOTHINGTailored clothing sales increased 22 percent to $4.54 billion in 2011, up from $3.73 billion in 2010, ac-cording to NPD data.

“Tailored clothing without a doubt is leading the charge for us. Seasonal sport coats are trending strong and basic suits are mov-ing, as well,” said Simon Chan of Mario’s. Top sellers at the in-fluential specialty store include Ermenegildo Zegna, Isaia, Prada and Lanvin suits, while key labels in sport coats are Isaia, Canali, Boglioli and Etro.

Suits and sport coats are the hottest category at Bloomingdale’s as well, with sport coats in novelty fabrics particularly popular. For spring, seersuckers and printed linen are standouts, said Fisher, while hunting jackets, herring-bones and tweeds are important for fall.

During its fourth-quarter earn-ings call earlier this month, The Men’s Wearhouse Inc. reported that the “Golden Age of the suit” is in full swing. In 2011, the company sold a record-breaking 3 million suits. In the call, Douglas Ewert, ceo, said: “Roughly once every 10 years, a replenishment cycle is driven by a silhouette change in men’s suits. Twenty years ago, the

cycle was driven by wide-shoul-dered and double-breasted suits, 10 years later the three-button suit drove the replenishment cycle. Today, we’re seeing a much trim-mer shape drive replenishment. It can be described as modern fit and is influencing trimmer shirt-ings and neckwear as well. Though these trimmers looks are particu-larly attractive to a younger cus-tomer, influences are being seen across all demographics and sizes in the form of narrower lapels and pleatless pants.”

Ewert said that, last year, modern-fit products represented 19

percent of apparel sales, growing 64 percent and generating $309 mil-lion in revenue. “In 2012, we will shift more of our inventory into modern fit products and feature these looks in all of our marketing channels, including a new televi-sion campaign,” he noted. “We’re focusing considerable resources towards maximizing this fashion cycle. We’re positioned to benefit from this cycle more than most, and we have high expectations.”

Guion attributed the uptick in tailored clothing sales at Macy’s to a “seismic shift in sizing. If you haven’t bought a suit in two to three years, it shows.” He said Macy’s is having success in both

suit separates and nested offerings and he expects the strong sales trend to continue. “With men, it’s all about building a wardrobe, and they still have more to add.”

Saks’ Ott said that the “cloth-ing business had some tough bouts” in the past, but that’s no longer the case today. And brands at every level of the market are embracing the silhouette change. “The Italian and luxury brands are all about slimmer suits,” he said, noting that sales of Tom Ford have been “terrific. “

Joseph Abboud, president and chief creative officer for HMX Group, said the hot button in tai-lored clothing today is the “mod-ern American” model: a vested, double-breasted, peak lapel suit. “Everything has been pushed and is more aggressive,” he said, “but still within the customers’ comfort zone.”

At Hart Shaffner Marx, 65 to 70 percent of models are slimmer. Abboud believes the popularity of the slim silhouette is just be-ginning. Tailored clothing trends often have a five- to seven-year run, he noted. “Guys are invest-ment conscious,” he explained. “They still look at tailored clothing as an investment, even if it’s mod-ern and sexy.”

Suiting is the strongest category at Gilt Man, along with footwear. “What we are really excited about for both categories, it’s a full spec-trum of pricing. It’s not all down in a lower price point,” said Ventry, who noted some suits on Gilt Man sell for over $1,200.

At Park & Bond, styles high-lighted in editorial sections of the site enjoy tremendous lift, with sales often doubling when high-lighted in features like “How to Dress Down a Suit.” A pale blue Versace suit in linen and wool, priced at $995, highlighted as an editor’s pick in January sold out within a month.

“It puts clothing in perspective and replicates that in-store experi-ence where you have the perfect salesperson,” said Tyler Thoreson, head of men’s editorial at Gilt Groupe, of the editorial impact on e-commerce sites.

SPORTSWEARMen’s sportswear sales were up a slight 1 percent to $12.11 billion in 2011, compared with $12.1 bil-lion in 2010. Within the larger cat-egory, sweaters were up 6 percent, pants up 5 percent and shorts up 3 percent. Woven shirts were down 8 percent, jeans were down 1 per-cent and knit shirts were flat, ac-cording to NPD.

At Bonobos, colored chinos are among the hottest categories, with shades of bright green, lavender and cobalt blue popping up as best-sellers as spring approaches. Color is also key in woven shirts, as are chambray styles and bold patterns like gingham, said Dunn.

Apart from its own brand, which is the biggest seller on the site, a number of third-party

Ermenegildo Zegna’s leather jacket, Burberry London’s

cotton T-shirt and J. Brand’s cotton denim jeans.

Dries Van Noten’s nylon jacket and cotton pants,

A.P.C.’s cashmere sweater and Lanvin’s cotton shirt.

“EVERYTHING HAS BEEN PUSHED AND IS MORE AGGRESSIVE...BUT STILL WITHIN THE CUSTOMERS’

COMFORT ZONE.”

— JOSEPH ABBOUD, HMX GROUP

{Continued from page 05}

Men’s Week MW7WWD thursday, march 29, 2012

Givenchy’s cotton blazer, alexander Wang’s cotton t-shirt

and acne’s cotton denim jeans.

Burberry London’s leather jacket, a.P.C.’s cotton

sweater and aG adriano Goldschmied cotton

denim jeans.

brands have been strong. “For us, Splendid Mills has performed really well — their Ts, novelty stripes and sweatshirts are get-ting a great response,” said Dunn. “Additionally, Gant Rugger woven shirts are a steady performer. In footwear, Sebago, Tretorn, and Grenson have been standouts. For accessories, we got a great re-sponse with Billy Kirk bags.”

Among the slowest categories at Bonobos have been polo shirts.

In sportswear, Bloomingdale’s Fisher said he has seen “incred-ible growth” in Burberry and John Varvatos. Theory has rebounded and Hugo Boss continues to be among the store’s top performers.

At The Webster in Miami, hot sellers in sportswear include Givenchy, Balmain, Alexander Wang, Rag & Bone, Dries Van Noten, Martin Margiela, Lanvin and Visvim.

Color is driving sportswear sales at Belk, according to Zant. “Color is exploding in pants,” he said, pointing to red and blue as the hot choices. In shorts, “we’re getting action in medium blue, greens and yellows. It’s interest-ing, two years ago, it was all plaid, but that’s gone now, and color is really what’s taken off,” said Zant. To complement the fashion color bottoms, he said, solid knit pique shirts are also selling.

For Brooks Brothers, novelty sweaters are leading the way, ac-cording to Amendola, while at Park & Bond, shorts are already selling well for spring.

The Base store in Miami re-cently switched business models to focus on just one or two brands each season, most recently with Ben Sherman sportswear and Onia

swimwear. “The crossover appeal and distinct wearability of Ben Sherman has enjoyed an excep-tional opening month and we see that trend continuing,” said Steven Giles, owner of Base.

Graphic T-shirts and snapback hats are among the strongest sell-ers at Karmaloop.com, after a pre-vious decline in the streetwear staples due to the strength of the heritage Americana trend. “That trend didn’t lend itself to a graphic T-shirt look, but now we seem to be in a second wave of streetwear being on the rise,” said Karmaloop’s director of merchan-dising Holland Smith.

FurniShingS and aCCeSSorieSAlong with tailored clothing, fur-nishings sales were especially robust in 2011. Dress shirt sales were up 14 percent to $2.83 billion in 2011, from $2.48 billion in 2010, while neckwear sales jumped 34 percent to $735.3 million, from $550.1 million, according to NPD Group data.

Underwear was up 7 percent to $3.28 billion, from $3.08 billion in 2010.

At Bloomingdale’s, shirts and ties from Duchamp, Turnbull & Asser and Armani gray label have been key sellers. Men’s fragrances and grooming products are also benefitting from the boosts in dressy categories. “Men want to look better, spend more and even smell good,” said Fisher.

Macy’s Guion said dress furnish-ings are “on fire,” led by a “bold, strong color trend” with hues such as purple and lavender leading the way. Narrow ties, tie bars and pock-et squares are also doing well at Macy’s. “The basic furnishings busi-

ness has been incredible because it’s what he’s putting on under his new suit,” he noted.

Saks’ Ott said small leather goods, watches and “certain el-ements of jewelry” have been strong. At Park & Bond, standout sellers in accessories have been Miansai bracelets, Tie Bar ties and bags from Jack Spade and Want Les Essentials de la Vie.

“Men tend to gravitate to-wards specific brands for differ-ent categories, so its Balenciaga for sneakers, Lanvin for cuff links, Rag & Bone for hats, Adam Kimmel for belts,” said The Webster’s Dubreuil.

At Belk, Zant said the strength of suits has also led to strong tie sales. “Neckwear continues to per-form well,” he said. “Everything is slimming down. Ties used to be 3 1/2 inches, now they’re 3 1/4 to 3 3/8 and some are even under 3 inches. That’s becoming a bigger piece of the business.” The slimmer neck-wear complements the narrow lapels of the suits and sport coats, a trend that has taken hold in the dress shirt arena as well. “Regular spread collars are down-trending, but modified spreads are doing well,” said Zant.

Herschel bags are especially strong at Karmaloop.com. “That brand is a monster and has been doing nothing but amazing on a sales level as well as design and quality,” said Smith, noting that accessories have become a more relevant aspect of men’s wardrobes. “I’m seeing peo-ple put a real focus into men’s jew-elry, belts, wallets and socks in their collections. Men are becoming much more comfortable with accessoriz-ing themselves in various ways than they were in the past,” he explained.

However, James Hammonds, men’s buyer for American Rag, said he still found it difficult to find appropriate jewelry lines. “Men’s jewelry is always a little tough because, in my opinion, there’s just not a ton of tasteful lines to choose from in the marketplace,” he noted.

denimMen’s jeans sales dipped 1 per-cent in 2011 to $5.71 billion, from $5.74 billion in 2010, as clean, dark washes and slim fits continued to dominate trends.

At American Rag in Los Angeles, top-performing brands include Levi’s, Prps, Double RL, J Brand and Joe’s Jeans. “Our U.S. launch of the Dutch brand Denham has been a smashing success,” added Hammonds, not-ing that clean washes are the key sellers. “Everything from jeans to Ts to suiting has been getting cleaner — less wash, less embel-lishment, less flare and bedazzle,” he observed.

The same was true at Bonobos, where a denim line launched last year has done best with cleaner styles and dark rinses.

At Bloomingdale’s, Fisher said “new players” such as Grayers have found fans, and more es-tablished brands such as True Religion, J Brand, Joe’s Jeans and Prps are also doing well.

Ott said “denim has been fabu-lous” at Saks, especially clean washes from lines that are “better and differentiated.” He said that because most denim brands are so broadly distributed, finding exclusives or new brands helps “elevate the business.”

Belk is also doing well with

denim, according to Zant. “Denim is still good for us and we continue to see that business remaining strong.”

Naked and Famous is the top brand at Karmaloop.com. “They use Japanese selvage raw denim in a variety of colors,” pointed out Smith.

ouTerwearDespite the warm winter, outer-wear sales increased 2 percent last year to $4.07 billion, up from $4 billion in 2010, according to NPD — meaning there are sales opportunities in any climate.

Park & Bond, for example, has seen growing demand for spring outerwear in transitional, light-weight pieces. Karmaloop is in-vesting in lightweight outerwear for this fall, as well. “This may be a solution to the risk of bringing in too much heavy outerwear,” said Smith.

With consumers holding off on heavy outerwear purchases this past winter, some retailers are look-ing forward to a strong outerwear season this fall and winter. “We see outerwear playing a very strong role this fall along with strong sales in knitwear and novelty sweat-ers,” said Mario’s Chan. “We love outerwear here in the Northwest and there are so many great per-formance-based pieces that are fantastic for our weather as well as anywhere our clients travel to.”

Still, many retailers said outer-wear was their most difficult cat-egory this past winter, due to the warm weather. “We just haven’t seen much demand for outerwear,” said Bonobos’ Dunn.

“It’s tough to sell coats when it hits 60 degrees in December in Boston,” added Karmaloop’s Smith.

w29b004(7)a;10.indd 7 3/28/12 7:34 PM03282012193650

Men’s Week

FACEBOOK CLOSER TO IPO: Facebook, which in February filed a registration statement revealing plans to raise $5 billion or more in an initial public offering, is moving closer to actually going public. The social media site will halt trading of its shares on the secondary market at the end of this week. That’s a move that typically gives it a bit of a breather to determine its current shareholder base, as well as provide about a month to clear all current trades before the anticipated IPO.

Facebook is becoming increasingly important to the retail and fashion worlds as they aim to connect with consumers in new ways, and sites such as Facebook are expected to become major drivers of sales in the burgeoning world of social commerce. The company expects to trade under the symbol “FB.” Published reports said an IPO could come as early as May. — VICKI M. YOUNG

DESIGNERS ON FILM: Fashion certainly is Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s first love, but cinema comes right after it. According to a tweet sent Tuesday night from the account of Swide, the company’s online magazine, the designers are to appear in Woody Allen’s latest film “To Rome With Love,” hitting Italian theaters on April 20. Swide posted a photo taken on the movie set showing Dolce and Gabbana posing as spectators of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s lyrical opera “Pagliacci” at the Argentina Theater in Rome. The scene is part of the movie’s third episode, the only one starring Allen as a member of the cast.

This is not the design duo’s acting debut. Dolce and Gabbana appeared as bus passengers in Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1995 “L’Uomo delle stelle,” and in 2009 they made a cameo as priests in “Nine,” the musical directed by Rob Marshall. — ALESSANDRA TURRA

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, star of Starz channel’s new period piece, “Magic City,” on evoking Fifties

cool and success after 40.

MW8 WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012

Man of THE WEEK

Nabbing his first PGA win since his personal life and career fell apart in 2009, the beleaguered golfer may finally be back on track just two weeks before the Masters. But while his game may have improved, he’s a duffer when it comes to his fashion choices. The feminine “Golden Girls” color palette and mismatched ensemble make us long for his red-and-black Nike uniform. Or a green jacket.

TIGER WOODS: C

PHOT

O BY

RAY

TAM

ARRA

/GET

TY IM

AGES

Propecia please....

In a season during which capes are on trend, he nearly makes it. The extremely outdated silhouette is made even worse

by the contrasting color, pattern and fabric. A total mismatch.

The color works well with his skin tone; however, a pastel blue in this mix is a no-no.

He should have opted for white.

Sleeves are too long, and it’s an unforgiving fabric, so the wrinkles on

the sleeve are very visible.

The oversize shiny beige slacks were a fashion faux pas even in the Nineties, when he bought

them. It’s time to update his wardrobe.

Amazing shoes.

ONE RECENT AFTERNOON, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, lead of the new Starz series “Magic City,” was in the back room of Gemma, the sidewalk restaurant of the Bowery Hotel, considering how exactly it was he came to be playing a man like Ike Evans.

“You know, in the show I play a guy who’s not real religious,” the 45-year-old actor says with a laugh. “Actually, his wife calls him the worst Jew in Miami. My return to that is: ‘No, my father is.’ So you’re looking at a [character] who wasn’t raised very Jewish. Mitch is Jewish, and for some reason he looked at me and he saw a kindred spirit and thought I could pull it off.”

Mitch would be Mitch Glazer, the magazine scribe turned Hollywood screenwriter, and creator, executive producer and writer of “Magic City,” which will begin its first season on April 6. A Miami Beach native, Glazer based the series on the city of his boyhood, a time of dinner jackets and cigars, union busters and New Year’s Eve Frank Sinatra concerts. Morgan’s Evans is the show’s lead, the proprietor of the fictional Miramar Playa Hotel, a stand-in for the Fontainebleau (where Glazer’s father worked as an electrical engineer) or Eden Roc, those Morris Lapidus-designed meccas of hospitality in the town’s boom years. Set in 1959, the first season follows the hotelier as he is besieged by issues of both the lowercase- and capital-F family variety. (Danny Huston puts in a delightfully sinister turn opposite Morgan as underworld boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond.)

“He’s a family man who’s caught in the middle of kind of strenuous situations where he’s forced to make choices while not letting his family in on it,” Morgan says of his character. “He is a loving father and husband,

I think, before anything, and yet you find him lying to his wife, his sons, and trying to keep the facade that everything’s OK.”

Offscreen, Morgan doesn’t seem quite as harried a dad as his alter ego. Between a portrait session and interview, he horses around with his 2-year-old son, Gus, who is promptly whisked away by his mother, the actress Hilarie Burton. The pair recently bought a cabin in upstate New York, and Morgan’s mother and stepfather were in tow while he made his media rounds ahead of the show’s debut.

Of course, park any prime-time drama within tail-fin distance of 1960-something at this particular juncture in television programming history, and the current season in particular, and there’s a certain shadow to contend with.

“Jon Hamm — I know him. I love him,” Morgan says with a grin at the mention of “Mad Men.” “I get asked about his character and mine a lot, and the show comparisons. Look, it takes place in the same era. We’ll have some skinny ties that are very similar. But other than that, New York and Miami Beach were two very different beasts.”

Like Hamm, Morgan is adult-portion handsome — with his bullish features, longish salt-and-pepper hair and scruffy beard, he looks a bit like an American answer to Javier Bardem — and has found later career success on the small screen. His big break came playing the terminal heart-transplant patient Denny Duquette on “Grey’s Anatomy” in the show’s mid-Aughts heyday, a period that also saw the actor gain notice for his work on “Weeds” and the WB cult favorite “Supernatural.” Morgan offers the sort of perspective that comes with a résumé that includes bit parts on “Walker,

Texas Ranger” and “JAG.”“I have a lot of respect for what I do,

for this profession,” he says. “Frankly, it pisses me off seeing some of the antics the people in my profession pull, the lack of respect they show for what we do.…I’m pretty humbled by all of this, ’cause I also know it can go away. It can be gone like that. It’s just as easy for me to be building a fence somewhere and scraping by on unemployment in between doing a guest star spot. I’ve been there.”

Morgan doesn’t figure to be fedora-in-hand in the foreseeable future. Last week, Starz said that it picked the series up for a second season. The network’s largesse and premium cable positioning makes “Magic City” a bit different than Morgan’s

previous TV work, more akin to his feature roles of late, playing tough guys in films like “Watchmen” and “Texas Killing Fields.” The show is cinematic in scope, design — Morgan spends almost every scene in almost too perfect suits — and, most entertainingly, subject matter.

“I think it’s important: the language of it all,” Morgan says. “And I don’t mean just saying ‘f--k.’ If you’re living in this world and s--t goes wrong, there might be some language. I always was irritated doing network television.…You’re in love, you make love. That happens. If someone gets shot in the face, it’s not going to be pretty. It’s really nice being able to not have boundaries in the world of television.”

— MATTHEW LYNCH

PHOT

O BY

THO

MAS

IANN

ACCO

NE

MEMO PAD

Jeffrey Dean Morgan at the Wine Room at Gemma at the Bowery Hotel.

Magic

ManEYE