Men take over and progress regularly on this dimension notes the study

Is the growth of the mode lever in the hands of men At the risk of forcing the line, it is the meaning of two recent studies presented this week at first Vision, the grand Salon of the professionals in the textile, which lend a finding: that of the increasing sophistication of expectations and tastes of men's fashion. From which interest would be brands offer also diversified and "sharp" than that destined for women.

For Larry Hasson, the President of the RISC-based International law firm, which led the heavier of the two surveys conducted in the world (), only there is a global phenomenon, but it is in the new rich that he speaks with more sharpness. China in the lead. Thus, whereas in Western countries 70 of a sample of people defining itself as "interested" in the mode consists of women only 30 of men, the proportion rises to 45 in China.

Social success

Another revealing measure: that of the ability of men combine their share of women (as expressed by their interest in fashion) with their masculinity, the affirmation of the "genus" also knowing a strong rebound since 2000. The more expert to play on the two tables are the Chinese men with 29 of positive responses, followed by the Japanese (21). Then came the Europeans (17), Americans being by far the least comfortable in this exercise with a score of only 9.

Larry Hasson believes that we can without fear extrapolate these trends across emerging countries, in particular the BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India and China. "In these countries, there is that fashion is the way to symbolize the same as the new technologies, social success and the rapid rise in the standard of living."

In this population of men also concerned fashion that women to the nuance close that they prefer instead the concept of style, less ephemeral a minority, 17 of persons interviewed, the more likely to make shopping a real hobby, total purchases in volume one and half in value. The percentage of this "modeuse Vanguard", rather young, and as women buying momentum, even reached 26 per cent in Italy fan, what does that corroborate the observation of Italian Street, followed immediately by the Chinese (24) and German (23). France and Great Britain, it is only 17 with, again, the Americans good last to 9.

Weight of China and the India

The bulk of this message has been fully integrated by the brands of luxury. For a decade, all growing collections of clothing and the lines of accessories to the male gent destination. But, as Larry Hasson, "they did not yet fully realized the fact that their growth potential lies more on men from women". Ditto for the fashion brands. Because, and it is another RISC study, women's education, always in advance of a trend with their male partners, consumer brand way. "Materialistic aspirations have reached a historical level today stabilized." "Men take over and progress regularly on this dimension," notes the study.

In the allocation of resources, it is logical that luxury brands, and more generally all those operating in the consumer goods, focus more efforts (creation of distribution networks and advertising investments) on these new rich. Their middle classes are already in China and India hundreds of millions of people. Larry Hasson in notes, and even warned that "the relative weight of these countries in world demand will further increase that marks tend today to Western mature markets". The risk of a slowdown is even greater in these mature markets, the population, especially the middle classes, a sense that its situation is deteriorating. RISC is thus year after year the perception of people in the development of their personal economic situation. Two thirds of the surveyed Chinese in 2007 had the feeling that it had made progress from one year to the other, against only one-third of Americans and one in five of the Europeans and Japanese.

Far from being an argument of demobilization of the some 750 exhibitors from around the world first vision, RISC International sees this development a prod to encourage better to occupy the land with the other half of humanity.