The
American male has long been judged a fashion dud.

The
uniform of the Silicon Valley guy, after all, is a hoodie and T-shirt. Khakis
and golf shirts show up on days other than casual Fridays.

But
millennial guys in their 20s and 30s are transforming the menswear business,
inspired by well-dressed male celebrities and TV shows such as “Mad
Men” that celebrate bygone eras when pocket squares were de rigueur.

“Men
are more in tune and more interested in looking good and sharp,” said Will
McKittrick, an industry analyst at IBISWorld. “The younger generation is
entering the workforce and beginning to spend a lot more on fashionable
clothing.”

Although
women´s clothing still sells more, menswear has been expanding at a faster
clip.

Guys
hate the mall. They do not want to go to 12 different stores to get what they
need.

–
John Anderson, co-founder of Tankfarm & Co.

Over
the last two years, men´s retail sales jumped 4.1% to $101.8 billion, eclipsing
the 2.8% rise to $150.1 billion on the female side, according to research firm
Euromonitor. By 2017, menswear is expected to climb 8.3% to $110.3 billion,
compared with 4.2% to $156.5 billion in women´s.

Retailers
facing a clogged market for the ladies are now sprinting to outfit the modern
man.

Luxury
brands including Prada and Hermes have opened boutiques just for men. Nordstrom
dropped $350 million in August to buy online men´s styling service Trunk Club.

Southern
California has become a major hub for emerging menswear brands that deliver a
distinct spin on men´s fashions.

The
region´s affinity for street wear and its deep manufacturing base have nurtured
dozens of budding designers for guys. When GQ magazine, considered a style
bible by fashionable fellows, named its best new menswear designers of 2014,
two out of the four were based in Los Angeles.

The
surge in men´s apparel has even spawned its own lingo.

Analysts
have dubbed the demographic driving the growth as the Henry (high earner, not
rich yet) and the Yummy (young, urban male).

The
looks that Henrys and Yummies are adopting to replace saggy jeans and T-shirts
with ironic sayings? Among the archetypes: the modern gent (mixes suits with
patterns and textures), the urban dapper dude (wears expensive street wear such
as leather sweatpants), the upscale casual guy (goes for high-quality,
high-cost basics) and the lumbersexual (a twist on the term
“metrosexual” referring to guys in plaid shirts with well-groomed
beards).

Menswear
labels are not only delivering fresh takes on the male look, they´re also
rethinking how men want to shop. 

At
J. Crew, which opened a dozen male-only shops in the last few years, cutting
down on the number of decisions men have to make is a key reason those
boutiques have worked, said Frank Muytjens, head of menswear design. Guys trust
that J. Crew has done all the “weeding” to offer the best styles, he
said.

Tankfarm
& Co. offers clothing and shoes from its own label and classics such as
Pendleton, along with items such as pocket knives, beard oil and pomade. Above,
specialty coffee is offered at the Tankfarm at the Americana at Brand in
Glendale in January.

Mitchell
Holguin and girlfriend Haleh Farhan browse clothes for sale at Tankfarm. The
26-year-old college student, who collects photos of outfits he admires on the
Internet, said he spends about $200 a month on clothing.

Tankfarm
is what co-founder John Anderson described as “Anthropologie for
men,” referring to the eclectic retailer that carries women´s clothing,
accessories and home goods. Above, belts from Will Leather Goods ($115) along
with a variety of shoes for sale at the Tankfarm store in Glendale.

“Our
guy doesn´t have time to think anymore. We did that for him,” Muytjens
said, adding that J. Crew has come a long way since he started there 11 years
ago. “We didn´t have separate men´s stores,” he recalled, “and I
always felt that guys had to scale walls to get to their departments.”

Tankfarm
& Co., which opened its second shop in November at the Americana at Brand
in Glendale, is what co-founder John Anderson described as “Anthropologie
for men,” referring to the eclectic retailer that carries women´s
clothing, accessories and home goods. 

Tankfarm
offers clothing and shoes from its own label and classics such as Pendleton,
along with items such as pocket knives, beard oil and pomade. The company also
occasionally hosts whiskey and microbrew tastings.

“Guys
hate the mall,” Anderson said. “They do not want to go to 12
different stores to get what they need.”

Sales
at Tankfarm´s first store in Seal Beach rose 40% in 2014 from the year before,
while its online business doubled, Anderson said. Tankfarm is opening a third
location in Huntington Beach in October and is scouting for a fourth spot. 

“More
guys are stepping up their game, especially the younger ones who are graduating
college and not just scraping up beer money,” Anderson said. “This is
just the tip of the iceberg.”

Those
in the industry say the Southland is a prime spot for starting and growing
guy-focused brands.

“There
is certainly kind of a movement taking place in Southern California,” said
Aaron Lavee, co-founder of John Elliott + Co, which was named by GQ last year
as one of the best menswear designers. Another brand that made the list,
surf-inspired M.Nii, is also based in L.A.

Street
wear label En Noir, also lauded by the magazine, was co-founded by San Diego
native Rob Garcia. The designer has since left the label to start a line under
his own name. En Noir produces some of its clothing in Los Angeles. 

Lavee
said his label, with luxe offerings that include sweatpants costing $288
apiece, has found that its male shoppers are happy to spend extra to buy
quality clothing that they can wear on repeat – thus avoiding additional
shopping trips.

“A
guy will have a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt that he will wear
regularly,” he said. “Spending $198 on a sweatshirt makes more sense
when it becomes a daily wardrobe.”

Like
many young guys, Mitchell Holguin said his style has evolved from an early
devotion to teen retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch to more polished
brands such as J. Crew. The 26-year-old college student, who collects photos of
outfits he admires on the Internet, said he spends about $200 a month on
clothing.

“I´ve
come a long way,” said Holguin, who was browsing at the Americana at Brand
shopping center with girlfriend Haleh Farhan. “He´s a bigger shopaholic
than me!” Farhan joked.

The
nascent fashion interest from many American guys has a fan in Rick Caruso, the
sharply tailored magnate behind Americana at Brand and the Grove in Los
Angeles´ Fairfax district.

Men´s
clothing is one of the fastest-growing categories at Caruso properties, he
said, with stores at the Grove and the Americana enjoying double-digit sales
growth in menswear overall. J. Crew said its men´s shop at the Grove, which
opened at the end of 2012, ranks in the top five best-performing stores by
sales for the retailer nationwide.

 Caruso,
who still shines his shoes every morning, said his best advisor on
up-and-coming brands is his 23-year-old son Greg, who is making a documentary
on menswear called “Making the American Man.”

“It´s
the younger male driving sales,” he said. “They know the products
they want, they know the kinds of shirts and jeans. They do the research.”

Caruso
said he´s on the lookout to bring in more menswear brands and potentially even
barbershops.

“When
I started building shopping centers 20 years ago … menswear always struggled
because men didn´t spend that much time shopping,” he said. “Now guys
are spending more time not only on clothes but grooming.”