Did Covid-19 kill men's suits?

When people return to normality we will want to dress up

A relaxed suit from Officine Generale

The death of the suit has long been a fixation of men around the globe. In the past two decades, work attire has been less focused on a two-piece suit than smart-casual: jeans, a sweater, and relaxed but smart shoes will suffice. 

The tie has made a beggarly attempt to stay in men’s wardrobes. Adidas Ozweego trainers are the new Oxfords.

While men’s fashion collections in recent seasons from the likes of Tom Ford, Givenchy, and Alexander McQueen spelled a return to formal tailoring, the reality of the situation is much more despondent, especially in the case of mid-market men’s clothiers.

In America, multiple brands known for their tailoring offering filed for bankruptcy. Among them, the parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A Bank, and J Crew — all noted sellers of formal clothes and suiting. Even Brooks Brothers, the retailer which has outfitted all but four United States presidents, succumbed to the pressure of the pandemic in early July.

Euromonitor International, a market research provider, forecasts that retail sales of men’s suits in the United States will plummet 24% to approximately $1.5bn (approx €1.26m) this year. In 2015, sales were $2.1bn (approx €1.77m), but they have fallen steadily, despite global sales of suits inching upwards.

Across the fashion industry, revenues plummeted further than analysts had even expected. In the case of labels such as Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors, sales were down as much as 66%. It would appear that now is the time to give customers the things that will make their lives easier as they are largely confined to the home office with the occasional visit to recently reopened restaurants: shirts, sweatpants, casual shoes.

Here, in Ireland, Louis Copeland, founder of the eponymous men’s fashion stores, said that suiting had performed well up until the outbreak of the virus. When the mandated lockdown was imposed in March, customers gravitated towards less dressy styles as men were no longer in the office and June weddings were cancelled or rebooked with fewer guests.

Copeland said online sales of more casual pieces such as t-shirts and sweaters were “off the Richter scale".

Damien Paul, head of menswear at retailer MATCHESFASHION.com, noticed an uptick in looser, less formal, and unstructured styles with men buying blazers and trousers separately.

He said: 

If we look at the types of suits that have been selling during the last five months, we can see a definite shift towards different fabrics and textures; loose linen has been doing particularly well as we'd expect in the warmer months. We are also seeing brighter and soft colours becoming increasingly popular recently as men have relaxed their attitudes towards dressing for work while working from home.

Bayu Mudjahid, a menswear style advisor at John Lewis, said that the recent launch of their free virtual styling advice service for men has encouraged the stylists to think about why a man buying a suit is actually doing so. When on Zoom with a client, “it is important to discuss why the customer is purchasing the suit,” says Mudjahid.

“With the new working from home lifestyle men are certainly being more free in their approach to the formality we once knew,” said Paul.

Workplace formality has long been under siege. The suit’s influence, once a symbol of power preferred by men — from politicians to businessmen who wanted to convey the image of running the world — waned over the years. The weight of its symbolism was upended at the turn of the decade by tech executives such as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs who preferred t-shirts and hoodies, turtlenecks and jeans, respectively, but still made billions of dollars.

Furthermore, the things that have made men’s fashion tick in the 2010s are luxury streetwear and sneakers. Men like Virgil Abloh, known for both of those things, rose to the top of Louis Vuitton’s menswear division. He is now responsible for ushering in a cooler, younger clientele. Kim Jones, another designer with his finger on the pulse of men’s fashion, welcomed streetwear brand Stussy to collaborate with the storied house of Dior.

Even storied Italian tailoring brands such as Ermenegildo Zegna, Brioni, and Canali, have in recent years expanded their casual offering alongside their more traditional suiting business. Brands such as Officine Générale have championed casual tailoring since its inception, getting ahead of the office trend.

Officine Generale straight leg trousers €205  

However, all is not lost for the suit.

Since reopening on June 8, Louis Copeland said: "There’s been a resurgence of made-to-measure suiting.” 

Although weddings are resuming in smaller numbers, he finds that men are trickling back in to have suits made for rescheduled weddings and other events.

Similarly at MATCHESFASHION, while tailoring was performing well at the start of the pandemic, the website was not seeing as much interest for evening styles. In recent weeks, “there’s been a distinct gear shift towards event tailoring and we expect to see the pick-up in this trend continue into next year as special occasions and events are rescheduled,” said Paul.

Marrakshi Life jacket €405 MATCHESFASHION.COM

Mudjahid asserts the longevity of the suit based on unchanging dress codes at special events and weddings and the relaxed interpretations of tailoring that men have been drawn to in recent years: "Whilst it’s true that office workwear has been relaxing from its strict formal dress code in recent times, the suit still has a vital role to play in every man's wardrobe.”

“These investment pieces are still at the forefront of men’s spending habits,” said Paul.

Casual tailoring from Officine Generale

However, the nature of the role suiting will play will largely be defined by an official return to the office and the manner in which events change in years to come. For now, the emphasis is on relaxed styles.

“Relaxed tailoring is becoming more key in our customer’s wardrobe,” said Paul.

Despite the current landscape, Copeland remains hopeful: “When people return to normality they’ll want to dress up.”