The clothes Australian men should buy for themselves

Brands such as Boss and Calibre are performing strongly at David Jones but most international designer labels are kept to flagship stores in the Melbourne and Sydney CBD.

“Guys have been wearing suits for 200 years. The customer is still quite classic but he does turn to that trend piece to look better.”

It’s either in the classic space, with tailoring labels such as P. Johnson, Christian Kimber and M.J. Bale, or the casual category of Venroy and Academy Brand, that Australian menswear brands are making a mark. Morrow straddles both camps with the quality of tailoring through more relaxed wardrobe essentials.

“It’s a journey and exploration to find that customer,” says Morrow, who started devising his brand in 2023, having worked at P. Johnson and Jac + Jack. “You hear a lot about homing in on what you believe.”

The standout piece from the first Morrow collection is the Dry jacket, an update of classic outback coats with the washing instructions: “Wash only if necessary to extend lifespan”.

“It’s a super versatile nod to that Australian heritage that is modern and more fashion. That’s the garment I had in mind when I conceptualised the brand.” It’s also an investment piece, costing $1050, with pants priced at $520 and shirts at $540.

Sales are currently confined to Morrow’s online store, with the designer unwilling to venture into the wholesale market during turbulent economic times which has challenged other brands.

Following its launch in 2020, Haulier International created exciting local menswear, winning the Melbourne Festival’s National Designer Award in 2024. In April, founder Jeremy Hershan placed the brand in hibernation.

Unisex brand The Tales, which launched six months ago, is still learning about its menswear customer. Its silk tiger print shirts and western prints are perfect for men, but women are doing the majority of buying.

“We believed there shouldn’t be strict boundaries between menswear and womenswear, so we offered unisex shirts cut in men’s blocks, designed to be worn by anyone,” says The Tales founder Rachael D’Alessandro. “As we started to analyse our sales data, it became clear that around 90 per cent of our customers were women.”

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“That insight led us to expand more intentionally into womenswear. It’s given us the freedom to be more playful and experimental, since the womenswear industry in Australia is far more progressive and open-minded compared to menswear.”

“We’ll continue to experiment, challenge expectations, and hopefully inspire both men and women to be bold, expressive, and playful with their wardrobes.”

While The Tales takes the bold route, Morrow will persist with understatement, for now.

“I’m trying to get elegance in this aesthetic,” Morrow says. “Silhouette is so important to me. With the pants, I didn’t just want to make baggy pants. It looks relaxed but has an elongation to it that is elegant. Plus there’s that durable outdoorsy feel.”

“Doing this, I had to create something that was ultimately authentic to me. It’s something that I can be proud of.

“I think there’s a customer out there.”

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