The Next Wave of the Suit-Era : A Forecasting Model of the Men’s Suit

Background By the beginning of the 20th century, the men’s suit entered the menswear market as one the most important fashion garments everdevised. At the same time, fashion became mainly a female engagement, resulting in an under representation of men’s fashion through out the past decade. Relating to the textile and apparel industry, fashion forecasting has become an increasingly important business activity. But the nature of fashion forecasting and the historical neglecting of the men’s suit has created complications when performing this activity. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine the men’s suit and its development from the given starting point in the 20th century until today, in order to derive a fashion forecasting model suggesting its development by 2029. Design/methodology/approach This thesis uses an abductive research approach and qualitative multi-methods to answer the research questions. The usage of an intermediate research project answers the first research question. The second research question is answered through the synthesis ofa literature study and semi-structured interviews. The third research question is answered through the derived forecasting model, accomplished through theory matching. Findings By carrying out a historical investigation of the men’s suit, and then applying this to the derived forecasting model, the men’s suit is expected to be found in both single- and double-breast styles. The suit will have classical features represented through the length, canvas structure, and shoulder construction. Originality/value This paper carries out a historical investigation of the men’s suit never been done before. It introduces an evaluation framework to categorise and classify the men’s suit, as well as a forecasting model followed by an actual fashion forecast