Why men's fashion is not like women's fashion

Menswear design is driven by tradition, authenticity and detail, but we're increasingly seeing designers taking their cues from womenswear's more abstract approach, writes Robert Leach

JW Anderson's autumn/winter 2013 menswear show
JW Anderson's autumn/winter 2013 menswear show

Men’s fashion operates within a much tighter framework than womenswear. There are, generally, no huge concepts or particularly avant garde silhouettes; it is much more rooted in reality. The majority of menswear design is inspired by core references: those of sportswear, military uniform and tailoring.

Menswear could be said to be made up of archetypal garments - the bomber jacket, the peacoat, the trench coat, the field jacket etc - while womenswear for the main part, isn’t (barring, perhaps, the little black dress).

Men’s jackets, coats, trousers, shirts and waistcoats of today would be recognisable to our forebears, whereas a lot of womenswear would be entirely alien. The suit, as we know it today, came into being In the late 18th century, when Beau Brummel, renowned dandy and friend of royalty, led the trend for matching coats and trousers.

By the time of the Industrial Revolution the men in the western world were almost always in black suits with white starched shirts and stiff collars. Social standing in dress disappeared to a degree, although the initiated could easily discern the difference between rich and poor by the cut and the cloth of their respective suits.

Small detail changes drive menswear forward, but authenticity is key. Stephanie Cooper, menswear lecturer at Central St Martins says, "Contemporary menswear design is driven by obsession to detail, reinvention and subversion of the traditional, and sensitive attention to fabrication, scale and proportion, where in some cases, the width of trouser or a lapel can become a life changing event."

As well as the authenticity of detailing, function is also often tantamount in menswear design. Andrew Groves, Course Director at the University of Westminster, says, "Womenswear designers as a whole, I think, are still stuck in a very old fashioned way of designing, taking inspiration from abstract or ethereal subject matter, whereas menswear is far more about the technical, practical and functional nature of the designed garment.

"Even when menswear goes into fantasy, such as Thom Browne or Viktor & Rolf, it still has a functionality to it. So within the constraints of practicality, functionality and fantasy they still balance."

Menswear customers, I think, buy more with longevity in mind than their female counterpart. "Classic" and archetypal garments have a very obvious appeal, as do brands which push their heritage and history, evoking notions of "timeless" quality – either real or perceived (think of either end of the menswear market, from Louis Vuitton to Jack Wills, with brands like Barbour in the middle).

Notions of classic fashion aside, within any design discipline there are protagonists pushing it forward and taking risks. I asked Sharon Graubard, senior vice president of trend analysis at Stylesight, the leading online fashion-forecasting agency, where she thought menswear designers could look for new and fresh inspiration in the future. She cited womenswear as a potential source. She told me, "I think menswear can look more at womenswear; and some menswear designers are already doing that: JW Anderson comes to mind, with his AW13 collection; it had flounces and gathers. Steven Cox and Daniel Silver of Duckie Brown in New York draw from womenswear as well, but in a more subtle way."

Robert Leach is the author of The Fashion Resource Book: Men, published by Thames & Hudson, £18.95