Men’S Streetwear FW15/16 Trend Report

Protest

Boardsports and streetwear share the same roots. In the early 1980s, Shawn Stüssy a.k.a. the “Godfather of Modern Streetwear”, cut his teeth as a surfboard shaper before designing apparel. As the 1990s rolled along, the enduring love affair between hip-hop and boardsports spawned rider-owned clothing companies such as Andy Howell’s Zero Sophisto as well as Damon Way and Ken Block’s Eightball brand (later Droors). So while more and more companies are hopping onto the streetwear bandwagon nowadays, never forget: Boardsports brands were the ones who got the train rolling. Report by Dirk Vogel.

PARKAS AND INSULATED SHIRT JACKETS ‘MUST HAVES’ FOR FW15/16

Santa Cruz

It’s a strong heritage, and boardsports brands are drawing on their roots to lead the way with Autumn/Winter 2015/16 streetwear collections. Since we are amidst cold weather season in Europe, the focus lies with combining warmth and street-savvy aesthetics, but without verging into technical outerwear territory.

“Streetwear is basically designed to keep you warm in an urban environment with a special focus on design and not so much on functionality. In technical outerwear, the focus always used to be the function before the design,” notes Felix Lengle, Sales Manager at LRG Europe. Shredability is a plus, not a must for urban apparel, said Philippe Lalemant, Marketing Director Europe at Volcom: “Our streetwear is definitely not made to be worn for riding. There might be similarities between our streetwear jackets and some of our HR&S snowboard products which have a more urban aesthetic approach, but the difference is in the technicality of the product.”

BLURRED LINES, STEADY PRICE POINTS

But the lines are blurring this coming season, Andrew Maclean, Head Designer Santa Cruz Europe points out: “There is definitely a noticeable move towards more brands offering classic streetwear pieces that now include aspects of technical performance, thus blurring the dividing lines between streetwear and traditional technical outerwear as we move forward.” Stylistically, it’s all about walking a fine line to retain that certain street “edge”. Joni Malmi, founder of Makia confims: “We try to incorporate casual functionality with good materials, but without overdoing it. You need to be able to get to work without looking like a snowman.”

The influx of technology is especially visible in jackets, where consumers are willing to pay extra for performance. “Our best-selling jackets are at €199 to €249. Over the years we have seen that our consumers buy more expensive, but better jackets. The days of cheap surf shit are over,” said Jan Lindeboom of O’Neill’s Men’s Division.

On that note, price points remain steady this coming season across almost all brands and categories. Companies realize the thin ice when confronting financially strained consumers with price hikes, so while quality and performance are up, prices stay flat: Flannel shirts and button-ups retail from €49–59; fleeces and sweaters €59–69; denim and insulated chinos €69–79; lighter shell jackets €89–99, and heavier jackets from €129 all the way into the upper €200s.

THEMES: LAYERED, SPORTY, JAPANESE

Arbor

Looking into the crystal ball – and our top-secret previews of upcoming collections – the major themes for AW2015/16 include:

1. Layering. Cold weather season is the time to wear different layers of clothing, increasing the diversity of styles and looks. “Layering, including elongated silhouettes like tall tees and shirts make a big statement this season,” said Oliver Cousins, Apparel Designer at Globe. According to Jan at O’Neill, “the uniform of Fall includes layering items such as specialty tees, crew neck fleeces, knitwear and flannel shirts.” Outerwear pieces are also accommodating the layering trend, including the Matix Markett Jacket: “It has more room in the shoulders, so you can easily layer-up underneath the jacket, without it feeling bulky,” advises Gabe Clement.

2. Weatherization. Summertime favourites such as canvas and denim are given the winter treatment with water-proof coatings and waxes. “It’s been designed for the elements, and treated to keep you warm and dry. It’s not just jackets though, we’ve extended the weatherized offering to also include woven shirts, hoodies, backpacks and also denim,” said Luca Canali, Product Manager of Apparel & Accessories for Vans EMEA. The result is a street collection that can endure harsh weather, without looking ‘technical’. As the folks at Bench put it: “It’s about your garment doing the job it is supposed to do in any environment. Wearable style with concealed function.”

3. Sustainability. Technical innovation not only increases performance, but also reduces environmental footprints on the backend. Companies across the board are putting nature first, including Bleed clothing: “Our street line is fully biodegradable and made completely of natural materials, while the functional line is made of recycled materials. Both are nearly similar in style, and adaptable to every situation in daily life,” said Michael Spitzbarth, CEO, founder, and designer. Keeping close to the earth’s bounty, Californian brand Jimmy’Z is, “starting to experiment with different fabrics, mostly organic cottons and hemp,” said Blake Harrington.   

4. Japan. Many brands are inspired by the Land of the Rising Sun this season, including Altamont: “Our Fall 15 line explores a mix of traditional and futuristic sensibilities, set against a neo-Tokyo backdrop. The design team was heavily inspired by classic and current monster movies like Godzilla and Pacific Rim, and the anime film Akira. Visually, this translates into an interesting blend of slightly-modernized military silhouettes and traditional Japanese fabric and print stories,” said Sam Barratt, EMEA Brand Manager. Jimmy’Z is collaborating with several Japanese partners on outerwear, including Manastash, while LRG just opened a flagship store in Tokyo: “Japan has a very strong streetwear and fashion scene, so we dedicated one group of the collection to those guys with Robo-looking graphics, prints on the sleeves, and Japanese characters.”  

5. Collaboration. When streetwear brands partner up with technological trailblazers, winning product ensues. Matix is collaborating with 686 to bring advanced technical fabrics into the line, while Protest is joining forces with Numbnut Motorcycles on the extensive Café Racer Collaboration. O’Neill has been working closely with expert shirt makers Pendleton on a variety of fresh flannels. RVCA is upping the athletics angle from last season’s “athleisure” to straight-up sports performance with the VA Sport Line, because “martial arts and high-intensity cardio training have also become very popular within the surfing scene,” RVCA Head Designer Camille JeanJean notes. Next to TransDry fabric, the line includes RVCA x Virus Compression collab pieces that “aid cooling, heating, and recovery during and after training sessions.”

COLOURS & PRINTS: DOWN TO EARTH

Vans

Colour choices are a defining element of putting the “street” into streetwear. “The main difference between streetwear and outerwear are the colour schemes and silhouettes. The street styles are way more restrained than our outerwear,” said Marianne Schoch, Senior Designer at Zimtstern, whose season picks include, “marine, carmine, nutria, classic grey heather including a black/white colour scheme.” All brands agreed that black is a strong seller, and that military grey, olive, navy, and earth tones remain solid staples.

Adriana Matthews at Brixton points out: “Main colours in the Fall 2015 line are navy, rust, olive, burgundy and mustard – classic neutral colours.” At Bench, the colour scheme evolves throughout the season: “The collection sees a movement of colour from the beginning of the season to the end, with icy tones launching the collection and developing into warm rich hues towards the close of the winter season.”

When it comes to prints, brands are marching to their own beat – from loud and crazy to soft and subdued. Some even hide prints on the inside lining, but not Neff: “For Neff, wild patterns and colours are always in the mix; florals, neons, South Western patterns, splatters, and a whole lot of animals,” Kirsten at Neff confirms. Arbor is sticking to its guns: “We feel that stripes are timeless features that are well transitioned into core flannels and soft enzyme pigment dye knits,” said Kevin Murray, International Sales Manager of Arbor Apparel.

On the same note, Dickies is embracing its work wear roots: “Textures are usually of a hard wearing nature and the colour palette selected will work alongside with Duck brown, Maroons, dark greens/blues,” said Kev Penney, Streetwear Marketing Manager. Gabe at Matix is excited about, “nice new patterns and fresh textures like our Micro Hounds tooth flannel, our Birdseye Cotton work wear shirt, our Alternator Pullover that has a very nice micro knit jacquard pattern.” Other standouts include Japanese florals (Altamont), geometric colour blocking (Vans), Mexican street culture (Santa Cruz), Japanese indigo dyeing patterns (Burton), restrained yardage prints and yarn dye checks (Globe).

FABRICS: Rugged shell, soft interior

Fabrics are divided into two camps next season: “The fabrics are mostly harsh on the outside and very soft on the inside. Waxed materials outside and sherpas on the inside, real comfortable but kinda tough and rugged on the outside,” said Jan at O’Neill. One of the key treatments for outside shells is wax on top of canvas, explains Jon Kooley, Creative Director at L1Outerwear: “We have a waxed canvas deck jacket called the Bridgeport jacket. This jacket not only looks amazing with its custom trims, but it’s also highly functional with its water and wind resistant wax coating.”

Dickies also has a new water-repellent canvas, while Jimmy’Z is keeping riders warm with pinwale corduroy. At Protest, fabrics follow a Nordic exploration theme, as Martijn Jegerings, Head of Marketing describes: “The harsh conditions of arctic expeditions demand a combination of qualities leading to a rugged, heritage-inspired collection with a strong emphasis on fur, Fair Isle, patches and badges.” These materials also introduce interesting textures, for example Brixton’s “waxed canvas, heavy duck canvas, Melton wools, Sherpa and chunky knits.”

The trending fabric story for AW15/16 is denim, with Arbor going full-throttle into a collab: “Next year we will be working with the great people over at Lee Denim and curating our own signature denim styles with two staple fits; Relaxed and Slims.” Vans has “injected technology into the denim range, with Sturdy Stretch and Wicked dry. The combination of these features brings high performance to the fabric: Sturdy Stretch adds durability and provides stretch retention, while Wicked Dry allows high breathability and moisture wicking.” Volcom is getting back on board: “We are re-launching our denim category so that is our main push for that season. We have updated our denim fit library and developed an entire campaign.” RVCA is also kicking their denim offering into high gear, said Camille JeanJean: “We have more fits and more washes that range from raw denim to grunge – and beyond.”

Meanwhile, Globe is adding technical features to chino pants: “The Union Chino is a premium work wear inspired pant featuring a twill we have developed using T400 yarn. It has anti-bacterial and moisture wicking properties and mechanical stretch for comfort.”  

JACKETS: TECHNOLOGY AND COMFORT

Burton

One product category is doing the heavy lifting in autumn/winter streetwear, both in terms of sales volumes and use value: jackets. Here’s where boardsports companies can draw on their best R&D, blended with urban stylistics. “Any of our street jackets use the same CLWR-developed Dewtech waterproof fabrics so they can handle the tough Scandinavian weather,” explains Neil Slinger at Colour Wear. Michael Spitzbarth at Bleed Clothing also puts emphasis on surviving the “Nordic Wild” climate: “Our main product groups are functional pieces such as the recycled SYMPATEX Jackets and the knitwear.” But as Michael points out: “Bleed is a vegan clothing brand not applying any animal material in our collections. So we decided to take Primaloft padding and a recycled polyester as shell fabric.”

The formula for next season is combining warm fills with weather-resistant coatings, including O’Neill’s jackets: “There are 10k/10k, 3 layers and packable down with hyperdry fabric treatments in the collection.” Other weapons in the harsh-weather arsenal include materials such as Primaloft (Vans), Outside Transdry (RVCA), Dryride fleece (Burton), DWR water resistant coating, water resistant zippers and 320-gram synthetic down fill (Brixton). Offering major bang for the customer’s buck, Globe is launching the 3-in-1 Hikari Jacket: “The style includes a functional shell jacket, fully waterproof and breathable which can be worn on its own. Inside the shell is a removable, quilted bomber jacket insulated with Primaloft, which again can be worn as a jacket in itself.” Burton offers reversible shirts and jackets in their Backside collection.

As for the style of the jacket, featuring prominently are winterized editions of varsity jackets (Neff), bomber jackets (Altamont and Zimtstern), and trucker jackets (Dickies). Jimmy’Z is pushing prices into the €500 stratosphere with the Letterman’s jacket. The main jacket of the season is, true to streetwear’s military heritage, a rugged parka. Makia has updated the Original Raglan Parka, Matix offers the roomy Markett Jacket, and LRG has the Kingsford Duffle Coat, “a clean looking parka with a great haptic, solid quality and insane details.” Volcom sets the bar high with the, “Starget parka, a hooded parka with adjustable hood and waist, great waist cargo pockets and it comes in 5 colour options. It’s a great warm winter product.”

So there you have it: Boardsports brands are keeping riders warm and looking sharp next season, as streetwear lives, not at the boutique or mall, but at the core boardsports store. Always remember, we own these mean streets!

Men’s FW15/16 Streetwear Trends at a Glance

Steady price points, more demand for quality.

Layering of different fabrics and pieces.

Weatherized materials with a soft inside feel.

Japanese designs and materials are trending.

Collabs with specialty brands and technology providers.

Denim and chinos infused with performance (stretch, insulation).

Down insulation on the rise.

Subtle colours in monochromatic outfits.