The menswear industry converged on a sweltering New York City last week for the spring market, and while the overall mood was upbeat, there was a bit of apprehension bubbling about the shift in the January 2025 market week dates.
Trade show operators and showroom reps were up in arms that the Council of Fashion Designers of America along with the European runway show organizers and Pitti Uomo will be pushing back their dates next year by around one week. As reported, Pitti will now take place from Jan. 14 to 17, followed by Milan Men’s Fashion Week, which will be Jan. 17 to 21, and Paris Men’s Fashion Week, from Jan. 21 to 26.
This overlaps with the traditional dates of the men’s fall market in New York, which was the week of Jan. 22 this year.
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No one in the men’s industry in the U.S. was consulted about the shift, they claimed, and it is causing organizers to scramble to find dates to show in New York before retailers head to the Chicago Collective, a show that is traditionally held in the first weekend of February.
The June dates were also shifted, but this was of less concern to the U.S. men’s market since the trade shows and showroom presentations are generally held in mid- to late July in New York, followed by the regional shows in Dallas and Chicago and ending with Project in Las Vegas in mid-August.
“The problem is not in the summer,” said Jennie Arnau of Peregrine Showroom. “There’s a dead space then between Europe and the New York market. But when they moved Pitti and the other shows, we’re left with a four-day market. We’ll have to fly back, get our samples back here and pray that everything is optimal with the weather and other delays.”
She was angry that no one contacted the United Men’s Fashion Association, a consortium of some 25 showrooms, trade shows and event organizers that have joined forces to align their dates. The CFDA said that because there is no longer an “official” men’s fashion week in New York, it did not feel it had to consult with anyone here before shifting its dates, which are centered around the women’s industry. The new dates for the U.S. and European women’s fashion weeks were agreed upon by the four regional fashion governing bodies to ensure synergies among the different showcases.
Katie Liu, of the Black Dog 8 showroom, said most of the brands she represents also show at Pitti, Milan or Paris before coming to New York, followed by Chicago. For her, getting the samples to New York in time next year is going to be a challenge, but there’s also a bigger issue. “Menswear is a thriving industry and a growing sector and we need some support from the city of New York and the power brands to help us attract more buyers,” she said. She pointed to the success of the Italian government’s program of financially supporting companies based in Italy and said she wishes the U.S. — and New York, in particular — would do something similar.
Arnau said there’s really no solution to the upcoming conundrum since the January 2025 dates are already set, but her hope is that “we can all work together in 2026.”
Don Wechsler, organizer of New York’s Best Menswear Show, said the men’s market in New York is “splintered” and he’s considering holding his show the week of Jan. 21, although that would be about a week earlier than the rest of the market. The dates may shift, however, as conversations continue.
Antoine Floch, founder and director of the Man/Woman show, said he holds his show in Paris during Men’s Fashion Week, “then we fly to New York on Monday and open on Tuesday,” he said. For January, he’s expecting to squeeze his show in between the end of the Paris shows and before Chicago, along with the other trade shows and showrooms. “There’s a very small gap between New York and Chicago,” he acknowledged. “Chicago is very important, but so is New York.”
At the shows last week, there were a few brands that stood out. Here are three to check out.
New York’s Best Menswear Show
Danh Tran was already a fashion industry veteran by the time he cofounded Buttercloth. He grew up in Vietnam and learned to sew on his mother’s lap while dreaming one day of becoming a designer in the U.S. Those dreams came true after his family emigrated to America when he was a teenager and he was able to attend Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
After graduating, he joined Seven For All Mankind followed by Affliction Clothing, where he served as head designer for a decade. All the while he never lost his dislike of dress shirts that he found stiff and scratchy. So he created a fabric made from long-fiber cotton infused with organic mint to provide a cooling effect that he called Icy Cotton.
This patented process led to an appearance on “Shark Tank,” where host Robert Herjavec invested $250,000 to help scale the business.
Today, according to Bob Stevens, chief operating officer and cofounder of Buttercloth, the brand has expanded to T-shirts, sweaters, underwear, shorts and outerwear. It also has a small women’s collection.
Until now Buttercloth has been exclusively direct-to-consumer, but starting with spring, the company has tasked industry veteran Vince Gonzales with building a wholesale business, targeting better men’s stores. The brand is still centered around the dress shirts offered in a wide variety of solids, prints and patterns such as stripes and tiny checks that look like wovens but offer the comfort of a knit.
There are four different collars — button-down, hidden button-down, spread and cutaway — and three fits, slim, regular and tall. The shirts retail for $138 for short-sleeve and $148 for long-sleeve.
Project
It’s been a long time since Ouigi Theodore showed his Brooklyn Circus line at a trade show. But he has designed a new version of workwear that he thought would resonate with people and brought it to Project.
“This is the future of workwear,” said the founder and creative director of the trendy Brooklyn specialty store, pointing to a rack of clothing. “It’s resilient, tough, wearable, everyday clothes.”
The collection includes a 1930s-’40s-inspired chore coat, buckle-back trousers in an oversize fit and a “square” T-shirt that looks more like a sweatshirt.
This updated workwear presentation is intended to appeal to restaurants, hotels, spas and other establishments seeking a modern alternative to the old-fashioned uniform worn by their employees.
Beyond this strict workwear offering, the company also brought along some of its core pieces including variations of its trademark varsity jacket in wool with leather trim and chenille patches that could be customized for individual businesses, or left with the Brooklyn Circus messaging. There was also the GW shirt — inspired by George Washington Carver, Theodore said — a long button-down with a pleated front yoke panel and shoulder, and mother-of-pearl buttons that was reminiscent of a formal shirt, as well as a dress “shirt” that is five yards long and doubles as a dress.
The entire offering could be worn by anyone, not just hospitality workers, and the more stains and wear they acquire, the better, Theodore said, adding that the soiling proves that the pieces are being worn and loved.
He also stressed that many of the pieces qualify for Brooklyn Circus’s buy-back program. The company encourages customers to return their worn varsity jackets and other pieces if they’re soiled or damaged and they will buy them back. The brand then refreshes the pieces and offers them for sale again.
With this return to the trade show floor, Theodore hopes to add a few wholesale accounts in the U.S. to his direct-to-consumer business here. The brand has some presence at stores in Japan and South Korea, Theodore said, but not in America.
Man
Christian Blanchet had already cut his teeth at Theory, Mackage and Macy’s when he took the plunge and founded his swimwear and resort brand Marèa Maréa in 2022. The line, which was inspired by his father, is targeted to the sophisticated traveler, not just the vacationer. As Blanchet describes it on his website: “Marèa Maréa creates swim and resortwear crafted for the summer connoisseur. Our designs are meant to be worn from the city to the sea and the moments between. In English, Marèa translates to “tide.” Like the ocean, life keeps us always in motion. Whether coming or going, we believe that the present can be found wherever life takes us.”
He spent more than a year creating a men’s swim trunk with a relaxed fit and a tailored aesthetic and launched with just this one product. Neiman Marcus was among the first to snap up the shorts, and thanks to this relationship, Marèa Maréa has had the resources to significantly expand its offering. Today, the brand offers a variety of swimwear styles as well as camp shirts, sweaters and shorts.
“I wanted to start small to see if it would work,” Blanchet said. Swimwear remains the core product and is offered in a variety of solids, prints and patterns in four or six-inch inseams. One of the key pieces is the Monsegur hybrid swim short in a retro silhouette with four-way stretch that is quick drying and anti-chafe.
Blanchet teamed with Paris-based tattoo artist Florence Sch of Flottix Paris to add some of her artwork on its linen-cotton camp shirts. As he described it: “Her work is centered around, in her words, a table, a view, some wine and good people: a souvenir of a soft holiday afternoon. We couldn’t think of a more-elegant way to describe the Marèa Maréa way of life if we tried.”
Other pieces included a bikini bathing suit style, crocheted shirts that can be paired with a knit short for an “apres beach” outfit, and knit polos in a silk-cotton blend.
Retail prices for the collection range from $155 for a swim short, $180 for the Flottix Paris camp shirt and $185 for the crocheted top.
