It's safe to say that too much ink has been spilled covering the cultural phenomenon known as #menswear. From unnecessarily high-brow fuckery to an ironic book that shall remain nameless because it was written by very same guy who cuts my checks, #menswear has grabbed the attention of dudes across the Internetz through the omnipotent power of social media. While mainstream America is finally catching on to the benefits of tailored clothing and well-designed footwear, for us die-hard dork types, #menswear’s rise paralleled the rise of Tumblr-based blogging and Twitter-based ranting circa late 2008 up until now.
Because #menswear gave way to the general acceptance of a certain desire to look good, it in turn afforded a whole new level of creativity from a handful of ambitious and emerging brands and designers. If we really want to understand #menswear at face value, our best bet is to observe and quantify those under its loosely defined umbrella. Let's just get it out of the way and say that any discussion of #menswear is, at best, dogma and, at worst, conversational masturbation. However, we the best, so fuck it. Above, we honor those that paved the way for a generation of sartorially inclined gentleman and helped propel an often change resistant industry.
Jake Woolf is a writer living in New York City. You can read his blog here and follow him on Twitter here.