Mr Porter buying manager Sam Lobban offers four insights into the menswear market in Australia.
1. The trends
"When we look at products that perform well within Australia, which is a very important market for us in terms of revenue mix, it tends to be more casual, laid back style. Also a lot more colour; all the pinks and blues, mint greens, print performs particularly well and there are really great prints across the board whether it be from palm tree motifs from The Elder Statesman or the superficial floral prints from Stussy."
2. The climate
"I think one of the things we see is an out performance in knitwear as a layering piece, because in real terms if you have a warm day in the spring and it cools down in the evening, you don’t necessarily want a jacket but you can throw on a knit. For the climate you dont get a proper full winter it works easily as well."
3. The global input
"Country buy country analysis within our top markets, Australia being one of them, feeds into our global approach. So Australia is very much taken into account. Because we don’t have a warehouse in Australia, we don’t allocate a specific amount of stock for the Australian market. We buy a global amount of stock and that feeds all of our markets."
4. The competition
"I think as a consumer - especially within Australia where you have a number of international retailers vying for position within the market - additional service, content and exclusive product resonate well. All those things wrapped up should stand us in good stead."
