Toronto Men's Fashion Week back for season two

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Men’s fashion has long nursed a little brother complex towards its female counterpart.

The big global fashion weeks — London, Milan, Paris, New York — are all about women.

Globally, the menswear industry is worth about $400 billion a year. Women’s fashion reaps closer to $620 billion. And while Gisele Bündchen has an estimated annual income of $47 million, top male models are lucky to pull in mid-six figures.

But the power balance in international style is starting to tilt towards equilibrium. As TOM, Toronto Men’s Fashion Week begins on Monday for the second straight year, the event’s executive director Jeff Rustia says men are embracing sartorial flare, and dragging the hidebound fashion world with them.

“There has been an incredible global cultural shift,” he said. “The millennial man, the modern-day man, is entirely unashamed about loving fashion.”

Nowadays, being masculine is perfectly compatible with “putting on a pink suit and painting the town red.”

That goes for alpha male bankers, too, Rustia said.

“We’ve captured the imagination of the Canadian businessman,” he boasted.

In fact, fashion week will launch Monday when Rustia rings the opening bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange, accompanied by a phalanx of male models and corporate sponsors.

Runway shows begin Wednesday and run until Friday, closing with Toronto fashion icon Christopher Bates. The catwalk will be set up at College Park (444 Yonge St.) for all three nights. Admission is $20 per show or $65 for a day pass. To buy tickets, visit www.tomfw.com.

Now, big clothing brands are starting to cater to men, spurred by increasing connoisseurship amongst their clientele.

Rustia said retailers are starting to see grown men coming into their stores with pages ripped out from magazines, asking for the latest fashions.

The all-seeing eye of social media has put pressure on men to dress for the runway, as the Internet turns everyone’s wardrobe into an online portfolio. That scrutiny can be unforgiving.

“I’ve personally been called out — from Facebook or Instagram,” said Rustia. “‘You’ve worn the same blazer, the same outfit, the same suit.’”

The men’s fashion blitz is an outgrowth of a larger trend towards artisanal self-care, from retro barber shops to skin products to high-grade whiskey, Rustia said.

Toronto has been a locus for these developments. Local designers including Joao Paulo Guedes and Garrison Bespoke will be on display this week at what is one of the world’s eight men’s fashion weeks (New York will become the ninth in July).

But most importantly, the city has nurtured a rich male consumer culture emanating out from the financial district.

“Bay Street couldn’t be more fashionable,” Rustia said. “I would say definitely in Toronto alone, there’s this huge consumer movement that’s all about men.”

Toronto Men"s Fashion Week back for season two