If anyone is an expert on men’s style and shopping habits, it’s Betrand Pellegrin. The San Francisco-based retail consultant, whose clients include Gucci and Louis Vuitton, recently wrote a book on the topic, called Branding The Man: Why Men Are the Next Frontier in Fashion Retail.
Pellegrin’s book is full of interesting insights into what works and what doesn’t in men’s retail, citing examples from all over the world. Major luxury retailers such as Sir Paul Smith, Wilkes Bashford and Saks Fifth Avenue’s David Pilnick have given Branding The Man great reviews.
But in addition to the book, Pellegrin has an engaging blog that we’ve been enjoying, where he shares his observations about fashion and retail. In recent articles he interviewed famed photographer Brigitte Lacombe, designer Yigal Azrouel, and Kiton chairman Massimo Bizzocchi, and analyzed recent developments in the luxury retail business, such as the closing of Yves Saint Laurent’s stores in New York and San Francisco.
For those of us (ahem…) who’ve spent countless hours shopping, it’s fun to read Betrand and get his expert point of view on what makes us like some stores and not others, why some stores are successful and others are not, and what could be done to make the shopping experience more enjoyable.
