Homeboy FW20/21 Men’s Streetwear Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Men’s Streetwear FW20/21

Brand: HOMEBOY
Interviewee: Julian Wolf

How is the situation in European boardsports retail from your perspective?
It´s still hard, but the opportunities are growing! “Post hype” is “pre boardsports”. After the Sneaker Hype and all these Brands, that came with it, people don´t know what`s “cool” anymore. They only know what is not… YEEZYS or distressed Skinny Jeans! In times like these all eyes are on the Skaters, because they always know what they want to wear and they always look “different” than the others. So if the retailers start to pick up the new look, Skaters created in the last couple of seasons, the situation will get better very soon.

What are your main price points for next season?
We see ourselves in a reasonable price range. Because of our long history our customer group is quite far-fetched. We want to sell to nostalgic and young at heart but employed grown-ups as well as to students and pupils that are broke but hyped. For us it´s important to stay affordable without being cheap.

Are you seeing any dominant overall trends for FW 20/21, like work wear?
Less big Logos but even bigger silhouettes. Wide leg pants and Baggys, mixed with boxy tops and jackets.

What is your collection theme and which stories are you telling to get customers stoked on streetwear with a boardsports flavor?
Return to real. For the last few years everyone was so distracted from fashion, that they thought it´s the same as streetwear. Luxury brands like LV and GUCCI got us all mixed up. But that’s not streetwear. That doesn´t mean we want to go back to black on black skate-punk clothing. But that´s not it´s roots anyways. Return to real for us means wide pieces in fresh colours ala late 80s and 90s.

What makes this product category important to your brand and what are your USPs?
This product category is our ID. It´s our lungs. We are the first European Streetwear brand. That´s pretty unique.

What is the “must have” boardsports look (head-to-toe) for next season?
Fisherman Beanie styled with a boxy shirt, hoody or crew neck and a puffy jacket or a teddy fleece. The pants HAVE TO BE wide. Doesn´t matter if it´s denim, cargo, chinos or worker pants. These pants are worn on shoe or slightly cropped. Underneath those pants you´ll see a lot of skate shoes like VANS or outdoor boots.

What are you doing with materials, colours and textures?
Rough and solid materials meet muted, but fresh colours at our collection 2020. Ice-green, blue and black are the colours we go for while there will be no spandex used for the pants. 100% cotton denim, twill and corduroy.

What are the trends in prints, graphic designs and patterns?
Big Logos are banned from the chest to the back. What is common practice in boardsports will finally be commercial in 2020. Smaller prints will be replaced by embroidery and patches on tops, but also on pants embroidery will be highlighting every pair.

Which trends do you see currently happening in the denim segment? (Seasonal colors, distressed jeans, washes, best sellers, etc)
Lose fit washed blue jeans in a vintage look are a must-have in every wardrobe but also fresh colours like ice-green are finding their way to the more conventional customers.

What is your current denim collection’s theme and marketing story?
Back to the roots. 100% cotton denims in light blue or indigo. No frills.

Which technical and sustainable features are you adding to jeans (stretch, sustainable fabrics etc)
Stretch is dead. You don´t need it for Baggy Pants

Please name and describe your 3 highlight pieces and items that retailers should definitely order.
X-TRA BAGGY JEANS in Moon – Our vision was to capture the vibes of the nineties and put them in a future-oriented case. Key items like the X-TRA HOMEBOY embroidery, the deep backpockets in combination with the signature Cross-Stiching and the Rainbow Fly-Tag and the 100% cotton denim we took over 1:1. The Sillouhette of the trousers, though, were adapted to the zeitgeist. Tapered and slightly cropped, you don’t have to spend your weekends at hip-hop festivals to rock these pants authentically.

NS in Moon – Our vision was to capture the vibes of the nineties and put them in a future-oriented case. Key items like the X-TRA HOMEBOY embroidery, the deep backpockets in combination with the signature Cross-Stiching and the Rainbow Fly-Tag and the 100% cotton denim we took over 1:1. The Sillouhette of the trousers, though, were adapted to the zeitgeist. Tapered and slightly cropped, you don’t have to spend your weekends at hip-hop festivals to rock these pants authentically.