Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video, we'll take a look at a few
reasons why men started wearing logos as part of menswear.
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Logos are regularly mentioned here at
the Gentleman's Gazette. In our "Is It Worth It" series,
we often take a look at how a little symbol or particular name can really
up the price of a product. But, today, we will specifically tackle
the question as to why men started wearing logos in the first place.
Prominent logos are a common feature of men's fashion today. And while this trend
developed relatively recently, its origins can be traced back further than you might have thought
as you'll find out in today's video. First, we
should explain exactly what we mean by logo. "Logo" comes from the Greek word "logos"
meaning "word or speech." In the early days of typesetting,
"logotype" referred to a typeset block that contained an entire word or phrase
rather than individual letters because companies used logotypes to stamp their identifying markers
on the products. "Logo" came to mean any graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote
public identification and recognition. Now, logos are essential to modern branding.
As graphic designer Milton Glaser observed, "the logo is the point of entry to the brand."
Logos can include names - often in a distinctive font - initials,
dates, symbols, and images. Many are so iconic, even the font can put you in
mind of the associated product. Oftentimes, companies associate elements of their logo
onto their product like the Adidas 3-stripe detailing or the Hermes H
divorced from the full Hermes logo. But, logo in the sense of a distinct brand identifier can be
even more subtle. The Burberry tartan is regularly used to identify Burberry products, or the unique
cadmium green of the Rolex logo that sometimes appears on the watches themselves. So, to some
extent, a logo can be any marker that identifies who made a particular product. Nowadays,
in addition to being found on individual products, logos have made their way onto accessories or
attendant items like an Allen Edmonds branded shoeshine brush or a Giorgio Armani garment bag.
And that's just covering menswear companies. Plenty of other types of logos can be found on
menswear that identifies musical groups, brands, and even our favorite fictional superheroes.
Hey, Preston, I think I found your keychain. Now, how did all these logos end up on menswear?
To understand that, we'll have to go back into history. Symbols developed before written language
and have even been used throughout history to identify spiritual, significant locations,
political institutions, religious beliefs, factions,
and armies. Symbols on flags and uniforms may have been vitally important to be able
to distinguish friend from foe. But, in some cultures, it became a form
of personal advertising. Medieval heraldry allowed knights to be easily identified,
so that their deeds could be associated with their own honor and the honor of their families.
Other means of personal wearable identification like initials were also popular like signet rings,
robes, and smoking jackets. Now, let's jump a little bit forward
in history. The most common form of the wearable identifier in the modern West
came in the form of crests and colors or, effectively,
logos of prominent schools and universities. School colors were emblazoned on garments like
rowing blazers and crests featured prominently on school uniforms. While school symbols can be found
regularly on athletic wear like the uniforms of the 1888 Yale football team. This style of dress
would heavily influence the development of the Ivy and prep style of the early-20th century. These
scholastic emblems could be considered the first logos to appear on menswear in the 20th century,
but they would not be the last. The evolution of maker's marks. Meanwhile, the ancient custom
of craftsmen signing their products with a maker's mark - done to identify who made it -
evolved during the Industrial Revolution into a more standardized form; into what we now recognize
as a "trademarked logo." That indicated quality assurance, legitimacy, and brand recognition.
Effectively, the logo helped identify the maker of the product while assuring the potential buyer
that it was genuine and quality-made. In menswear, these logos were discreetly hidden as tags or
labels on the inner lining, and you'll find that this is still the custom of many tailors on the
famous Savile Row today. But, some manufacturers use their logos in more creative ways. Famously
starting in the late-19th century, Louis Vuitton trunks were marked with the mark Louis Vuitton
to deter counterfeiting and to provide free Louis Vuitton advertising at every fashionable railroad
station, cruise ship dock, and hotel where the trunks were carried. In clothing, however,
logos remained less prominent until an intersection between corporate branding
and our previous topic of school logos. In the early-20th century,
schools, colleges, and universities underwent a considered effort
to build and standardize athletic programs. In addition to uniform for athletes, companies
also created logoed clothing for students to express their school pride. The Knickerbocker
Knitting Co. - later rebranded as "Champion" - was commissioned by the University of Michigan in 1934
to create one of the first lines of collegiate wear; from socks to hoodies, all in the University
of Michigan maize and blue. At the same time, the increasing popularity of professional sports saw
fans dressing like their sports hero like tennis fans and the René Lacoste's famous polo tennis
shirt with its iconic crocodile, which became one of the first menswear logos prominently displayed
on a garment. Polos and tennis shirts had a long history of displaying crests of schools, clubs,
and teams, so the Lacoste crocodile was in good company. Starting after World war II,
the general sports world saw another shift regarding logos and how logos
were depicted on sportswear. Like most menswear, other sportswear maker logos
(other than the Lacoste crocodile) were discreet early on.
But, because athletic wear was a functional and also decorative garment,
manufacturers realized the utility advertising their products
while they were effectively being demonstrated by the athletes wearing them. For instance,
athletic shoes were marked with a unique design detail called a "stripe"
that identified the maker. Now, this stripe could be anything.
The Adidas stripes are a stripe, but the Nike "swoosh" was also a stripe. Like Louis Vuitton,
sportswear makers recognized how important it was for famous people - and in this case,
athletes - to be seen wearing their products. Graphic tees and logos.
Around the same time, other institutions were also recognizing the value of free advertising
by having their supporters wear their logos on clothing.
And this cheap and effective advertising was achieved through the printing
of graphic T-shirts. Although this has been around since the 1930s,
it became less expensive with printing innovations that arrived in the 1960s. Now, these T-shirts
were often souvenirs and commemorated musical events, historic sites, major anniversaries,
and the "Happiest Place on Earth." Graphic tees were often seen as an opportunity for
self-expression and creativity at a time when these qualities were much more ascendant in
menswear. But, they also gave consumers the chance to acknowledge their favorite products,
and manufacturers were happy to enjoy the free advertising. These graphic tees,
along with sportswear, slowly found their way into the regular clothing wear rotation;
normalizing wearing brands and contributing to the overall casualization of menswear.
While graphic tees provided an affordable way to express company loyalty, logos were soon
employed to express wealth, menswear has always afforded opportunities for ostentation. But,
for most of the 20th century, these displays did not rely explicitly on brand recognition,
but instead on the use of expensive materials, fashionable cuts, and patterns
or bespoke detailing like Barchetta pockets or custom lining. But,
starting in the late 1970s and coming to ascendancy in the 80s and 90s,
rap and hip-hop introduced a new form of conspicuous consumption that explicitly named
brands. Rapping hip-hop artists often crafted narratives of their hard-fought ascendancy
from a life of poverty to a life of ease and excess. And such lives were
fostered with items from luxury brands like Cadillac cars, Hennessy brandy,
and blinged-out everything. And, of course, menswear featured prominently. In 2014, PicClick
helmed an exhaustive study of brands explicitly mentioned in rap and hip-hop lyrics. They found
that Gucci was overwhelmingly mentioned the most; coming in at almost twice as
many references as second place, Nike. Other famous menswear brands mentioned include Prada,
Versace, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Burberry, Hermes,
Gaultier, and Lacoste. And not surprisingly,
many of these brands have partnered with famous rappers.
I guess Gucci and Gucci Mane would be a great match.
This trend in music was following an existing trend in advertising from the 80s and 90s,
in which companies were more explicitly trumpeting the value of their brand,
in addition to the value of their products. The 80s is considered the first "designer
decade" as parodied in the novel and the movie "American Psycho", in which there's
an enormous emphasis on the brands worn by the characters. Throughout the 80s and 90s,
sportswear and sportswear-adjacent articles of clothing - like polo shirts,
for example - were prone to heavy branding. Not coincidentally,
the prep style, with its roots in the crested-blazer halls of Eton and Harvard,
was closely associated with the logo polo craze. But, the 2000s saw "logo-mania"
hit high fashion with the design houses like Versace, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton leaning heavily
on designs that featured the prominent logos. And while the original designer decades were attacked
for promoting inequality and globalization - most notably by Naomi Klein in her 1999 book "No Logo:
Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies" - the hype culture of the late 2010s and early 2020s seemed
to indicate that there is still considerable interest in brands and brand display today
as companies offer new product lines, unusual collaborations,
and innovative marketing that always promises to be the next
big thing, all wrapped up in logos. So, having traced this history,
what can we conclude about men wearing logos?
We've condensed our findings into three broad concepts.
Logos promote community. The earliest logos worn in menswear were associated with groups
like schools, clubs, and sport teams. They created a feeling of unity when like-minded
people were gathered together like an entire stadium of black-and-orange-clad fans cheering,
"Go, Princeton, go!". A connection between people who might have nothing else in common
like when two strangers wearing maroon, blue, and yellow greet each other saying,
"Come on, you Irons!" The positive feelings associated with these kinds of encounters
may have encouraged the wearing of athletic wear outside of sports venues;
to better foster a sense of togetherness elsewhere.
Logos represent cachet throughout brands. Of course, logos are primarily intended to represent
specific brands. And while maker's marks were originally intended to guarantee
quality and authenticity, when those logos are put front and center, it's clear they're meant
to advertise the brand. This concept captures the modern function of logoed wearables
as conspicuous consumption. We want to be clear, logoed clothing is not the first time men have
used clothing to express wealth and influence. Now, that first occurred about a million years ago
when one caveman made fun of another for still wearing mammoth skins, when its mylodons were
all the rage. But logoed wearables have made a new form of conspicuous consumption
as the social value of clothing is not dictated by being made from expensive materials or
artisanal craftsmen, but by the presence of a particular name.
In an age of increasingly casual clothing, some men prefer displaying their wealth in the form of
a $770 T-shirt or this heavily-logoed $7,850 shearling crewneck.
Now that costs the same as an entire custom suit.
In an age of casual clothing where it seems like everyone is wearing T-shirts and sweatpants,
logos are the easiest way to stand out and to convey your wealth. Logos convey ideals. But,
we don't want you to think that logos are inherently bad things. During the graphic
tee craze of the 60s and 70s, shirts featured things that people simply liked; many of which
happened to be logos of corporations, bands, or places. The fact that these logos were
associated with businesses or companies wasn't necessarily their main appeal. But, instead,
it was the idea behind the logo like never losing your childlike whimsy or being the hero of your
own story. This same logic can also apply to menswear logos. Sometimes the ethos behind a brand
can have great personal appeal, like the Nike push for personal excellence in sports and life.
Conversely, others might like the story behind the brand like the fascinating personal story of René
Lacoste, who's so closely associated with the brand that bears his name. And also,
wearing recognizable brands give some men confidence as though wearing the logo bestowed the
flash of Versace, the glamour of Gucci, or whatever the Simpsons-Balenciaga
collaboration is trying to convey. Wearing brands doesn't have to be about showing off.
It can be about showing something about yourself.
So, now that we know a little bit more about why men started wearing logos, we hope that you better
understand their place in modern menswear because logos don't have a prominent place in classic
style. You're not going to see many of our looks incorporating them, but we do appreciate that some
men like logos and that's okay. It doesn't mean that they're just walking billboards.
In fact, did you know that when Raphael first met his wife Teresa, he was wearing a Big Pony
polo shirt? It's true! Now, my only question is: was his collar popped or not? Now, today, I'm
wearing a Ralph Lauren cable knit, blue sweater, and a Ralph Lauren blue and white, long-sleeved
sport shirt along with green chino pants and brown dress shoes. And finishing off the outfit
with some brown Fort Belvedere socks. Check out the Fort Belvedere shop here for socks like these.
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