Dillard’s retailors menswear

If contemporary clothes make the contemporary man, a menswear department needs the right designers to get him in the door.

And so Dillard’s Park Plaza in Little Rock is renovating its menswear section to highlight contemporary lines.

Along the eastern wall near the entrance can be found the heavy hitters, labels such as Bugatchi, Michael Kors, Thomas Dean, Hugo Boss, Age of Wisdom, Tre Vero. Murano - the house brand that, like Tre Vero, is created by a local designer - resides nearby in the center of the floor.

Not that Dillard’s doesn’t appreciate its traditional, business-suit and business casual customers. But the Arkansas-based chain is in the midst of a twofold effort: first, stock more fashionable brands to bring in new customers; second, remodel to shed the big-department-store feel and give the section an atmosphere more inviting to fashion-seekers.

The Park Plaza location is a pilot test site for a bigger roll-out.

“What’s unique about contemporary fashion as opposed to your traditional sportswear is, contemporary is really more of a lifestyle; it’s not so much an age,” says John Brandenberger, manager for Dillard’s Park Plaza.

“What I love about contemporary is the pieces are very distinct,” Brandenberger says. “They’re unique. It all is about the color palettes. The color palettes are traditionally going to be more ‘cold’ colors - blacks, grays, darker blues - and kind of almost like an industrial color palette … and then you’ll occasionally get pops of color,” along with a few items in taupe or cream.

The overall fit is slimmer, more tapered than in traditional designs. Contemporary pants feature flat, unpleated fronts and a longer leg. Shirts, the front-liners in the contemporary men’s displays, have smaller collars and come in prints and patterns not often seen in men’s shirts.

Like paisley, swirling across an eye-catching $110 Thomas Dean shirt of purple, gray and white that bears a coordinating check pattern on the inner collar and on the flip side of reversible cuffs. Or the more subtle paisley pattern in the Age of Wisdom shirts of gray and blue, $89.50. Or a white Bugatchi shirt, $104.30, bearing a tone-on-tone jacquard version of the design and a geometric print on the flip side of its cuffs.

And that’s another thing, those reversible cuffs. An ostensibly sober black Bugatchi, also $104.30, becomes a night-on-the-town shirt once the cuffs are turned back to reveal warm-hued stripes on a white background.

And there are no screaming labels or logos in this area of the store. “With contemporary, you don’t see the logos,” Brandenberger says. “It’s more about the print, it’s more about the design. … It’s all about details, once again, and this guy appreciates [them].”

Another difference? While the “traditional” man is usually geared toward getting one particular piece, Brandenberger believes, the contemporary shopper wants ensembles.And so the clothing is displayed in ensembles, on the mannequins and on the racks. RULE BREAKERS

Helping the store make inroads in contemporary menswear has been the Americana-flavored Tre Vero, whose fall offerings included a mix of rugged, distressed denims; shirts in plaid and check and camouflage; cool khakis; casual jackets; and its best-selling headgear, from smart fedora hats to newsboy caps.

“It’s been well received,” Brandenberger says of the line, which was worn on AMC’s crime drama Breaking Bad by lead characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.

In its eighth year at Dillard’s, Tre Vero’s sold in about 160 stores, designer Jamie Davidson says.

Davidson sees the line as a fashion-forward American look made with “American heritage” fabrics.

His favorite part of the line is its garment-dyed khaki pants, which start off white and then are dyed rather than being cut from yarn-dyed fabric spun from khaki-colored yarn. “If you ask me to define what Tre Vero is I would say this is it,” Davidson says. “Garment dye is a huge trend right now.”

The men emphasize that although the contemporary category brings to mind a younger customer, it attracts men of all ages. “My dad is a very traditional guy, but he can wear Tre Vero,” Davidson says.

Brandenberger recalls a 60-something customer who bought multiple Michael Kors pieces for himself. “It’s OK for a 62-year-old man to have a Murano shirt or have a Michael Kors shirt or any of these contemporary brands,” he says.

Murano is created by another Little Rock designer, Sandy Barakat. Barakat sees her line as the foundation “creating the modern go-to area on the Dillard’s sales floor,” she says, citing its fabric quality and detail.

Barakat began working on the line in 1998. Over the years it evolved into a complete sportswear line available in more than 275 Dillard’s stores. “Murano focuses on the modern American man,” she says, adding that its influence comes from the latest European trends, “but with an American sensibility.”

Black, white and gray predominate. The fall 2013 collection included high-count stretch cotton shirtings in various patterns and textures; pieces in Italian extra-fine merino wool; and fine-gauge sweaters in multiple silhouettes.

Standouts included Murano’s stretch poplin shirtings in solids, checks and stripes; its plush blazers, such as a charcoal-colored tuxedo coat sporting an understated paisley pattern and black shawl collar; and its Zegna Baruffa Italian sweaters.

Price points traditionally are a bit higher in contemporary because of the details, the way the seams are taped, the way the pockets are constructed, the special cuff and sleeve treatments, Brandenberger says.

If the store’s new look and contemporary offerings continue to do well at Park Plaza, they’ll show up at other locations.

“We want to be the onestop fashion house, is how I kind of look at it,” Brandenberger says. “You’re not going to make everybody happy, but we feel like this is a category that is going to be very strong for us.”