Tailoring, Fashion & Designing for the Consumer.

Throughout menswear history, the art of tailoring has always had a major influence on the clothes men wore. To this day this is still the case, with Savile Row tailors fighting to keep the tradition alive. 

Clear correlations between tailoring and contemporary fashion come through in terms of the component parts that underpin menswear; jackets, shirts and trousers. These core garments are altered, adapted and accessorised but ultimately stay the same. It is only the attitudes of the time that inspire these garments to have their own contemporary style. 

This is where it is important for the designer to understand that these contemporary styles need to be adopted by the consumer in order for them to be successful. The designer’s aim is to achieve Beal, Rogers and Bohlen’s innovation adoption model. This is where the consumer will walk through the five stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and finally the adoption stage where they embrace and wear the item. 

This idea highlights the significance of what is influential to the consumer at a certain time, whether this is music, sports, art movements or the economy. These are the things that drive trends. Essentially, the contemporary man is driven by their own personal style that they develop, perhaps even subconsciously, from these trends and create for themselves from a diverse range of brands to communicate their individuality and personal style.