For guys in the know, the creation and debut of a separate fashion week for men's collections seemed like a long time coming. However, average men in New York were completely unaware New York Fashion Week: Men's even existed, The Cut reports.
100 men in Lower Manhattan were surveyed and only 31 of them knew about the new fashion week. A majority of the affirmative responders only knew about it because they worked in a related field, like fashion PR or modeling. This group believed that men's fashion was on the upswing, and pointed to equality—"If there’s a women’s one, they’ve got to cater to men’s fashion," one man told The Cut—and the way men copy Kanye West's style as reasons for the new week.
The 69 responders who didn't know about men's fashion week were mostly ambivalent about it. "I guess I don’t really care!" a 32-year-old yoga instructor named Anton said.
Regardless of the general population's knowledge of men's fashion week, it's hard to say it's been anything less than a success to those that follow it. There have been stirring shows from John Elliott + Co., Public School, Billy Reid, Ovadia & Sons, N.Hoolywood, and Rag & Bone, plus a confirmation that we're going to do it all again next season. Maybe then more than 31 percent of guys will know what's actually going on.
