Last February, Hugo Boss held its first ever menswear show since 2008. This is a sign that the label, which is mostly known for its suits, is looking for a way to redefine the brand in the menswear section. Hugo Boss will now be a regular during fashion weeks.
The brand’s move also hints at the change menswear as a whole has undergone over the past years. The change is that most millennials are not wearing suit as much as the eras before them. They opt for a more casual look everyday with khakis at work.
With the current men staying away from most suits, menswear brands have had to come up with clever strategies to stay on top of the fashion world, and no other brand has done a better job so far than Ingo Wilts’ new Hugo Boss. Wilts was in Dubai last month for the reopening of the Hugo Boss store at Mall of the Emirates. He spent some time talking to Khaleej Times in a brief interview. Here are the key takeaways:
How has Hugo Boss managed to stay on top of its fashion game for so long?
Wilts: We are known worldwide for our tailoring DNA and the suit is our key product. Hence, we are constantly working on the development, redefining and modernising our products to offer timeless modern pieces to fulfill our customer’s needs. With our fashion show collections, we additionally show our more fashion-forward fashion expertise.
Hugo Boss is all about the suit, but perhaps the modern man is not wearing the suit as much as he used to. How has this affected your label?
Wilts: Boss is about more than the perfect suit. We’ve immersed ourselves to taking a new approach to design, with a more fashion-forward result to fulfill customer needs. The suit will always remain a key product for us, but it is cut and styled in a modern way. Along with the suit, our product range also includes sophisticated casual looks that can easily be combined with our business and evening wear to provide solutions for all wearing occasions.
How have you reinvented the suit to make it fit into the workplace of now?
Wilts: We see a general trend towards athleisure and have also adapted the Boss codes of tailoring and fine quality to a very relaxed way in many pieces of our collections. Suiting has never been so relaxed with oversized or double breasted suits styled with sneakers and a cashmere sweater instead of a shirt and tie.
