Wall Street Journal
By Sameer Reddy
In the average man's mind, shopping for clothes falls somewhere between taking out the garbage and going to the dentist—a necessary evil that subtracts from time that could be spent watching sports, drinking beer and taking naps. But with a wealth of new websites aimed specifically at manly men with a disdain for in-store shopping, getting gear has never been more appealing (or painless).
Sites like the dapper Mr Porter, an extension of Web retail pioneer Natalie Massenet's empire; avant-garde portal Oki-ni; Southern-bred start-up Lyonstate and flash-sale favorite Gilt Man and its coming full-price site are upending the notion that acquiring cool clothes requires tedious hours spent sifting through mountains of merchandise. Instead, they offer a curated selection of hard-to-find labels and even vintage wares. Information, clean graphics and efficiency are emphasized on the sites, which are designed specifically to avoid the horrors that men's shopping nightmares are made of.
Unlike most women's sites, which focus on spotlighting product, men's e-tailers have made a big investment in editorial content that shepherds visitors through the corridors of male personal style. London-based Mr Porter (mrporter.com), which launched in late February, is the most ambitious of the bunch, updating its comprehensive style bible weekly. Editor in chief Jeremy Langmead's magazine experience—as the former editor of Esquire's U.K. edition and of Wallpaper—brings a polished sensibility to Mr Porter, offering classics from 80 designers, including Turnbull & Asser, Yves Saint Laurent and Ralph Lauren. It also contains detailed lifestyle tips from well-dressed men, including Hugh Jackman and Pharrell Williams, and get-the-look shopping guides based on style icons like Paul Newman and Fiat heir Lapo Elkann. Mr Porter also provides a level of service on par with that of luxury department stores like Bergdorf Goodman, offering brief introductions to each brand they carry, highlighting its strong points along with factoids and sizing. "Content gives us the ability to illustrate an idea while also educating a customer about a brand or a product that is featured on the site," Mr. Langmead said. "As a retailer, you have to talk and sell to men in a very different way than you do to women. They want information and advice."
However, men are just as susceptible to impulse buys as their female counterparts—a wager on which Gilt Man (giltman.com), launched in 2009, has built its $100 million business. A subsidiary of the popular site Gilt Groupe, Gilt Man's "flash sales" are similar to a designer sample sale (minus the threat of violence), selling a limited quantity of discounted product from more than 350 brands—everything from vintage Porsches to John Varvatos suits. This summer, Gilt will move into a new corner of the market, launching a much-buzzed-about full-price men's site editorially directed by Tyler Thoreson, who has recruited magazine editors from publications such as GQ and contributors like Gay Talese. (The name of the project has been embargoed until closer to the launch date.) According to John Auerbach, president of the new division, the site will adopt a more populist approach than Mr Porter, treating both rarefied luxury goods and wardrobe staples with a degree of irreverence and an eye for utility. "You'll see a wide range of styles, along with surprise items that you didn't realize you needed," he said. If Gilt Man's blog, Gilt Manual, which was launched last September by Mr. Thoreson, is any indication, it will be less slick and more informal than Mr Porter's editorial, with a kinetic aesthetic, providing merchandised solutions to practical problems that confront contemporary men, such as "how to sharpen a straight razor" and "how to clash with panache."
Catering to a much smaller audience, the progressive British site Oki-ni (oki-ni.com) has become a destination for men who can wax poetic on the transcendent virtues of Japanese denim. Launched in 2001, the site was one of the first aimed toward men, offering a mix of both established and up-and-coming labels like Thom Browne, Omar Kashoura and Raf Simons. An early embracer of the now-saturated collaboration concept, Oki-ni has refocused on carrying exclusives, such as suede creeper boots from George Cox. Akin to specialty stores like New York's Opening Ceremony, the site affords fashion-conscious consumers who live outside of urban centers access to brands they likely wouldn't have been exposed to.
Going for more of a rural aesthetic, the men's site Lyonstate (lyonstate.com), which launched this spring, pays homage to owner Reba Cunningham's Southern roots. Born in Mobile, Ala., the former A.P.C. executive is now a Manhattan resident, but has held onto her down-home appreciation for personal touches. Ms. Cunningham's values are evident in every aspect of the site, from the personalized thank you notes enclosed with each order to special commissions, like the handkerchiefs she had silkscreened with a letter written by her grandmother in the 1920s. Offering just 13 labels, the brand matrix is casual and focused on independent designers like Billy Reid and Rachel Comey.
While for many women online shopping is an extension of a favorite leisure activity, for men, it's a one-click answer to their prayers. Men want to look put together, but they don't want to spend half the day wandering from store to store in search of a cashmere sweater or the perfect pair of flat-front pants. As Mr. Langmead of Mr Porter put it, "a guy can have the items he chooses delivered, he can try it on with stuff he already owns, check if his partner likes it and keep it if it works. If not, we will pick it back up." Best of all, he can enjoy a beer, watch the game and take a nap while shopping from home—just try doing that in a department store.
