Differio streetwear spikes with more Australian male shoppers

Australian men are breaking the stereotype that men only spend their paychecks on video games, beer and football tickets. According to an e-Business report by Sensis, clothing, shoes and accessories made the top-five list of most-purchased, online items among Australian males. Moreover, Australian men are reportedly spending more money online than women, averaging $3,456 a year compared to $2,899 spent by females.

Although Australian men are shelling out money for clothing online, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re buying their threads from strictly Australian-based ecommerce sites, especially when it comes to men’s streetwear. Differio, a menswear ecommerce company based in New York, recently noticed an increase in international orders made by Australians. More importantly, these orders are primarily urban streetwear items, like leather bomber jackets, skinny joggers and combat boots.

A study released by consulting firm, Bain & Company, reported that streetwear goods are now steadily scaling “5% growth projections through 2020.” It’s emerging as a fashion movement that’s only begun making its rounds across retail. Even IKEA is catching on to the trend with their recently launched line of streetwear-themed furniture compiled of minimalist hangers decorated with puffer jackets and graphic hoodies.

Also known as “trend chasers” or “hypebeasts,” today’s streetwear fans are kind of like the sneakerheads of menswear. Similar to the way sneakerheads get hyped for limited-edition shoes to drop; streetwear buffs will wait hours to days in line for a new collection. It’s very much the same concept as scoring Pokémon cards for their scarcity value. As for online retailers, they’re continuing this scarcity principle by offering exclusive deals or early access to frequent shoppers through emails and social media posts.

This street-savvy category of menswear may be growing in popularity worldwide, but there’s still a ways to go among Australian-based ecommerce sites. One online forum by a streetwear magazine asked Australian men: “Where do you buy your streetwear online?”

One user responded with:

February 16, 2017 at 17:37:27 Feb 16, 2017 @ 17:37
“Personally I think Australian streetwear sites limit us to only a few different styles/options, whereas USA sites have pretty much anything and everything you want/need to create your own style and tweak it however you want, not only with clothing but with rad art, plush, toys, figurines, tech n home accessories.. When it comes to being/doing my own thing, paying a lil extra for shipping isn’t an issue.. But that’s just me..”

Additionally, the thread was filled with users giving tips on where to find streetwear locally, comparing their limited selections to what’s available in the U.S. Consumers tend to avoid cross-border online shopping for higher shipping costs and slower delivery speed, but this doesn’t seem like an issue when the item is in high demand.

While multi-brand, Australian retailers do offer a standalone category for streetwear, most of them are littered with tees and tanks that you can also buy at that brand’s flagship store. In other words, these styles are primarily logo-heavy t-shirts that carry their weight for their brand, as opposed to actually being a style statement.

It’s likely that Australian men are gravitating towards Differio menswear for not only their extensive variety of streetwear, but also for their approach that’s entirely different than their competitors. Unlike Yeezy and Supreme, Differio is disrupting the streetwear flow by offering limited-edition styles without the expensive price tags and logo-heavy styles. You can even rule out the grueling wait lines because their business is entirely online.

With over 50 independent brands, they’re able to offer that “high” that streetwear fans crave from buying exclusive clothing, except they’re avoiding the brand cliché. The reality is, at wholesale, adding a screen print on a t-shirt could cost a few cents per shirt depending on the manufacturer, which is something high-end brands have been taking advantage of. It’s not exactly groundbreaking to slap a logo on a t-shirt and call it fashion.

In the meantime, Differio is prepping for the next era of brandless marketing that’s already hitting the home & kitchen department. As for men’s fashion, this could be the start of logos and brands being gradually weaned out of trends.

Christian Woods
Christian Woods
Christian is a morning reporter and technology columnist for Best in Australia. Christian has worked in the media since 2000, in a range of locations. He joined Best in Australia in 2018, and began working in Melbourne in 2019.
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