I had an opportunity to take an exclusive preview of Bonobos’ Dress Shirt Assortment for SS’14 that goes live today. Bonobos is a men’s apparel brand focused on providing better-fitting clothes and a better shopping experience.
The range comprises largely of check prints and stripes meant for office wear, with a couple of surprises thrown in. The blue micro-floral print definitely stands out among the rest of the geometrical landscape, and makes an interesting deviation from the overall trend adopted. Bonobos aims to provide a better fit of clothes, with styles that are classical and evergreen. Different hues of blue tend to dominate, with a few others like pink and grey thrown in to liven up the mix. While the colors stay within the boundaries of standard office wear, the key differentiation lies in the fit.
Bonobos’ focus on fit has led them to develop three fits that they feel cover the majority of male body forms. The shirts fall into three categories – standard, slim fit and tailored slim. While the standard and slim fits have been around in the majority of menswear brands, Bonobos focuses on the tailored slim look for a form fit that is close to a custom tailored shirt. This provides a degree of taper that can address those with mid-sized waists and provide to some extent the slimmed-down effect that has become popular in men’s fashion of late.
While the focus on form is likely to be popular with a significant portion of the male population, a little more attention to color trends would make the range more appealing. You can check out their range at the online store here.
