A Belly Full of Good Fashion
Posted: November 24, 2015 Filed under: General / Musings, Menswear | Tags: advertising, Henry Poole & Co, Keith Richards, male models, menswear, models, photographs, Turnbull & Asser Comments Off on A Belly Full of Good Fashion
As everyone knows, male fashion lawyers tend to be hunks. I was a bit late getting the memo, but on the insistence by my German doctor, I finally started exercising, and being German myself, I of course overdid it, to the point that my shirt maker (Turnbull & Asser) had to adjust my pattern and my tailor (Henry Poole) is on notice that it will need do the same. Because both usually expect rounding middles by the time customers reach my point in life, that made me feel quite good. But what I next sought to do in the name of fashion was of no concern to either of them.
It would be hard not to notice that the trend is for less body hair on men. When I was growing up, what was said about something that toughened you as a man (such as strong drink) was, “That will put a little hair on your chest.” Nature dutifully made me quite fashionable in that regard, but since that time, things have regrettably slid the other way. Beefy young men in fashion advertising display pectorals and abdominals as furless as a those of a baby. One recent print ad showed a pack of lovely women measuring every inch of a young man wearing only his undershorts and showing not a blade of hair below his perfectly formed cranium.
Would that real life were as equally correctable in Photoshop. Instead, off went this hirsute attorney in search of a more practical solution, which is how I ended up at Olga’s laser emporium. A slave to tradition, I decided to keep the hair on my chest, but I agreed to sacrifice all between the sternum and what Olga told me was my “bikini line.” She first shaved my abdomen, thereby defoliating that previously forested tract that no one had seen since I put on my bar mitzvah suit. Then she set her laser to work, and after a twelve-minute ordeal in which I felt like the target at a flame-thrower practice range, I stood up and had a look.
To my surprise, what had lay hidden under that vanquished mat of virility was, after daily workouts, a surprisingly pleasing set of washboard abs—not quite a six-pack, but something like a four-pack on its way toward picking up the two missing cans. There you go, I thought: a fashionable belly at last. The problem is that there are not that many venues in which a fashion lawyer gets to show how fashionably toned he has become. Going shirtless in the firm’s boardroom seemed not quite in keeping with our mission. I suppose I could arrive at a fashion show with my shirt as open as Keith Richards’, but that style just does not speak to me. I do not even swim topless anymore but wear a rash guard (swim shirt) with an SPF of 50. So I have done what women have done for millennia: I have suffered for beauty—beauty that must, in a guy’s case, remain both skin deep and out of view.
At least my doctor is pleased. As I lay on the examination table, she kneaded and pounded my abdomen as though hoping to strike oil and said, “Very tight. There are two possible explanations. Either you are finally exercising as I told you to do—or you have serious liver damage.”
In fashion, nothing worthwhile comes easy.
Credit: Alan Behr
A Man’s Moment
Posted: November 10, 2015 Filed under: Footwear, Menswear | Tags: footwear, Jack Spade, Jhane Barnes, Kate Spade, menswear, Salvatore Ferragamo, shoes Comments Off on A Man’s Moment
Designers have been famously cautious not to offend men’s perceptions about masculinity. The old axiom that men will not buy clothes bearing the names of women led to some novel solutions. Jhane Barnes was born Jane Barnes, but by the time men had figured that out, they were sold on her clothes—even the many who assumed from the name that they were wearing clothes designed by a man. Kate Spade’s line for men came out as Jack Spade.
Then there are the brands that started for women and have migrated successfully to selling to men. Salvatore Ferragamo may have built a reputation as the shoemaker to the women of Hollywood, but my wife’s devotion to Salvatore Ferragamo handbags is mirrored by my policy that all my business shoes come in red boxes.
When it comes to individual styles, however, the crossover path is not always easy. Late in the last century, women started wearing fitted tights. That never caught on with men, even those with fantasies of playing Robin Hood. There was some initial hesitation by men, but after women had given up on stockings and started wearing beach sandals (flip-flops) around town and just going barefoot at home, men eventually followed along. I bought my first pair of flip-flops since my age was in single digits, and no sooner did I wear them out of my building, on a late-night milk errand, than I caught my doorman trying to do his best not to stare at my toes. It was a hot night and those toes did feel rather nicely chilled by the milk fridge’s chill, so I could see that the comfy factor was indeed in play. But at the end of the day, I just have to go with the obvious: light and delicate things like thong sandals may look correct on women—but on guys: you know, those black Ferragamo loafers I am never without are looking better than ever.
Credit: Alan Behr
Photo Credit: Salvatore Ferragamo
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The Promises of Big Event Promotions
Posted: October 27, 2015 Filed under: Business Law, General / Musings, Menswear | Tags: bespoke, event promotions, events, Henry Poole & Co, London, retail, Savile Row, The Beatles, Times Square Comments Off on The Promises of Big Event Promotions
In the service of consumer awareness, I have helped clients with event promotions ranging from setting up rub-down booths for aching feet at half marathons to participating in the closing off of Times Square for New Year’s Eve and the engagement of major talent to entertain the revelers. I was particularly amused, however, when Henry Poole & Co, the tailor shop that founded London’s Savile Row (back in 1846), alerted me to the closure of the Row for its one-day transformation into a pasture eighty meters long, populated by sixty squishy sheep and twenty-five anything-but-squishy male models, each of the latter in a bespoke outfit by one of the twenty-five participating tailors. For Savile Row Sheep Day (yes, big promotions need big names) on October 5 of this year, Henry Poole showed, on one of those big men, a made-for-the occasion three-piece suit made of a blue-gray 11-12 ounce Prince of Wales wool and cashmere blend. The sheep came as they were.
That is not the first time Savile Row has been disrupted for a special promotional event. As documented in the film Let It Be, on January 30, 1969, The Beatles gave their last public performance from the headquarters of their company at 3 Savile Row, creating a commotion that brought in the police and became part of the history of popular music.
Getting the famously phlegmatic London bobbies stirred up for the benefit of posterity was likely integral to the thinking behind The Beatles’ rooftop concert, but when fashion companies do big promotions—whether to let Shaun the Sheep and friends graze on a city street or to rent historic venues for fashion shows—they do not want legal troubles. Along with all the usual contractual complexities with vendors, models, transportation providers, venues and more, for big promotions, there typically are municipal permits, special insurance problems (Just what is the premium for coverage against damage by rampaging ruminants?), and often import/export and duty considerations, to name only a few of the additional legal concerns.
Big events are often borne of creativity at marketing and public relations companies and departments; but it is a good idea to bring in the lawyers well before a fashion company commits to move forward with such an event. Marketers are both inventive and parental, quickly falling in love with their creations, with the result that legal considerations can be put off to the last minute. That is why promotional lawyers are used to providing services in a rush. Under those conditions, even their best efforts may not be enough to prevent an exciting opportunity from becoming an expensive mistake due to missed deadlines for permits, hurried and failed attempts at gaining necessary consents and much more (and much worse). The simple rule of thumb is this: when you think big in a promotion, think legal. Before the big idea is a go, go to the lawyers and ask if it is possible and what it likely will cost to make it happen.
As for those sheep on Savile Row: someone did it all just right that day in October. The promotion went off as planned, the cops stayed away, everyone had a good time, and Henry Poole and the rest of the Row’s tailors got their message across, which was, “Gentlemen: wear wool and look smart.” We have to assume that, somewhere in London that night, an advertising and promotions lawyer slept soundly. He or she certainly deserved to.
Credit: Alan Behr
Photo Credit: Henry Poole & Co
Boys Gone Wild–Sometimes
Posted: September 29, 2015 Filed under: Menswear | Tags: men's fashion, menswear Comments Off on Boys Gone Wild–Sometimes
We have heard that men are the new women, that menswear is growing faster than womenswear, a business and cultural phenomenon that has seemingly taken nearly everyone by surprise. We consider many reasons for that: social media and reality television have made men more aware of the potential power of good style; online dating places a premium on appearance (your make your first impression with photos and a few lines of self-congratulatory text); and there is nothing like a worldwide economic downturn to make a guy consider carefully what he has to wear in order to get and keep a job. It may be for those reasons that menswear designers are offering all sorts of novelties at fashion shows. They appear to be following much of the same strategy as has long been used for womenswear: show something exaggerated or controversial on the runway and, when the buyers come by right after, explain how all of that will be modified into saleable condition (which is to say, something people really will wear) as soon as orders are placed.
It is perhaps for that reason that, as I examine the photographs of menswear runway shows and the editorial pages of fashion magazines, I have had increasingly greater difficulty winning a game I call I Can Wear That. To win, I have to find a complete ensemble, as shown on a living model, that I would wear, head to foot, watch to cufflinks. I can only attribute my defeat at that form of solitaire to the creativity of designers. There are looks that critics call androgynous that I cannot imagine androgynous men would be willing to wear around town. There are floor-dragging coats paired with short pants, making the model look like a schoolboy who has stolen his father’s overcoat. I suppose it is good that designers are showing no fear of color; but I just have not seen too many men grabbing those chartreuse shirts and lilac pants from retail racks.
All of that is healthy, of course. Show a bit of flare and excess, and when it comes time to make a sale, tame it down to what the market will bear. We can go back to 1962. In that year, Rudi Gernreich had no sooner created the “monokini,” the topless bathing suit, than knockoffs appeared with attachable tops. (That was, at least, the explanation my mother gave me for the one my father, a lifelong garmento, had picked up for her at a Seventh Avenue showroom.)
As for my game: when going through WWD, GQ and other publications, I indeed rarely win now at I Can Wear That. But when I go into stores, the shelves and racks are filled with things I can wear and would gladly buy. So everyone must be doing something right, and the fashion pages are always useful for inspiration. Now let me remember—what kind of coat goes best with chino shorts…?
Credit: Alan Behr
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Designers Defending Their Names
Posted: September 22, 2015 Filed under: Business Law, Intellectual Property, Licensing, Menswear, Transactions, Womenswear | Tags: brands, Catherine Malandrino, designers, Elie Tahari, Halston, Jacqueline Kennedy, Joseph Abboud, Karl Lagerfeld, Men's Warehouse, Ralph Lauren, Roy Halston Frowick, trademarks Comments Off on Designers Defending Their Names
If you are interested enough in fashion to be visiting this page, I cannot tell you anything new about Roy Halston Frowick, better known as Halston. He was unique in many ways, starting with the fact that he launched his career with a single piece: the pillbox hat that Jacqueline Kennedy wore to John F. Kennedy’s inauguration as president, in 1961. (The fact that Mrs. Kennedy was also wore a Halston pillbox while sitting in the car next to the president as he was assassinated, in Dallas, led to the style going out of fashion in the blink of an eye.) By 1983, Halston’s company, Halston Limited, was owned by Norton Simon, Inc. Unless Halston had agreed to all that at some point, the likely explanation was that there had been no form of what lawyers call a non-assignment clause in place in the relationship that Halston, the man, had set up with the owners of Halston, the brand. In any event, within about one year, Halston was no longer designing for Halston Limited. He died in 1990, a man without his own name in design. Once that disassociation occurred, Halston, the brand, which still exists, has a life of its own, and it has since changed hands seven times more.
Catherine Malandrino recently filed a lawsuit against Elie Tahari and others, claiming she was wrongfully deprived of rights under a deal by which she sold her brand (and, for all intents and purposes, her professional name) to a company controlled in part by Tahari, which employed her as its creative director. Malandrino had only minority representation on her new employer’s management committee. She alleges that her co-venturers and others routed around her in subsequent dealings, damaging the brand and failing to compensate her as agreed. Although the complaint is passionately composed, it does not directly address what appears to be the underlying issue: Malandrino and her representatives did not provide, in the agreements she signed, the kind of contractual protections that could have reduced or eliminated many of the alleged wrongs and that would have given her final say as to what was and was not a Catherine Malandrino creation.
On a happier note there is the long, circular tale of Joseph Abboud. His eponymous menswear line debuted in 1987. His name was registered as part of trademarks that he licensed to a joint venture in which he took an interest through a corporation he owned. He then sold off his equity interest and worked as a consultant to the company that now exclusively owned his name in the fashion business—until creative differences caused an abrupt. Abboud tried to start a new brand called “jaz,” making it known in the trade that he was the designer. In the lawsuit filed by the company that owned the Joseph Abboud trademarks, the court ruled, “Abboud is permanently enjoined and restricted from using her personal name to sell, market, or otherwise promote, goods, products, and services to the consuming public.” In all, a humiliating result for one of my favorite menswear designers. Several sales of branding rights and changes in price point later, man and brand were effectively reunited; in 2014, Abboud became chief creative director at Men’s Wearhouse, which is the current owner of the Joseph Abboud brand and trademarks.
And we must not forget that there are many success stories. Karl Lagerfeld is still a walking brand, regardless of whatever house for which he has already has served or may yet serve as designer. Ralph Lauren’s name is owned by his company, which is public and so owned by many shareholders—but he has set up everything quite nicely and is surely not losing sleep worrying about whether he will still be designing under his own name.
The message: every good designer is either a good business person or should work in close company with someone else who is just that—and every good business person watching over a designer’s name should have a lawyer nearby who knows what to do to keep the designer and his name permanently in each other’s company.
Next: we will show a bit of how that works.
Credit: Alan Behr
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Three Americans in Paris–a Tale of Heroism and Fashion
Posted: September 1, 2015 Filed under: General / Musings, Menswear | Tags: Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, Élysée Palace, François Hollande, France, heroism, Jane Hartley, Légion d'honneur, Legion of Honor, Netherlands, Paris, Spencer Stone, terrorism, Thalys Comments Off on Three Americans in Paris–a Tale of Heroism and Fashion
Among all the words written about the three young Americans who charged and subdued a heavily armed terrorist aboard a high-speed train in France, preventing what could have been a massive loss of life, was the fact that each received the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration given by France, while wearing polo shirts and khakis. (The British businessman who assisted them put on a suit to accept his award and spoke to his hosts in French.) Even the country club casual attire (built on “basics,” as retailers explain it to us) had to be scrounged up on the quick for the young heroes by friends and associates. Their detour from the Netherlands to Paris having been a spur-of-the-moment decision, their luggage had contained the usual assortment of shorts and T-shirts of young American travelers going just about everywhere. In light of their selfless heroism, much of the sartorial commentary about the ceremony has been along the lines of charmed recognition of the informality of the heroes in contrast to the great formality usually present at such events, particularly at the Élysée Palace.
We should first put aside the obvious: when a guy in his twenties packs for a summer vacation with his pals, he does not typically fret whether he should stuff into his backpack clothes suitable to get married in, on the off chance that he might either (a) find a bride or (b) receive the Légion d’honneur from the president of France. Those are three brave young men, but even they do not claim to be omniscient.
The more important point is that fashion is indeed everywhere. There is no way to avoid it. Even those who insist they do not care about fashion or style and dress how they please in order to be as anti-fashion and anti-style as they can are making fashion and style choices by so doing. That is, choosing to show that you are not keeping up with fashion is, in itself, a fashion choice. The fact that the two uninjured Americans (one of the men had been badly cut up by the attacker) did not first sprint down the Rue Saint-Honoré and throw themselves at the mercy of the head fitter at the Hermès flagship, begging to be form-fitted into business suits in time to get their medals pinned to their chests by President François Hollande, was itself a fashion statement. It said, “Given what we managed to do, we just didn’t think anyone cared how we looked as long as we showed the courtesy of making an effort appropriate to the moment and behaved respectfully.” And that is exactly what they did.
If there are fashion rules to draw from what happened at the Élysée Palace, it is this:
- Military heroes wear uniforms.
- Superheroes wear costumes strange enough to remind and assure us that they are the stuff of fantasy and nonsense.
- Ordinary citizens who do acts of heroism can wear whatever the hell they please.
And bravo to our three brave young men for making that fashion statement for all the world to see.
Credit: Alan Behr
Photo Credit: Used by Permission – Gisele Tellier/Geisler-Fotopress/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
