The People, Places, and Stories Behind Menswear

Where American Tailoring Meets the World

Last week, I spent a few days in Chicago at the Chicago Collective, the world’s largest menswear trade show, and every time I go, I’m reminded just how big, creative, and deeply connected the world of clothing really is.

Unlike New York, where the trade-show is centered around custom tailors, designers, and the more sartorial side of the industry, Chicago is a little bit of everything. You’ll find Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss alongside small, family-owned brands you may have never heard of, and if it can be sold in a casual coastal shop in Maine, a traditional men’s store in the Midwest, or a thriving custom showroom in Los Angeles, there’s a good chance it’s being shown somewhere on the floor in Chicago.

That variety is what makes the Collective such an interesting place to spend a few days, because you’re not just looking at clothes, you’re seeing the entire spectrum of American menswear and getting a glimpse into where the industry is headed.

The people behind the clothes

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was finally meeting several people I’ve followed on Instagram for years, which is one of the funny things about social media: you can spend months or years following someone’s work, listening to their ideas, and learning their perspective, only to finally meet them in person and realize that you already have so much in common.

One of those people was Nick, the man behind @NickThrowsaFit, whose account I’ve always admired because he doesn’t simply talk about what people are wearing; he digs into the why behind a wardrobe and asks bigger questions about why we choose certain clothes, what they communicate about us, and how our clothing becomes part of the identity we carry into the world.

Those are the conversations that make menswear so much more interesting to me than simply talking about what’s “in” this season.

I also had the pleasure of chatting with Fabio Attanasio several times throughout the weekend, as he was in Chicago promoting the newest installment of his Scent of Tailoring series, The Scent of Tailoring Vol. III: The American Jacket. (Buy Here)

I made a point of taking a moment to thank him for using his platform to highlight American tailoring, because what he is doing goes far beyond documenting beautiful clothing; he is telling the stories of the people, factories, techniques, and traditions that make those garments possible, and he is helping introduce an entirely new audience to the people who are keeping these crafts alive.

At one point during our conversation, I actually pulled open my own jacket and showed Fabio that the garment I was wearing had been made in one of the very American factories he visited while creating the book.

That was a pretty special moment for me.

Here we were, two people who have been talking about American clothing from different corners of the industry, standing together at one of the largest menswear trade shows in the world, connected by a jacket that had been made in an American factory he had personally visited and documented.

That’s what I love about clothing.

The connections are everywhere if you take the time to look for them.

When the community comes together

There was something especially fitting about seeing The Scent of Tailoring Vol. III supported by Gladson, one of our own fabric houses, because it was another reminder that the story of American clothing has never belonged to just one person or one company.

It takes fabric houses, mills, tailors, manufacturers, retailers, photographers, writers, designers, and customers who care enough to ask where their clothes came from, and when those people come together, something much bigger than a garment begins to take shape.

The menswear industry can sometimes feel like a collection of separate worlds, but Chicago reminded me that we’re much more connected than we think, and that there is a growing community of people who genuinely care about making, wearing, and talking about clothing with intention.

We’re all working toward the same thing:

Keeping clothing meaningful.

And we’re bringing some of that Chicago energy home with us.

We found new fabrics, discovered new garments and brands that I’m excited to bring into the shops, and came home with a renewed appreciation for the people who are continuing to push American menswear forward while still respecting the craftsmanship and traditions that got us here.

There’s a lot to come, and I can’t wait to show you what we found.

Stay tuned.

The next chapter is already being cut.