Jeff Garner, founder and designer of Prophetik
Men’s fashion typically takes a back seat to women’s due to the consumer demand of women’s ready-to-wear. The men’s retail business makes up 20 percent of the market, with eco-fashion constituting only 7 percent (5 percent of which is women’s.) This gives the justification of why companies tend not to focus on eco-menswear. Plus, there is a shortage of menswear designers out there in general.
A FEW GOOD MEN
Most design houses are run by bankers who couldn’t care less about the vision behind sustainable fashion. They’ve only jumped on the green bandwagon because they see a potential market to tap into for profitability. It takes visionaries and independently owned design houses to blaze the trail of sustainable fashion so that it is affordable and obtainable by men, women, and children.
There is a shortage of menswear designers out there in general.
We also need to create consumer demand so that all design houses will be forced to follow the eco-trail and actually do something positive for the environment—which we are all a part of—even if they are only motivated by profit margins and numbers.
I run a small sustainable men’s design house in San Francisco and I think the demand is there! Men are so happy to find us, and always really impatient with the lack of choice available to them. In my markets at least, if they had more options they would take them!