Men’s SS15 Streetwear Trend Report

Men’s streetwear became a little formal for a while, with all the tight fits, vintage fabrics and chambray shirts buttoned all the way to the top. Now it’s time to loosen up and feel at home in your own skin. For Spring/Summer 15, there’s a whole new breed of men’s streetwear for hanging loose, without looking like a loser. Comfy but dressy. Stylish but casual. Flexible, not sloppy. With nice materials that feel soft on the skin, easy to wear all day and all night floating in the summer breeze. By Dirk Vogel.

As Blake Harrington at Jimmy’Z sums it up: “Everyone wants to be comfortable right now… and lazy!?” But even if you want to be active, next year’s streetwear lines support lifestyles from the beach to the job to the yoga studio to the skate spot: “The main mission is to adapt functional clothing to street and fashion looks to make it wearable in every situation of life!” said Tina Meyer at bleed clothing.
It’s all about being flexible in SS15, agreed Matt Ross, Creative Director of Apparel for Burton Snowboards: “We understand that when you leave your home in the morning you could be subject to many environments and we want to make sure you are covered. A quick trip to the store could quickly turn into a swim in the river or an afternoon with friends so we made sure to keep this in mind when choosing fabrics.”

TRENDING OUTFITS
Speaking of fabrics, next year puts a focus on quality materials with interesting structures and subtle performance features such as water-proofing or stretch. All combined into classic looking pieces – not too crazy on the colours – blending the streetwear edge of refined silhouettes with the nonchalance of workout garments. Case in point: the new hybrid jogger-chino pants retailers need to order (like, now!). Gabe Clement at Matix calls the trend athleisure: “Matix has some nice, lightweight fleece tops that mix well with that whole trend.“
Aside from tops, what’s a quintessential SS15 outfit on these mean streets? “A trendy outfit is definitely jogger-chino pants, Vans Sk8 HIs and a heavyweight Oxford long sleeve shirt. A premium canvas tote would complete the best style,” said Luca Canali, Vans Product Manager for Apparel & Accessories. Sneakers are a key part of the equation, emphasized by the elastic leg openings on jogger pants. Mike Xavier, European marketing manager at GLOBE, describes the SS15 outfit: “Trainers paired with joggers or cropped chinos, tall tees, sweat shirts. Monotone apparel, with pop colour footwear or accessories.” For SS15 Volcom are “focusing on jackets, walk shorts and t-shirts as our main season drivers. These are categories we are performing well in and intend to go deeper in terms of offering,” explains European Marketing Director Phil Lalemant.
Another major trend, the juxtaposition of short legs with long sleeves – or vice-versa – is finding its way into SS15 collections. “I would say opposites attract. Slim meets baggie and long meets short. I would recommend our long bomber parka in light weight micro polyester, printed short sleeve shirt and slim stretch pants cuffed at the leg end,” said Neil Slinger at Colour Wear.

PRICE POINTS
The emphasis on quality materials requires a delicate balancing act when it comes to price points. Emblematic of the ongoing economic crisis, some of skateboarding’s leading professionals – and thousands of their teenage followers – are content to hit the streets in ‘recession outfits’: Work wear pants, tucked-in plain white T-shirts, canvas Vulc shoes – done! An entire outfit for less than €50.
Fortunately, things are starting to look up. Internationally, menswear sales grew nearly 5% in 2013 according to a recent Euromonitor report, outpacing global sales of women’s apparel. Nevertheless, most of the streetwear brands queried for this article are steering clear of raising price levels, while offering customers good bang for their buck. 
The Element design team said: “It’s now becoming very important to match product quality with price level, based on market competition. Price hot spots are very sensitive nowadays and very different across each product category. For our main categories, jackets are around €120, tees €25–30, and fleeces €50–70.” Meanwhile, workwear mainstays such as Dickies are maintaining their value proposition: “Price architecture is very important and we fight to keep the same excellent ratio of quality and price, ensuring we have products to meet the needs of Dickies customers all over Europe,” said Streetwear Marketing Manager Kevin Penney.

THEMES
Enough about cold, hard cash – streetwear is about dreams and visions… and themes. Finnish clothing outfit Makia is looking forward to spending SS15 with a beer in hand. Nicolas Prieto explains the ‘Brewing Makia’ collection: “One of our most intriguing designs is our all-over hops print, that will be available throughout the line in different shirts, jackets, shorts and pants. The colour theme also comes from beer brewing: copper, hops, barley and water.” Cheers!
RVCA Head Designer Camille Jean points out the ‘Take This Job and Shove it’ collection: “This delivery is characterized by its traditional workwear pieces that come with psychedelic treatments and aged washes. It’s heavily influenced by our skate team with Julian Davidson designing his own signature pieces featuring a clean workwear style with chambray fabrics and ANP artist Kelsey Brookes’ prints on the inside patches of short and long sleeves.”

The ‘sustainable island’ collection from bleed is keeping you dry with “Atlantic rain jackets with Sympatex fabric and 100% recycled polyester for a perfect mixture between function and street look, inspired by fishermen’s jackets. And we have a lot of new functional and sustainable materials as such as TENCEL, a cellulose fibre from eucalyptus trees.” European Marketing Director Phil Lalement tells of how they’re shaking things up over at Volcom. “We are moving from the big ‘heritage’ trend to something more mutated with modern things, ‘heritage’ pieces are reworked with modern/ technical details.” On a side note, Volcom also looked to Africa for inspiration with their ‘Dan Eldon’ artist collaboration. 
L1 are embracing their rebellious roots, said Andi Aurhammer: “Our main story for this upcoming season is the people who represent our brand, we call them the Left Handed Bastards. It’s an ever-changing group of people who inspire us to do what we do, through their passions, talents and personalities.”
adidas is riffing on its own style with their ‘Stolen From Sport’ theme: “Utilizing traditional sport details, styles and graphics we have reinterpreted these iconic cues to be relevant to a subversive action sports culture. Mashing pieces with our favourite jersey and fabrics such as jacquards or cotton meshes to create a very sporty, active and core collection,” said Sally Braid at adidas.

COLOURS
While fabrics and functional features are leaning towards athletic attire, colour palettes for SS15 give nods to classic menswear. “We have a larger portion of black, white, and grey throughout the line. Trends are leaning towards a more monotone look,” said Mike Xavier at GLOBE. Adriana Matthews at Brixton said: “Some of the main colours in the Spring 2015 line include blue, burgundy, rust and copper.”
Rust! Eco-conscious bleed clothing also has its mind on metallurgy: “Main colours are a rust tone, yellow and dark blue.” For Luca at Vans, it’s about three colour trends: “A vintage washed out colour palette, with muted shades of earth, sky and water. Then we have a heavily sport influenced palette, utilizing classic colours with a nod to vintage athletics and the great outdoors. And the last one features blacks mixed with primary colours with muted bright accents, resulting in a late 70s punk inspired creativity.”
The ‘colour pop’ trend of past seasons is alive and well in some collections, while brands including KR3W are sticking to their guns: “You won’t see any fluorescent colours or forced pop colours in our line,” said Jack Toledo, Senior Apparel Designer at KR3W, adding: “When it comes to our colour palette for the Spring and Summer 15 seasons we wanted to keep it tight and wearable. Less is more with colour. We are providing nice earth tones along with our staple blacks and greys. Our seasonal colours are Dark Teal and Eggshell and you will see these utilized across all categories.”
At Santa Cruz Skateboards, “colours are washed out for this season with a strong focus on sun-bleached neons and vintage monochrome tones given the distress over-dye treatment. In our ‘Santa Cruz Black Collection’ a striking monochrome colour palette, vintage wash treatments and textured over-dyes twinned with iconic graphics such as the Jessee Guadalupe make for a story that gets stronger season on season,” said Andrew Maclean, Santa Cruz Head Designer.

PRINTS
One of last season’s major trends is still gaining momentum. “Prints are a major trend in streetwear right now and we have applied that to almost every category in our collection from button-downs to knits as well as bottoms. Without prints your collection could look dull and boring,” said Gabe Clement at Matix. “Printed wovens are still retailing very well so we have a strong offer there,” confirmed Mike Xavier at GLOBE.
But make no mistake: While patterns and photo prints are coming in, big logos are headed out. “Less logo prints, but more subtle branding is seen in both the men’s and women’s collection. The major trends will be well-fitted shirts in calm colours or with nice art work,” said Nadine Hunkeler at Zimtstern. Andi at L1 is on the same page: “The biggest trend currently is quality, with subtle details that don’t scream ‘I’m wearing a specific brand!’ People want to find something that feels like it’s worth what’s on that price tag and get behind a brand because of what it represents.”
Known for their signature blend of workwear and street fashion, Carhartt WIP said: “Patterns and prints play a big part in every Carhartt WIP collection, with camouflage leading the way. For SS15, the classic Camo Isle has been stretched, pixelated and distorted to add soul and character to the entire collection. The Tropic Prints also play a key role in the collection, making their way onto both tops and accessories.” Tropical flowers are also trending at ELEMENT: “Patterns include the sketched Floral which has a really summerish hand-drawn Cactus Floral art, and The Batik for high-end products.”
Luca Canali at Vans makes an important observation: “All-over prints and monogram patterns are still important in apparel, but now we are playing with them using different washes and fabrics to give more emphasis to the whole garment rather than to the print only.”

FITS & SILHOUETTES
Hardly anything defines personal style to a larger degree than fits – the difference between bro and Yo! – and the free-spirited SS15 season is offering something for everybody. “In bottoms we try to offer a range of fits to suit each person’s individual style. We have introduced a wider pant in the line, a style that was requested by some of the Brixton Union riders,” said Brian Reichel at Brixton. On a similar note, Kevin at Dickies said: “We have had a great response with our skinny fit and tapered fit, but are starting to see the market move towards a more relaxed, loose fit.”
Traditionally coming from the relaxed end of the spectrum, Jimmy’Z “modified the original EZ-IN-EZ-OUT Velcro short to a more tailored fit, which our team riders have tested and re-tested and are stoked on the evolution of our signature item. Pants and shorts are less baggy than previous seasons, but definitely not skinny.” When it comes to tops, Element is running a more loose fit in knits, while Mike Xavier at GLOBE notes: “Tees and shirts are a little longer to tie back to new slouchier bottoms silhouettes like the Goodstock Jogger and Goodstock Beach Pant.”
At Bench they’re all about the “multipurpose, functional clothing suited to the fast pace of everyday life,” with “slim fit tops starting to get replaced by looser silhouettes,” and “sweat pants are relaxed with cropped crotch and tapered or cuffed bottoms.”
Jack Toledo, Senior Apparel Designer at KR3W, said: “We are seeing a re-emergence of the 90s movement with kids running baggy straight-legged bottoms, specifically in the chino silhouette, however we don’t want to chase trends.” Instead, KR3W is sticking to its guns: “We introduced the KSTANDARD fit for the Fall 14 season in the denim category. The fit has a comfortable upper, slightly dropped rise and mild tapered leg opening. The fit was well received and we are growing the amount of SKUs offered in denim as well as introducing it into our chino program for the Spring 15 season.”

MUST-HAVE PIECES FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2015

Jogger khakis
Meet your new favourite pants. With a slim fit and elastic waistline and leg opening, this hybrid of jogger and chino feels comfy while looking sleek. Highlights include the Vans Excerpt jogger chino, Quiksilver Happy Hour pant and GLOBE Goodstock jogger. Mike Xavier at GLOBE says: “These are lower dropped crotch or slouchy fits, tapering in towards the hem. Elastic waist and bottoms are trending across chinos, joggers, pool shorts.”

Beer cooler X jacket
Cheers to Makia for creating the ultimate summer festival companion. “The Tempest jacket looks like a very classic and clean-cut Makia Jacket. The jacket is one of our more technical summer jackets and has a cool urban feature: It comes with a mosquito hat that can also be used as a sinkable beer cooler,” said Nicolas Prieto.

Fitted tops, not tight
Flexible, relaxed bottoms call for tees and tops that are longer and tailored, but not too tight –KR3W have it down: “We have made a conscious effort to streamline our fits within the tops categories in order to provide a tailored, yet forgiving end product. It seems everyone was gravitating towards slimmer fits in tops and bottoms a couple of years ago. However now we are making garments from more of a mature perspective and want our fits to reflect that,” said Jack Toledo, Senior Apparel Designer at KR3W.

Pop on a poncho
Summer outdoor adventures can last well into the evening, and Burton keeps you covered in the night breeze. “The Freelight Poncho is a poncho version of Burton’s iconic Freelight Jacket. The Freelight Poncho is perfect for the summer festival season and can double as a blanket for relaxing outside,” said Matt Ross at Burton.

Tie-dye: Back from the (Grateful) Dead!
The psychedelic swirl pattern – trippy, man! – is everywhere in SS15, including the RVCA Alex Knost Signature Collection: “The Californian surfer, musician, photographer, and hippie loves everything about the past. His new signature collection is all about vintage and tie-dye. Shirts with colourful vertical stripes, retro trunks and tie-dye cardigan sweaters.”

Men’s SS15 Streetwear Trends at a Glance

· All-day outfits for relaxing and action

· Quality materials at sensitive price points

· Fitted, longer tops – but not too tight

· Pattern prints, no large logos

· Metallurgy-inspired colours – rust and copper

· Comfortable materials with soft feel and interesting textures

· Looser fits in knit tops, more relaxed pants

· Washes more important than prints

· Short legs paired with long sleeves