Tom Bomb“Oblivion” star Tom Cruise seems oblivious to some basic style tenets. Page MW2

April 25, 2013

PLUS:Mark Maidment

lays out his plans for rejuvenating

Ben Sherman. Page MW2

MAN OF THE WEEK

Streets of New YorkA mix of streetwear, sportswear and athletic influences blend together in what has become a new urban fashion statement for youth in the city. For more on New York’s street style, see pages MW4 and MW5.

THEY ARE WEARING®

PHOTOS BY LEXIE MORELAND

by DAVID LIPKE

NEW YORK — The men’s contemporary market is thriving at retail and Theory, a pio-neer in the category, is aiming to capitalize on the trend.

The company, a unit of Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., is undertaking a number of key men’s initiatives this year, including:

The launch of a full-canvas tailored cloth-ing program.

Introducing Theory men’s wear to the European market.

Increasing its denim offerings. Creating a new active-inspired sublabel

called Theory 38.“We are [pleased] about what is going on

in men’s wear in total and believe that the

time for contemporary men’s wear is now. We’ve seen such incredible excitement and enthusiasm from retailers about the contem-porary side of men’s wear in general and what we’re doing in particular,” Theory co-founder and chief executive officer Andrew Rosen said in an interview from his expan-sive corner office at 38 Gansevoort Street here, five floors above the Theory flagship in the Meatpacking District. “Our men’s busi-ness has really been growing and we’re add-ing more of our own retail stores, as well as building out shops in department stores and really making a stronger mark and taking a more important foothold in men’s globally.”

Men’s sales at Theory now top $100 mil-lion a year, posting over 20 percent growth last year. While men’s is only about 15 to 18

percent of total Theory sales at this point, the business is growing at a slightly faster pace than women’s, said Rosen.

The new full-canvas suit program is cen-tral to building and upgrading Theory’s tai-lored clothing business. The new models, which are priced above the brand’s existing half-canvas suits, were tested this spring with a small assortment and will become the brand’s primary driver of tailored clothing beginning this fall.

“In terms of the value and the construc-tion and the quality, this is really best-in-class. We elevated it to be this guy’s staple suit at a price point that is the best value in the market,” said Andrew Berg, Theory’s vice president of men’s merchandising and sales.

Theory Renews Focus on Men’sAndrew Rosen boosts $100 million business with full-canvas suits, activewear line and European distribution.

CONTEMPORARY OUTLOOK

{Continued on page MW6}

Men’s WeekMW2 WWD THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

TOM CRUISE: C-Although his movie “Oblivion” is number one at the box office, he seems extremely oblivious to what suits him in terms of fit and color. His attempt to channel Diane Keaton with the tonal suit and turtleneck falls short and makes us miss his leather jacket days.

Man ofTHE WEEK

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The pu!y volume is not the most masculine look. We miss the “Top Gun” haircut, which was definitely one of his highlights.

Light gray silk-blend suits are extremely unforgiving when it comes to excess fabric and they accentuate wrinkles.

The sloppiness of the look continues with rolls of fabric and wrinkles everywhere but his face. Know your measurements and visit a tailor before hitting the red carpet next time.

by JEAN E. PALMIERI

MARK MAIDMENT just landed his dream job. Now comes the hard part.

Last week, the U.K. native was elevated from creative director to chief executive of-ficer of Ben Sherman, a brand he has been wearing since he was a young man. “Ben Sherman played a big role in my youth,” he said. “I became addicted to the brand. I re-ally want it to succeed. And I’m really thank-ful to be in the driver’s seat. It’s a daunting task, but terribly exciting.”

Maidment is facing an uphill battle, how-ever. The venerable label, which is celebrat-ing its 50th anniversary this year, has been plagued by hard times over the past few years.

The London-based men’s sportswear brand traces its beginning to 1963, when its edgy shirts were embraced by the Mods in the U.K. Since then its sensibility has been inspired by British art, music, culture and style. In 2004 the label was purchased for $146 million by Atlanta-based Oxford Industries, which was seeking a complement to its newly added Tommy Bahama business. But after a brief honeymoon phase, the mar-riage has been a rocky one.

Although the first year under Oxford was “a home run,” according to the company’s ceo at the time, J. Hicks Lanier, the brand has struggled since.

Earlier this month, Oxford reported that in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, Ben Sherman’s sales dropped 4.8 percent, to $24.7 million, and its operating loss grew to $4.5 million from a loss of $254,000 in the 2011 quarter. For the year, sales fell 10.4 per-cent to $81.9 million from $91.4 million the prior year.

In its 2012 annual report, Oxford said that the “Ben Sherman lifestyle brand currently faces challenges due to our ongoing eleva-tion of the distribution of the brand, the sluggish economic conditions in the United Kingdom and Europe and missteps in the merchandise mix in our own retail stores in the second half of fiscal 2012. We believe that in the long term, Ben Sherman will have op-portunities to improve its operating results if the elevation of the brand is successful and the economic conditions in the United

Kingdom and Europe improve.”Maidment can remember when things

were different at Ben Sherman. He’s been with the company for more than a decade and was design director when Oxford pur-chased it. And while it may be unorthodox to hand the reins to a creative executive, Oxford’s current ceo and president, Thomas C. Chubb 3rd, is confident he’s made the right move.

“Mark is a charismatic and charming guy who we think is a great choice to be ceo of Ben Sherman,” he told WWD. “There are three key characteristics that we look for in all our leaders — integrity, intellect and en-ergy — and Mark checks the box on all three. In addition, Mark has been with the brand for 11 years and has a profound understanding of the brand, the target customer and what is needed to move the brand forward. Finally, in the new management structure, he is teamed up with a couple of other gentlemen who complement Mark’s background as a creative and marketing person very nicely. The other two senior leaders are Lindsay Dunsmuir, who has responsibility for all finance and op-erations, and Peter Lawley, who has responsi-bility for licensing, sales and merchandising. Mark, Lindsay and Peter have immense re-spect for each other and work extremely well together. With these three gentlemen in place, we believe we have an excellent leadership team at Ben Sherman.”

Maidment said when he joined the brand, more than 90 percent of Ben Sherman’s busi-ness was in shirts. But he believed it could expand into other categories, and during his tenure he has built it into a full lifestyle brand, adding pants, outerwear, suits and accessories. “Until around three or four years ago, it was more overtly British in a clichéd kind of way,” he said, “and while that had worked well in the past, we’ve gone through a whole evolution and moderniza-tion program.”

Maidment admitted that in the begin-ning this may have confused some of Ben Sherman’s core customers, particularly in the U.K., but the company has been work-ing to help them “relearn what to expect” from the brand. In addition to “refreshing” the offering, Ben Sherman has also updat-

ed its marketing and store design to reflect the change. “Sometimes that can slow you down,” he said, but results from the compa-ny’s five London stores are now improving. “You can feel the momentum building.”

Maidment drew parallels to both Burberry and the Mini Cooper, other vener-able British brands. He said Burberry has evolved beyond its trademark trenchcoat, as has the car brand. The Mini Cooper, while still retaining a good reputation, had “lost its relevance,” he said. “It needed to be mod-ernized and reinvented. That’s what we’re doing with Ben Sherman.”

He said the company wants to retain its authoritative position in shirts but “move it forward. We have to make it crystal clear that we’ve modernized. We look very rel-evant; we’re not a retro brand.”

Immediately upon snagging the ceo post, Maidment created a mission statement for Ben Sherman: to provide “clarity, consisten-cy and stability.”

The brand is carried in more than 40 countries, with wholesale representing 65 percent of sales and retail the remain-ing 35 percent. The U.K. is still 40 percent of the business, followed by the U.S. with 30 percent and the rest of the world with 30 percent. Australia, in particular, has been a good market for the brand, as are Germany, France and Holland. The brand has a couple of shops-in-shop in Asia but is currently talking to potential partners to bring Ben Sherman to Japan and China. “There’s big potential in those markets for us,” he said. India and Brazil are also seen as ripe for expansion. The company also operates 38 stores globally, 15 of which are company-owned.

A few years ago, the brand branched out into a higher-priced offering called Plectrum by Ben Sherman, which Maidment said has been well-received. “It’s also helped us get into stores we hadn’t been [in] in the past.” Plectrum represents around 20 percent of the business, and prices are about 40 percent higher. In the main collection, for example, most shirts retail for less than $100, while in Plectrum they average $140 to $150 and can go up to $180 for a Made in England offering.

With Plectrum finding its footing,

Maidment is now turning his attention to the main collection, focusing on the price structure and “rebalancing” the collection. He said shirt prices have to stay below $100. When prices inched up over that mark, sales fell off. And while shirts now represent 35 percent of sales, that number is down sig-nificantly from the 95 percent they were 10 years ago. Instead, other categories have grown in importance, including sweaters, particularly in cold-weather climates; out-erwear — “We’ve built a big business off the parka,” he said. — graphic Ts with images mined from the company’s archives, and suits. “‘Mad Men’ was enormous for us,” he said, noting that the Mod-era styling of Ben Sherman’s suits has connected with young customers. “In our Carnaby Street store,” he said, “suits can be 40 percent of our sales.”

He said pant sales have been weak, al-though he’s hopeful a new denim collection launching for next season will help that cat-egory rebound.

“Going lifestyle is very hard,” he admit-ted, “but I’m in a fortunate position because I know this brand inside and out and I have a passion to see it succeed. We’ve put a lot of things in place to move this brand forward, and there’s no reason it can’t grow.

“We’re celebrating our 50th year this year, and it’s all about building a future for the next 50 years.”

Ippolita Enters Men’s Marketby RACHEL STRUGATZ

THE IMPETUS BEHIND Ippolita’s first men’s collection was to create jewelry for the guy who wasn’t being served by the current market.

Ippolita chief executive officer Joe Cavalcante and founder and designer Ippolita Rostagno — who both found the majority of men’s offerings either too chunky or too “rock ’n’ roll” — are looking to ad-dress this void with the brand’s pre-miere 25-piece collection that hit stores in mid-May. In addi-tion to its store that opened on Madison Avenue in New York last September and ippolita.com, the line will be car-ried at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

“We are thinking a ‘Mad Men’ [feel], a cleaner look for men’s jewelry and that really isn’t out there on the market. We saw the need for more tailored, sophisticat-ed fine jewelry for men,” Cavalcante told WWD. He noted that this was also the thinking that precipitated the original women’s and overall brand launch by Rostagno in 1999.

Containing a mix of 18-karat gold and sterling silver, prices range from $195 for a hammered silver ring to $3,995 for a gold link bracelet. There are thin leather wrap bracelets with

toggle or hook closures that retail from $295 to $995, as well as chain-link bracelets in varying sizes. Cuff links are a key component of the line, and styles range from a $325 minimal silver wavy disc all the way to $3,495 for a pair contain-ing the brand’s signature Lollipop gemstones — rutilated hematite, co-gnac citrine, brown shell or mother of pearl — set in 18-karat gold with pavé diamonds.

Rostagno explained that men connect with stories, and they’ve historically gravitated towards

timepieces because there’s al-ways a story about the mech-

anisms. For her, this ele-ment of “design interest”

was integral when developing the col-

lection, meaning that each piece has some char-acteristic worth

investigating or talking about.“A detail some of

the pieces have is black di-amonds on the side so that they are kind of hidden. It’s a little moment of discovery. Men want something decorative, but not in your face. They appreciate that there are dia-monds, but you sort of have to look and discover them. It feels more so-phisticated.”

Cavalcante projects that men’s will eventually comprise 10 percent of the overall business.

The traditional black lace-ups are a good choice and the best part of the whole outfit.

The Game Plan for Ben Sherman

The suspiciously plump cheekbones do the trick and portray him as a very young 50-year-old.

The light turtleneck is more suited for a man of the cloth. It’s too precious. Bring the look down with a T-shirt.

Although he’s not known for his broad shoulders, the strongly built shoulder of the jacket fits his frame well.

Mark Maidment

Ippolita cu! links.

Men’s WeekWWD THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013MW4

The Cultist

The Flight Club in Greenwich Village, Saturdays

Surf NYC in SoHo and H.W. Carter and Sons in Brooklyn

attract distinctly different kinds of fashionistas,

but all have developed cultlike followings

among New York City’s youth. Here are a few

of the trendsetting shoppers who recently stopped by the stores.

PHOTOS BY LEXIE MORELAND

THEY ARE WEARING®

Flight Club, outlined in yellow.

Men’s Week WWD THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013 MW5

Saturdays Surf NYC, outlined in red.

H.W. Carter and Sons, outlined in blue.

The suits are sold as separates, with jackets at $645 to $675 and pants at $245 to $265, meaning a customer can buy a full-canvas suit for just less than $900. In tuxedo styles, jackets are $695 and pants are $285. In comparison, the half-canvas suit jackets Theory current-ly offers are $545, with the match-ing pants at $225.

“Most suits at our price point are a fused construction. This is full canvas and it’s loosely basted by hand, so that the suit molds to the shape of your body. The more you wear it, the better it looks,” said Ben Stubbington, director of men’s design at Theory.

The full-canvas suits feature all Italian fabrics, more hand stitching on the interiors and a slightly high-er button stance and a raised notch lapel, for a more modern look. The suit jacket comes in the Wellar fit, which is available in notch lapel, peak lapel and double-breasted styles. The notch lapel model has both flap and patch pocket options. The pants for each jacket are in the Marlo fit, which is a core, slim straight leg silhouette.

The full-canvas assortments are available in 14 suit fabrics — ranging from wool blends to 100 percent cashmeres — and two tux-edo fabrics.

“We are really excited about the addition of this full-canvas col-lection,” said Kevin Harter, vice president of men’s fashion direc-tion at Bloomingdale’s, which car-ries Theory in 27 of its 31 total men’s doors. “We’ve had a lot of success with Theory suits in general and the full-canvas is a big plus that I think will really resonate with contempo-rary suit buyers. The contemporary tailored market is a hot business and Theory is a terrific suit for the body-conscious, fashion customer.”

Retailing its suits as separates has been a competitive selling point for Theory, said Rosen. “When we are picking fabrics and patterns we are choosing for versatil-ity. A guy can wear the jacket with jeans, if they want. And they can buy just the jack-et or just the pants. The men’s wear in-dustry for a long time was set in its ways. We are trying to ad-dress the modern way of dressing the modern guy. I think that’s important.”

To support the launch of the new suit program, Theory will unveil this fall a tailored clothing-focused marketing campaign under the theme “What Suits You.” Shot by Peter Arnell, who has worked with the brand since fall 2012, the imagery shows men wearing Theory tailored clothing in a variety of environ-ments. “We didn’t really have a men’s campaign before,” said Berg. “The men’s business has grown up a lot here and we’re putting a lot of energy behind it.”

About 25 percent of Theory’s men’s sales is in tailored clothing and 75 percent in sportswear and other categories. Woven shirts, bot-

toms and tailored sport coats are the three biggest classifications for Theory. Accessories, which com-prise less than 5 percent of men’s sales via cold-weather items like gloves, represent an area of future growth potential, said Rosen.

This fall, Theory will open its first store in Europe that carries men’s wear — a 2,700- square-foot, dual-gender store in Paris. The shop will combine two buildings at 10 Rue de Grenelle. Rosen said opening more men’s retail loca-

tions in Europe is part of Theory’s strategic growth plans, but no fur-ther leases have been signed.

Similarly, Theory intends to enter men’s wholesale distribu-tion in Europe for spring 2014, but those plans are still being fleshed out. Theory currently operates women’s stores on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris and on Marylebone High Street in

London, in addition to women’s-only concessions in European de-partment stores.

In total, there are 240 Theory-branded retail locations world-wide, counting both freestanding stores and shops-in-shop in depart-ment stores. Including wholesale, there are 800 Theory points of sale around the world.

The Theory men’s business is particularly strong in Japan. Last month, the company opened its 40th Japanese men’s shop-in-shop

in the Fukuya department store in Hiroshima.

In China, Theory sells men’s wear in two of its own dual-gender shops in Shanghai and Beijing, with 10 other stores in that market selling only women’s. The company has partnered with Lane Crawford to introduce men’s wear in several of the luxury retailer’s stores in China. (Theory operates all of its

global stores and wholesale distri-bution directly, apart from South Korea, which is a license.)

In the U.S., Theory opened a store with a dedicated men’s sec-tion earlier this month on North Beverly Drive in Los Angeles. The company also recently renovated its existing Melrose Avenue store and moved men’s to the front of the space, providing a separate entrance for it. Theory now oper-ates 16 full-price stores in the U.S., eight of which carry men’s wear.

Denim is a category that has always been incorporat-ed into Theory’s assortments and the brand is putting a new emphasis on the catego-ry. “We created a destination in our stores in a different way this season,” said Berg of the denim effort. “Coming into fall, we’ve developed a secondary fit in denim. We have an opportunity to have our own point of view. Our denim has stretch. It feels authentic but with a more contemporary point of view.”

For fall, Theory is offer-ing the Haydin straight leg and Raffi skinny leg in five-pocket styles, in fabrics like true indigo denim, black denim and colored twill. Retail prices in denim range from $225 to $295.

Also new this year is the performance-driven Theory 38 label, which encompass-es both workoutwear and active-inspired streetwear. The collection launched ex-clusively at Theory stores,

theory.com and Bloomingdale’s stores this spring.

“It’s shorts that you can run in, as well as shorts you can just wear on the street. It’s a sports design, but made for the urban environ-ment,” said Rosen. “There are a lot of performance fabrics and we have sweatpants that are a cool shape and not your traditional baggy sweatpants. It’s great stuff

for traveling but you don’t look like a slob, you look hip.”

Windbreakers in the Theory 38 line retail for $265, track pants for $195, sweatshirts for $135 and T-shirts for $75. This fall and holi-day the offering will expand to sweaters for $295 and puffer jack-ets for $475.

Harter said Bloomingdale’s has enjoyed “incredible” sell-throughs so far with the Theory 38 launch. “Theory is building a solid lifestyle brand and building out everything that a guy needs in his wardrobe,” he said.

Rosen said fit has always been a hallmark of Theory and central to its growth. “The fit and the feel of a garment are what I started the business with 15 years ago and we continue that,” said Rosen. “For bottoms, everyone comes to us for those, they love the fit. In our sweat-ers and polo shirts and T-shirts, we have the perfect cut on the shoul-ders that’s very clean and sharp.”

Theory leases more than 30,000 square feet at 416 West 13th Street — about a block away from its head-quarters building — that houses design studios and sample-making facilities. “We make a pattern and a 3-D garment here, so we have much more control over the fit. We can scrutinize things in a way you can’t when a factory is doing the pattern for you,” explained

Stubbington. “It’s been that way from the beginning of the company. We have an extremely tight toler-ance for any variance in the fit of a finished product.” (The actual line production of clothes is outsourced to third-party factories in Asia, the U.S. and South America.)

In fiscal 2012, which ended in August, Theory generated record profits, according to Fast Retailing. More recently, for the six months ended in February, the Theory business performed to plan but profits decreased marginally due to higher marketing and personnel expenses in the U.S.

While Theory is putting a con-certed emphasis on its men’s busi-ness, Rosen declined to make any projections on sales increases or target goals in the business. “My philosophy is a very simple one: I believe that the better your cloth-ing and the better you execute your clothing, the more business you’re going to do. I don’t look at things specifically as trying to push the volume,” he explained. “The size of our business is dependent on our ability to execute, both from a design perspective and sales and marketing perspective. I’m always trying to work with our guys to push the integrity and the authen-ticity of the Theory experience vis-à-vis what we are trying to do, rather than the volume.”

“The men’s wear industry for a long time was set in its ways. We are trying to address the modern way

of dressing the modern guy.”

— ANDREW ROSEN, THEORY

Men’s Week

THEORY BROADENS MEN’S STRATEGY

MW6 WWD THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

{Continued from page MW1}Fall looks from Theory.

Ben Stubbington and Andrew Berg

Andrew Rosen

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Men’s Week

by REBECCA KLEINMAN

MIAMI — For a city whose homegrown TV series inspired a nationwide men’s wear trend in the Eighties, Miami had fallen short in the category for decades. Retailers focused on their women’s business while embroidered dress shirts worn untucked with designer denim became the male fashion uniform. But a growth spurt in the men’s market of late has resulted in a rash of new boutiques and store expansions ca-tering to this forgotten sector.

“My guy friends in Miami complained about not having sophisticated shopping, that choices were limited to superdressy or super-casual,” said John Varvatos, who launched his third Bowery NYC concept store on Lincoln Road earlier this month. “We hope to fill the better men’s void and bring dynamism to the area’s heavy concentration of clubwear.”

A frequent visitor to the city (it’s good to have a brother-in-law who owns the W South Beach), the designer has the inside vantage point on lifestyle observation. As a result, the new store draws from the compa-ny’s trio of divisions — Collection, Star USA and Converse by John Varvatos — for its climate-friendly knits, pastels and treated linens, as well as the brand’s leather jack-ets and burnished suede shirts.

“I spent a great deal of time studying the local customer. I didn’t want to just dial in the tourists,” said Varvatos, who had a head start through his shop-in-shop at the Atrium boutique on nearby Collins Avenue. “Since that account isn’t on a heav-ily trafficked shopping block, our store will strengthen the brand regionally.”

Eschewing Miami’s cliché Art Deco decor, the avid vintage collector designed the 2,200-square-foot space to feel historic, using refurbished furniture mixed with custom fixtures such as a cash wrap resem-bling an old-fashioned pharmacy counter. Passersby mainly notice the interior’s bril-liant red hue and massive black crystal chandelier that is reflected in the smoky mirrored ceiling. As a nod to the street’s nu-merous art galleries, a rotating exhibition in the store sells Rock Paper Photo’s limited-edition portraits of music icons.

Varvatos believes the Miami area can ac-commodate other stores and expects to even-tually add a John Varvatos Lifestyle unit, the brand’s more high-end concept, in the Miami Design District “when it’s progressed a bit, or Bal Harbour with its addition, in the next couple of years,” he said.

Bal Harbour Shops has emerged as a top men’s destination. In 2012, Canali opened its second Miami location there alongside tenants such as Kiton, Brunello Cucinelli, Ermenegildo Zegna and Brooks Brothers. Brioni, whose original door opened in 2007, relocated and doubled its size to 2,000

square feet in early April. Its bright coral sport jackets and cardigans pop against the sleek-meets-soft store design based on a Los Angeles prototype. Muted silk panels of stitched diamonds that emphasize its made-to-measure program, and ribbed walls and displays of matte black wood soften bronze frames, black glass and pale stone flooring.

“We’ve had nothing but consistent growth right into the first quarter of 2013,” said Todd Barrato, Brioni’s chief executive officer for the Americas, attributing the bulk of the business to local customers. “Where we used to be tourist-driven, we’re 50-50 now.”

Barrato said the store’s new setting more effectively presents made-to-measure, the sales of which have increased by double dig-its, as well as sunglasses, a new category that premiered last year, and small leather goods, a focus for new creative director Brendan Mullane. Priced at $85,000 apiece, zipper blousons in colored crocodile with oversized cuffs also appeal to the highly international clientele of Brazilians and Russians.

“They really appreciate exclusives and exotic skins,” he said.

At Neiman Marcus Bal Harbour, the men’s designer area doubled in size in late 2011 and offers Brioni, Gucci, Tom Ford, Stefano Ricci and other high-end labels. The store of-fers a pool of dress shirts and ties from mul-tiple brands, a contemporary area focused on denim and diffusion collections, and a tight shoe section with styles ranging from Lanvin oxfords to Gucci driving moccasins in an array of materials. The department occupies the en-tire third level of the store, save for a café.

“Our clients requested a broader selection in a world completely dedicated to men with new names and exclusives,” said men’s fashion director Matthew Singer, pointing to the blend of foreign tourists and locals who own sec-ond and third homes in Miami. “We’ve really become the go-to destination for fashionable male shoppers with brands like Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga and Pierre Balmain.”

After years of tucking its men’s wear in a back annex, Dolce & Gabbana recently built a second door with a straight shot from the mall’s garden courtyard. The December expansion increased the size of the store to 5,000 square feet. Clearly defined by its thick frame of glossy striped wood, the masculine lair features two Murano glass chandeliers in the deepest shade of violet, black glass walls and volcanic stone floors. Garnet damask panels and tufted stools demarcate the watch department.

Other high-end brands are shining a spotlight on men’s as well. Prior to relo-cating to a new black marble prototype store designed by creative director Hedi Slimane in December, Saint Laurent had only offered men’s accessories. But with this summer’s expansion to 3,400 square feet, Slimane’s full men’s collection, in-cluding the initial foray into fine jewelry

retailing for $995 to $3,000, and court-sneaker classics from $495 to $575, will hit the floor.

Opening in June, Scoop’s second Miami store and Etro’s relocation from the Village of Merrick Park shopping center in Coral Gables to Bal Harbour Shops will offer men even greater selection.

Malls across Miami also report a thriv-ing men’s business. Both Bloomingdale’s units in the area have been busy adding de-

signer shops. The men’s department at the Aventura Mall was renovated to introduce nearly a dozen brands such as Gucci, John Varvatos, Robert Graham, Polo Black Label and Burberry over the past six months. At the Simon-owned Falls shopping center in South Miami, Etiqueta Negra, a popular men’s collection in Argentina, launched one of three U.S. boys’ shops-in-shop within the Bloomingdale’s there. Props such as hand-made riding boots and a rare vintage auto tell the story of the brand, whose polo con-nection also comes through in its casual shirts and sporty jerseys worn by the com-pany’s team Ellerstina.

Brooks Brothers has signed a 10-year lease and will relocate its store in the Falls to a better location this summer.

The company is also scouting emerging neighborhoods such as Brickell and the Miami Design District for more doors and is considering the possibility of opening the city’s first Black Fleece concept.

Tommy Bahama, Original Penguin and Hugo Boss are among 18 tenants in Dadeland Mall’s 100,000-square-foot expansion slated to open next month. Vincent Kavanagh, se-nior vice president of retail for Hugo Boss,

said relocating and expanding the original, upscale Boss store opens up its former space for Hugo, a casual concept. He attributes consistent growth to the slim-dressing trend, the brand’s suit heritage and fresh monthly shipments appreciated by Latinos.

“Though we saw opportunity in the market, we were slightly concerned about cannibaliza-tion,” said Kavanagh, who recently oversaw the renovation of the nearby Boss boutique at Village of Merrick Park. “But the Dadeland store immediately surpassed our expectations, so we jumped at the chance to be in a more prominent location and add Hugo.”

And men will really seize the moment when Hermès unveils the brand’s inaugural Men’s Universe fashion show in the Miami Design District in late May.

MW7WWD THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

Miami Turns Its Attention to Men’sJohn Varvatos, Brioni, Dolce & Gabbana and others open or expand stores in the hot retail area.

The Brioni store doubled in size earlier this month.

A look inside the new John

Varvatos store.

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