The Man trade show, which was held slightly later than the other menswear fairs, returned to New York’s Spring Studios for three days last week with another tightly curated selection of 59 brands. (Producer Antoine Floch noted that the still independently owned show turned down 250 potential exhibitors this season in order to keep the event intimate and that roughly 85% of the 59 companies that showed are independently owned businesses themselves).
Traffic was slow on the final day, January 23, but Floch said that “the first and second days were very busy” and that numerous exhibitors signed new accounts this time.
Key trends seen at the show included a turn to traditional tailoring fabrics such as tweed and hound’s tooth, the overcoat as the #1 outerwear piece for f/w 2020-21, sweaters with mixed patterns and fabrics, classic and clean sweatshirt silhouettes, sumptuous knits in bright colors and animal-print shoes.
Here, in alphabetical order, are some key highlights from the exhibitors:
Corridor went with hound’s tooth and tweed and showed an amazing reversible overcoat with wool on one side and cotton on the other. Its colorful vertical-stripe shirt was also very much on trend.
Heimet, a Made in Germany knitwear brand that’s based in London, got a great response from buyers for its colorful dry wool sweaters and other creations.
French label Homecore wowed with colorful overcoats created from wool fabric that its designer screenprints while still on the bolt. They were the most graphically interesting and eye-catching pieces at Man for sure.
La Paz, from Portugal, returned to Man with key items that included a brown herringbone jacket and a delightfully minimalistic beige hoodie sweatshirt that is plain and perfectly simple.
Le Monte-St.-Michele was hesitant to be photographed for this report as it does not want to come across as trendy (or to be copied). However, it allowed its denim chore coat from its core, seasonless collection to be snapped and the piece is as timeless as ever….
Older Brother was one of the few brands at Man that emphasized denim. It is pushing its eco-friendly denims that are dyed with mushrooms this season–and even had an actual dried mushroom at its booth to show the natural source of its colorization. Who knew one could derive a blue tone from fungi?
English designer Oliver Spencer also hit many of the season’s biggest trends with a tweed jacket, overcoats and a mixed-block sweater.
looked a lot less preppy than usual with its punk-like animal print shoes and as well as colorful perforated models in green and yellow and a neutral collection in beige.
YMC, which will mark its 25th anniversary this year, mined its archives to use lots of traditional British references. Standout pieces include a floral shirt and a down jacket created in collaboration with Cape Heights. It too offered a mixed sweater with mismatched sleeves.
The next Man/Woman event will be the Woman NY show, which will take place February 9-11 at a new space, 459 W. 15th Street.
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