The Guys Have It

"I don't kid myself thinking everyone loves it," says designer Thom Browne of his signature slim-fitted silhouette. (Helayne Seidman for The Washington Post)

"We've been surprised at the number of guys hanging out in the forums talking about very highbrow designers," says Jamie Pallot, editorial director of CondeNet.

While "metrosexual" shopping magazines such as Cargo and Vitals folded, Men's Vogue, which launched this spring, will begin a regular schedule of 10 issues per year in fall 2007.

"There's a generation of young males that are using clothing as their image yet again. Generation X couldn't care less about clothes. For them, it was all about technology. Now the next crop of upstarts -- teenagers, early career people -- everybody is on equal footing with technology," says Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for NPD Group, which tracks retail sales. "Now it's really about, 'What separates me from everybody else?' It's image."

"Eighteen-to-25-year-olds are not buying suits to go to work," he says. "They're buying them to go out and socialize, to elevate their image beyond the next guy's."

In 1975, only 25 percent of men bought their own clothes; women did their shopping. In 2005, 75 percent of men bought their own clothes. "We live in a very androgynous society with a younger generation of guys shopping with girls," Cohen says. "It's shared entertainment."

Bartlett has noticed a similar shift. "Fashion for men used to be very segmented between suits and sportswear, clothes with a gay following or a straight following," he says. "All those lines are blurring now."

Last year, U.S. sales of men's apparel increased by 5 percent to nearly $53 billion. (Women's apparel sales grew by only 3 percent to $101 billion.) Tailored clothing sales grew by 7 percent to more than $5 billion. Within that category, sales of tailored clothes to men 18 to 24 increased by 53 percent.

The American menswear market slipped into the doldrums in the 1990s. For three or four days, twice a year, menswear designers used to present their collections in New York. It was a cohesive group of installations and runway shows. And the participation of big brands such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein made it all seem important and significant.

"The plug was pulled out when all the major players went to Europe and all that was left were the commercial brands and the minor players," says Stan Herman, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Klein, Lauren and Donna Karan began to unveil their collections in Europe in a search for international press and respect.

Over the years, the community of menswear designers in New York disintegrated. Karan dropped her signature men's collection. Some designers became embroiled in trademark disputes or had other legal and financial travails. No new designers were in the pipeline.

The tide began to turn a few years ago with the decline of gigolo style and the rise of preppy chic.