# Men's cutting edge fashions - Who actually buys them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227 "2008-01-20T04:03:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/1 "2008-01-20T04:03:22Z")
When a famous designer shows women’s cutting edge fashions I know there is a limited group of well heeled fashionistas who might get the initial stuff, and a larger group of less well heeled fashion lovers who play with it once it hits the consignment stores or goes on clearance. In looking at news stories about cutting edge men’s fashions [like this one](http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080119153056.9isy4p7d&show_article=1), I do have to wonder who actually buys this stuff. Even wealthy and sophisticated men tend to somewhat conservative in their tastes. How can these designers of cutting edge men’s fashion make a living? What’s the bread and butter market for their creations? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/2 "2008-01-20T04:26:16Z")
It’s not just men’s stuff, no one wears the designs modeled at most fashion shows. Seen [this](http://www.style.com/fashionshows/powersearch/slideshow?slideshowId=ps_design_house22styleRUNWAY&iphoto=64&origIphoto=0&designer=design_house22&event=&trend=) at the beach lately? ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/3 "2008-01-20T04:44:09Z")
I am a card carrying member of the larger group of less well heeled fashion lovers who play with it once it hits the consignment stores or goes on clearance. Its an interesting diversion and I admire the tailoring and such. I am built like these models so the stuff fits me although I must admit most of it ends up in a pile on the floor. I recently got a very nice pair of pants, kind of a chocolate linen/denim but the first time I had to take a leak the edgy fly system showed its limitations. There were snaps, hooks, and buttons. Fine for a runway walk but not in real life. The reason the designers do this stuff is to establish credibility as far as their skills and designs go and get the needed publicity to sell the everyday wear. I must not be seeing the same picture as you are because the only one I get is a guy wearing stuff that might be seen everyday. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/4 "2008-01-20T04:57:44Z")
[QUOTE=Mongo Ponton] I must not be seeing the same picture as you are because the only one I get is a guy wearing stuff that might be seen everyday. [/QUOTE] I believe that’s the designer, not a model. I was going by the text description of the clothes. > [@](#): > > Van Assche’s collection under his own label featured a lot of the same red and blue Highland tartan in shirts and linings that splashed across the Milan catwalks earlier this week and resurfaced in Paris on Thursday in creations by Yamamoto and Dries Van Noten. > > Van Assche’s delivery at a show that only started once one of the world’s top fashion-writers turned up, 45 minutes behind schedule, was vigorously youthful, featuring jeans and lots of skinny pants with side pockets cut ankle-length above big clumpy boots, often in white. > > Suit-jackets were slightly short, coats classically belted or military-style and Kris Van Assche mostly went for greys and blues, as well as a couple of pairs of shiny silver pants and a silvery velours jacket. > Earlier, Britain’s Blaak Home designer twosome, Sachiko Okada and Aaron Sharif, who have commissioned for Madonna, Bjork and David Bowie, offered a vision of man next winter that largely stuck to blacks and greys but broke with accepted conventions. > > Some shirts were as long as shifts, drifting well below jackets, some suits came as shorts, pants came skinny and boot-top length – and some again came in tartan. > > Layering lengths during their breezy catwalk display in a garage, much as had Dries Van Noten the previous day, the pair used wools, leather and velvet, mixing and matching lengths, fabrics, and tartans with plain colours in a fresh and fluid whirl. > > Kenzo held its show in the boxing hall of a Paris stadium, the models walking onto a revolving platform as thunder sounded overhead and a theatrical backdrop played out the theme of the collection, the story of a 19th century Scottish trader who eventually became a samurai. > > The Kenzo collection consequently began with pea coats and hunting jackets in heavy worsted wools and flannels and ended in a juxtaposition of Western military regalia embellished with metalwork embroidery evoking the costumes of the Samurai. > > In between, as fake snow fell on the hundreds of fashion types present, Kenzo went for sportswear-inspired multi-pocket coats and hand-painted tea-stained T-shirts, merging black, ink blue and earthy browns with flashes of violet, orchid green and mandarine. ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/5 "2008-01-20T05:02:57Z")
Yeah, I like that stuff. Suddenly I feel the need to do something manly. I’ll get back to you, I’m going out to change the transmission in the car. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/6 "2008-01-20T05:04:53Z")
Sloppy cut black tux, white shoes, and slung shirt collar so low it resembes a low slung dress. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/7 "2008-01-20T05:33:52Z")
Well there is one example in your article, namely David Bowie, who is definitely someone who over the years has taken risks with fashion. In fact even before I glanced at the article in your link, he sprang to mind as some one who might purchase extreme men’s couture. Younger men in the music industry might also take a chance on such clothing. Hip-hop stars are often very fashion-forward. And anyway, in men’s couture as in women’s almost no one is expected to wear things as they come of the runway. Rather, some of the elements of the designs might show up as trends in more mainstream fashion. The article mentions skinny pants and shorter jackets. Well maybe that will manifest itself as a trend toward a narrower cut in pants and slightly shorter jackets in suits. A kind of subtle change in silhouette that helps distinguish the men’s fashions of one decade from the next. Perhaps a toned-down version of the tartans mentioned will show up more in accessories or outerwear. And so on. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/8 "2008-01-20T12:05:21Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Tonya] Seen [this](http://www.style.com/fashionshows/powersearch/slideshow?slideshowId=ps_design_house22styleRUNWAY&iphoto=64&origIphoto=0&designer=design_house22&event=&trend=) at the beach lately? [/QUOTE] Anyone who knows me knows I don’t give a flying fig about what’s “hot” or “in style” so I speak with no authority whatsoever. I did ask the question once about the sorts of clothing one sees on the catwalk (I believe the question was “What the hell are they thinking??”) and this is what was explained to me. Designers come up with themes or something that they hope will influence the market. They know you’re not going to venture forth with a 6’ halo of dayglo feathers, but they’re suggesting that you do want to incorporate dayglo feathers into your wardrobe because they have declared them to be “the look” of the season. Or something to that effect. What do I know - I wear jeans and nondescript tops from discount stores. I figure if I don’t get frostbite or an arrest for indecent exposure, my clothing is doing what I want. I can’t even ask my husband for his opinion. While he’s more of a clotheshorse than I am, he still leans more to jeans and dark shirts. Definitely not a Highland tartan kinda guy. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/9 "2008-01-20T13:50:17Z")
[QUOTE=FairyChatMom] They know you’re not going to venture forth with a 6’ halo of dayglo feathers, [/QUOTE] True dat. But 6’ _ **boa** _ of dayglo feathers… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/10 "2008-01-20T14:25:20Z")
[QUOTE=FairyChatMom] Anyone who knows me knows I don’t give a flying fig about what’s “hot” or “in style” so I speak with no authority whatsoever. [/QUOTE] Guy here, and feel the same way. Dressy to me is a belt with my jeans. Oh, I generaly wear good quality stuff. If you can call LLBean and Cabelas good quality. I do. My wife and I often chuckle when we see a snippit of a fashion show. What with all the weird straps and stuff, I wonder if anyone bought one of these ‘fashions’ and then couldn’t figure out how to put it on. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/11 "2008-01-20T16:02:29Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Tonya] It’s not just men’s stuff, no one wears the designs modeled at most fashion shows. Seen [this](http://www.style.com/fashionshows/powersearch/slideshow?slideshowId=ps_design_house22styleRUNWAY&iphoto=64&origIphoto=0&designer=design_house22&event=&trend=) at the beach lately? [/QUOTE] Not at the beach, but I did see an online London tabloid (Daily Mail?) splash page with a pic of Kiera Knightley wearing the top part, with a headline declaring, “Kiera Knightley’s Bondage Beachwear!” This is where the tabloids REALLY suffer from being online – there was a comments section beneath the article, and almost all of the comments were of this nature: “Who are you kidding? That’s not bondage wear!” You can get away with that shit when you readers don’t get a chance to holla back, but you can’t do it online where comments sections are de rigeur. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-cutting-edge-fashions-who-actually-buys-them/434227/12 "2008-01-21T18:27:00Z")
I live in New York City. Believe me, I see guys wearing that kind of stuff all the time. You’ve just got to hang around the right bars, clubs and restaurants on a busy night. Of course, nobody wears that crap in my neighborhood. And I’m not exactly what you’d call a fashionable guy.