With every designer from Roland Mouret to Carlos Miele entering the menswear market, you’d assume it’s one area that’s seemingly recession proof, or at least suffering on a smaller scale.

It looks like that may not be the case. If Men’s Vogue going under wasn’t the first indication of trouble on the menswear home front then Thom Browne might be the perfect warning to those considering suiting up the boys in the near future.

Browne’s known for his too-cool-for-school designs - outfits that look like you picked them up off your bedroom floor and suits practically built around bow-ties. But apparently investors just realized said suits cost about $5,000 a pop and they’re not holding their own on the rack. Which means canceled orders for Spring and Fall from small boutiques to big department stores and the possibility of bankruptcy.

It’s a bit of a surprise for two reasons:

1. Thom Browne has quickly become the fashion world’s sweetheart.
2. His multi-million dollar partnerships with Harry Winston, Moncler and Brooks Brother continue into 2011.

With that much established success and future potential, how could anyone not be surprised he’s flailing? Is this an omen for all the designers we previously assumed could ride this out and a warning to those trying to expand?

-CARSON GRIFFITH

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

The Row, one of the only celebrity lines that manages to overcome the “celeb” part of their story even though the creatives behind it have sold more US Weekly covers than Mandy Moore, has decided to quietly expand into menswear, much like many other womenswear designers as of late.

The 35 piece collection should hit stores this Fall, ranging from t-shirts for $230 and overcoats for $3,200 (and if that second price just made you laugh, consider that their current line includes a $6,000 trench that looks like it was made exclusively for Catherine Deneuve).

Clearly, the women’s side of The Row has been doing very well if the Olsens think expanding into such high-end menswear is a good idea. Ashley claims most people don’t know it’s her behind The Row but we wonder if her tween-association will be a bigger issue with the menswear rather than the women’s - after all, we’re not so sure grown men want to wear expensive pants designed by the same girls whose DVDs are stacked in their daughters’ bedrooms.

Who knew the industry would turn to men’s fashion in the face of financial catastrophe?

The past few months have seen shifts toward menswear from everyone from Christophe Decarnin at Balmain to Alexander Wang to Gareth Pugh, all of whom should be very refreshing after this season’s rather dull showing.

But thanks to London Fashion Week, we won’t have to wait quite as long. The British Fashion Council’s added thirteen new menswear designers to their Fall 09 schedule next month. The week - or in this shortened case, five days - usually ends with the TopMan show on the last morning and any other menswear can be found in the exhibition tent or tossed on the runway within a women’s show, but this time around they’ll be singled out and hopefully, paid attention to.

Names haven’t been released yet, but we promise to cover them with as much dedication, if not enthusiasm, as we do Luella.

Alexander Wang’s jumping on the menswear bandwagon.

StyleFile reports the downtown darling’s working on his first full blown men’s collection to debut in Fall of 09 and he thinks, “It’s strange that so many designers are doing men’s now…for us it’s a component that’s always been there.”

The component being that his women’s clothes are already pretty tomboyish - a kind of reverse Dior Homme - and that the boyfriends of the girls who wear his clothes need their own slouchy tanks, ripped denim shorts and tight leather pants. Actually, whether those boys have girlfriends is highly debatable.

Anyway, Wang’s already rocking the samples while out and about in the city so if you’re desperate for a sneak peek, well, we can’t tell you where to find him but we can almost guarantee he’ll take next month’s bow in the line and then we can discuss just how much the official collection will vary from his usual baggy t-shirt and skinny jean uniform.

Everyone’s wondering why Delphine Arnault - Bernard’s daughter - was front row at Gareth Pugh this week, sparking rumors that LVMH is gearing up to add the young designer to their luxury constellation.

So here’s the other part to that rumor:

We hear that not only has Gareth already joined LVMH, but he’s set to do so as Kris Van Assche’s replacement at Dior Homme (no word on where KVA will go).

And we’ll all read about it very soon - Vogue Nippon has a piece coming out soon that details the move.

Morning!

With only one actual season at Gianfranco Ferre under their belts, Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi - of 6267 fame - are already branching out into menswear under the Italian label’s name.

The duo will unveil the collection in Milan at Men’s Fashion Week on January 18th, and those are absolutely all of the details available at the moment.

So now that’s: Gianfranco Ferre, Gareth Pugh, Roland Mouret, Carlos Miele, Christophe Decarnin and Matthew Williamson, all making forays into boys’ clothes in the same year.

Perhaps Valentino Man will be inspired to rejoin the class for the Spring 2010 shows?

But anyway, if Monique Lhuillier announces a line of suits, we’ll know this is officially a craze.

WWD has just reported that Valentino will not present its menswear collection at Fashion Week. The label, who usually presents in either Paris or Milan, is opting instead for commercial appointments only; so you can still get your hands on those well-cut suits if you need them. But for those of us who don’t wear suits, we’re kind of going to miss watching the impossibly coiffed male models strut down the runway.

Thankfully, due to the womenswear-to-menswear trend we’ve been tracking for some time now, Balmain, Balenciaga and Roland Mouret are stepping up to the plate to deliver us our fill. But considering that Marni has also chosen to forgo a presentation, we hope this isn’t the start of a counter-trend.

Kind of makes you wonder if all these designers changing their shows to presentations will want to switch back to the more stressful show option once the econ situation clears itself up.

—HAYLEY PHELAN

All boys in England should be celebrating. For the first time ever, the super talented Mr. Giles Deacon has launched his very own collaboration with highstreet store New Look Men (he’s done several womenswear collections for them already) and it’s available now.

The 25-piece collection is made up of tees, jeans, jackets and shirts with his signature craziness of gold chains and neon. He also included covetable accessories like these Giles Geo plimsolls that should be everywhere this Spring.

The official statement via New Look’s menswear director: “New Look are delighted to be partners in this venture with Giles, which not only sees the launch of his first menswear collection with us, but also his first menswear collection full stop.”

The best par about it? It’s fun but cheap, prices start at £6, so all you London boys can run to your nearest New Look, while everyone else can buy online.

PS It’s all about the gold Bat T-shirt (left)!

—BR(IT) BOY

If you were wondering which designer would be next to take the plunge into menswear, wonder no more: It’s Carlos Miele.

Miele, best known for producing gowns of red carpet worthiness, will launch the line under his diffusion like, Miele, this January exclusively in Brazil. He promises to keep it casual and environmentally responsible, and it’s even going to include swimwear, which he vows will be followed up by bathing suits for women, too.

We’re kind of fascinated by everyone’s recent turn to menswear, and we just realized there’s a really bright side to all of this - If designers are turning to a new type of consumer to expand their customer base to help them out of this slow buying cycle, great. Because really, it’s a hell of a lot better than designers turning to It bags and shoes, which could turn their current customers off in a heartbeat. So, well played.

Today, WWD confirms the year-long rumor that Christophe Decarnin will extend his designs for Balmain to menswear, with a presentation at men’s Fashion Week this January in Paris, officially making him a part of the growing list of womenswear designers turning to the men.

While Christophe has certainly proven himself to be a designer customers love (it’s not everyone that can command a $1,400 price tag for a pair of jeans), we’re compelled to weigh both sides:

- Could a designer best known for slashed skirts, metallics, ass-grazing hemlines and a look Cathy Horyn so aptly summarized as “elegant trash” appropriate translate his general aesthetic to menswear? Because a work-appropriate suit could only really include zebra print if it was somehow worked into the lining, and where’s the fun in that?

- Are $20,000 suits (because you know that’s what they’ll cost) really a good idea right now anyway?

- Or will the line be the perfect complement to his womenswear, meant for the boy that parties between LA and Rome, who DJ’s and maybe paints to explain his living, making bejeweled tees and motorcycle jackets right at home in his Cavalli closet?

And most importantly, will it make it past a season? We all know Balmain men’s will get all the editorial support in the world, but what about the real world?

Guess he could surprise us all and make sharp, super-fitted, classic clothes - but then, why pay for that name tag?

No matter which side of the proverbial aisle somebody’s on, if they’re truly into fashion, they seem to be incredibly interested in what the next First Lady wears, some even going so far as to dub her “Lady O,” an obvious reference to our last First Lady style icon, Jacqueline Kennedy. But here’s what’s interesting - her husband might be overshadowing her.

Not only has Puff Daddy (we refuse to call him anything else), proclaimed that Barack Obama’s elegance will be used as a point of reference in marketing his new Estee Lauder fragrance I am King, and not only did a Bosnian suit maker famously name one of his styles “the Obama,” but now Hart Schaffner Marx, the Chicago-based menswear company favored by the President-Elect, is marketing itself as the place to get a suit if you’re trying to dress “Presidential”, and even has an upcoming West Wing collection, according to WWD.

Michelle’s clothes may be racking up hits for J. Crew’s site, but has anyone named a dress after her, or claimed that a collection was inspired by her style?

Also, we can hardly think of any mainstream male style icons (does David Beckham count?), let alone those who were Presidents. Could this be the first time an American President becomes as known for his sartorial choices as for his political ones?

Guess we’ll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, we wonder if anybody’s submitting sketches for his inaugural suit…

Walking on Houston the other day, I noticed a change on the perennial Calvin Klein billboard: men. Good bye naked Eva Mendes, hello guys and girls in jeans.

Then last night on Bleecker, I spied a sparkly jacket and jeans in the window of Cynthia Rowley, for men.

Not to mention both Nicolas and Roland Mouret (re-)adding menswear to their repertoire.

And, Scott Schuman’s recent editorial in Fantastic Man features Chanel menswear.

All of this, coupled with the fact that my best friend (a girl) keep stealing my clothes, the preponderance of boyfriend jeans, and Band of Outsiders, Michael Bastian, and Thom Browne showing up in Vogue on women and men have me thinking that we’re having a manly moment.

Am I nuts, or does it seem like menswear is the new womenswear?

—BRETT KANE

From a conversation last night:

Yet another designer is breaking into a new category soon, but this time, it’s significant -

Roland Mouret is designing a line of menswear! As in, right now.

No word on exactly when the line debuts, but it’s definitely in the works, and we’re guessing it’s for next men’s Fashion Week.

This news comes just a month after Balenciaga showed men’s looks on the runway for the first time in a while.

But back to Mouret - does this mean the Beckhams can get matching designer outfits? Because they totally would.

This just in from Paris:

Balenciaga showed menswear in his Spring 09 show, on boy models, as previously reported by, uh, us.

We’re assuming this is all a part of Gucci Group’s expansion plans for Balenciaga, as detailed in this morning’s WWD - the only thing left would be a proper ad campaign, and his menswear could be put into shoppers’ focus.

But, we may be getting ahead of ourselves. There may not be any images of the boys’ clothes yet (at left is an image from Nicolas’ Spring 08 men’s show), but Cathy Horyn’s already proclaimed the “stiff dark suits without lapels” to be “duds”.

Yikes.