Defining and determining the twenty-first century menswear luxury consumer; understanding and managing sensory perceptions for the 'new man'

This conference paper was developed from my own research on bespoke tailors and from an experiment of the 'new man's propensity to touch luxury apparel as a pre-purchase critical factor of quality. It contributes new knowledge by updating research from the 1980's-1990's of the 'new man', represented as 'new consumer' of upmarket menswear apparel and bespoke tailoring (covered by Edwards, Mort and Nixon).

Qualitative interviews were held with 17 tailors in London, and an international sample of 20 male luxury menswear consumers. Experiments were made to evaluate their sensory recognition of quality textiles in relation to the in-store purchase process.

Lewis and Bridger (2001) developed a conceptual 'new consumer' model entitled 'The anatomy of the soul' which positions the quest for authenticity at the peak of the model. The base of the model includes 21st century issues: scarcities, time, attention and trust. This theoretical model is the main focus of the research design to determine if the luxury menswear industry fits the expectations of the 'new male' consumers behaviour.