The start of meteorological fall is defined as right after Labor Day; however, the fall solstice this year is officially September 22 at 8:43 a.m. September has also long been described as the January of fashion, as that is when the fashion New Year starts with brands unveiling their ad campaigns for their fall and winter pieces that will carry into 2024, and Fashion Month begins marking the unveiling of next spring and summer’s collections.
This year’s campaign rollouts have been accompanied by some standout advertising work in menswear. Men’s retail sales are growing, as evidenced by Statista’s market forecast projecting the global menswear market will grow by 2.90 percent between 2024 and 2028 to a market volume of 643 billion dollars.
As menswear’s fashion market share grows, brands are coming up with creative ways to advertise their products for fall 2024. Fashion Reverie takes a closer look at some of the standout menswear campaigns for this season.
Bonobos
Bonobos has come a long way from being a men’s khaki brand. For fall 2024, the brand launched its “Fit is a Feeling” campaign, leaning into its history as an innovator of well-fitting men’s khakis. The brand was originally founded by Andy Dunn and Brian Spaly when they were students at Stanford Business School and wanted to find a well-fitting khaki.
The new campaign features videos of guys going about their day, riding bikes, or walking the streets in Bonobos blazers, shirts, and pants. Bonobos took the approach of having the campaign reflect “regular people,” hyping up the relatability factor. In the video, the narrator says, “When pants fit, the world sees it.” The brand plans to run the campaign through the holiday season and beyond.
New Era
New Era hats played on nostalgia for the brand’s fall 2024 campaign, channeling the brand’s 100-year heritage. The fall 2024 campaign also marked the debut of their new creative director, Dao-Yi Chow’s first collection.
Chow is best known to the fashion industry and the streetwear crowd as one of the co-founders of Public School alongside Maxwell Osborne. Chow and Osborne also served as creative directors of DKNY for three years.
In the old school spirit, the campaign was shot in black and white and prominently features New Era’s longtime best-selling 59Fifty cap. Although playing on nostalgia, the campaign featured next-generation talent as models, including internet personality Carlisle Aikens, model Fisher Smith, rugby player Jonah Lowe, and Chow’s son, Idriys Ali-Chow.
Allen Edmonds
Allen Edmonds continues its ultra-luxury push with its Reserve Collection, priced between $800 and $3000. Their fall 2024 campaign stars none other than male supermodel Sean O’Pry.
In the campaign, O’Pry is featured admiring the shoe, which is under glass, like it’s some sacred artifact in a museum. The imagery adds to the allure, rareness, and how coveted these shoes are. The new campaign is titled “An Exhibition of Distinction,” and at $3000, those should be treated like rare pieces in a museum.
Amiri
Everybody wants to go to Hollywood for Amiri’s fall 2024 campaign. The luxury menswear brand’s latest campaign cast rising actors Ashton Sanders and Seth Lee, along with K-pop star Sunwoo from The Boyz, as the stars of its latest campaign.
The campaign was shot at The Palace Theater in Los Angeles as the brand’s way of merging fashion and film and paying homage to Hollywood’s influence on the new collection. The entire campaign had the vibe of actors getting ready to go on stage or prepare for an industry film screening.
Gant
Matt Dillon might be best known as one of Hollywood’s leading men, but now he can also add Gant campaign star to his resume. For their fall 2024 campaign, Gant cast Dillon, along with music group Infinity Song, the Throwing Fits podcaster, and models Tony Ozhan and Eleonore Jeanne, for their ads. The collection plays up Gant’s preppy and workwear pieces, where all the models were photographed in a set that looked like a study. With this collection, Gant is also celebrating its 75th anniversary, paying homage to its heritage.
Dior
Shall we dance? Dior thinks we should.
The brand’s fall 2024 menswear campaign is on pointe, no pun intended. The brand dared to go where no menswear brand had gone before and dressed its models in ballet flats for their fall 2024 campaign, highlighting the brand’s ballet flats for men.
The collection, inspired by acclaimed ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, features not only the required ballet shoes adapted for ready-to-wear but also Dior’s signature Oblique suit, outerwear, and dance gear references, including ribbed knits, robe coats, and wool jumpsuits and shorts.
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton is taking us to the Wild Wild West for fall 2024. Creative director Pharrell’s latest collection for the brand is cowboy-themed, looking like a remake of “Brokeback Mountain” with all the costumes done by Louis Vuitton.
The campaign follows the same theme as the fall 2024 runway show, which used an Old Hollywood Western-inspired backdrop for its set. While Western style is nothing new, Louis Vuitton’s flavor on it is unique.
—Kristopher Fraser