Nike, Lululemon, Gap invests in men's clothing

Men's fashion is having its moment in the spotlight.

This week, Nike has launched its new collection of yoga clothing for men. While this was the company's first foray into men's yoga clothing, the movement was very much in line with competitors who have been pushing the men's clothing market recently.

Lululemon, whose bread and butter has long been a female yoga pant, is one of those competitors. Former CEO Laurent Potdevin described men's fashion as one of the brand's "best kept secrets." The company is now looking to turn this division into a billion dollar business.

Gap Inc. also came on stream last year with its new casual men's fashion brand, Hill City.

But a push for men's fashion extends beyond the sportswear market – Madewell launched men's clothing in September, Saks Fifth Avenue recently closed its women's clothing store in Brookfield Place, but kept its masculine location open, Mary- Kate and Ashley Olsen launched their own men's fashion collection The Row brand last year, and the list goes on.

All these brands are wanting to take advantage of a major change in fashion, and that is that, in the not too distant future, men's fashion can overcome women's fashion.

Business intelligence company Gartner L2 has estimated that in just two years, revenue growth for men's clothing will surpass that of women's clothing. This data is supported by Euromonitor International, which estimated that male lines will outperform women in the next six years.

Where did it start?

"Fashion has always been about women, but men are finally having the time," said Lizzy Bowring, director of the WSGN agency's catwalk, to Business Insider.

Bowring believes that the rise of a fashion conscious young consumer is one of the main reasons for this.

"It's the younger men who drive male fashion," she said. "These men are more experienced and aware, and there is a lot of competition to look for the role."

Ayako Homma, beauty and fashion consultant at Euromonitor International, repeated these thoughts in an e-mail to Business Insider.

"One of the main trends is the shift in men's perception of fashion. Men are spending more time, effort and money on their appearance and appearance," she wrote.

Courtesy of Nike

Experts say that this peak in men's fashion can be traced back to a boom in streetwear clothing, which has been boosted by brands such as Supreme, Yeezy and Off-White. These brands have experienced explosive growth in recent years and are considered to redefine the fashion landscape.

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These labels were adopted by luxury players, a movement that in turn gave new life to some of the luxury brands.

Louis Vuitton recently hired the industry for Virgil Abloh to become his new artistic director. Abloh is responsible for creating perhaps the most shocking streetwear brand of all, Off-White, which has recently been ranked the hottest brand in the world.

"The men's business has exploded in the last five years," Roopal Patel, fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue, told Reuters in June. Patel said the focus shifted to bringing new labels aimed at men's fashion, such as Off-White.

"We've gone from just category addressing to designers looking at how they're going for a man's lifestyle, from night work, from the weekend to the sport," she said.

Industry experts say this trend is here to stay.

"It's more of a buzz. It's a deeper trend," Sidney Toledano, director of LVMH's fashion group, told Reuters.

He continued: "There is strong demand throughout the men's fashion industry, in all its forms and forms, and it comes in part from a younger clientele. We see this clearly in sales."