Bonobos
By Ron Sklar
FabulMag Contributing Writer
From where we are sitting, it seems that Brian Spaly and Andy Dunn have designed the hottest line of fashion trousers in New York. It all stemmed from a desire to simply create better fitting pants for the regular guy. But now male models are slipping them on, and turning the world on to the Bonobos look.
At first it seems laughable, and then it seems logical: if you can’t find fashionable pants that fit you well, then create your own. And if you have a business background, then, hey, start a pants company. And if the pants are as smokin’ hot as these, then word gets out and your brand becomes a fashion-world sensation.
“I was really just trying to solve my own problem,” Brian says from his office in Manhattan. “I have a large rear end because I played a lot of sports growing up, especially hockey and football. If I put on my size, which is my waist size, my thighs won’t even 
fit into them, [because the pants are] so slim. And if I get stuff that fits me from the thigh down, it’s way too big in the waist.”
There was only one thing to do, and that was to get a hold of his ex-girlfriend’s sewing machine and get busy with the stitching.
“I just realized that pants in general kind of suck,” he says. “At least that’s what I thought, from my perspective, from where I was sitting. 
That’s what I was thinking when I started sewing my own. When I was in business school, it just dawned on me that I know how to make pants that fit me well. I wondered if there were other guys who have this problem.”
Turns out that the answer to that friendly focus group question was a unanimous yay, and Andy and Brian realized that they were on to something.
“After we made about forty pairs of pants in May of last year [2007], they sold rapidly,” Brian says. “People were very excited about them. I sold them out of the trunk of my car to my 
classmates in Stanford. You know dudes are going to buy if they’re you’re friends. That’s not something you can really build a business around. But when guys buy a pair and they see that it’s the best pair of pants they’ve ever worn, they want to buy more. That’s pretty much where the rubber meets the road. And that’s what was happening.
“The real question became: can I design and make better pants? Because the market needs it. My background is investment. When you’re an investor, you think like an investor.
“The very first thing I did was to draft a list of questions, like ‘where is the opportunity here?’ All that kind of stuff. If you’re an investor and you work at a hedge fund, you determine, yes, there is an opportunity here. How can I take advantage of it? Where can I invest? In my case, there is no one else doing it, so I gotta do it.”
The distinctive Bonobos look comes from Brian’s personal taste in clothing.
“I’ve always been pretty visually and artistically inclined,” he says. “I’ve always worn eccentric and clever, colorful outfits. I’m a pagan by trade, worshipping the fire gods. I have a pretty open 
mind. I’m not all about, ‘I’m going to wear khakis and a blue shirt.’ I’ve enjoyed the process of putting that to work on behalf of my customers instead of just on behalf of myself. That’s what gets me fired up about going to work every day. I’ve always liked Ralph Lauren and Paul Smith.
“Where we really make our mark is the customers who really are busy, who don’t enjoy shopping, who want to look good but aren’t quite sure how to look great. Guys who wouldn’t be comfortable in the Calvin Klein flagship store at 52nd and Madison. But guys who can afford it. When they see something they like, they buy five pairs, and they are loyal to the brands they find work for them. Those are the guys who love our stuff. That is generally what our market has been. The super fashionable people tend to buy our more outlandish styles, like the pink and the turquoise.”
With that eclectic mix, Bonobos is now making great strides.
“Things are humming,” Brian says. “We just moved into a new space in New York, which is a lot larger and a lot more conducive to running our business. We’re fired up. We’re energized and trying to make as many shorts and pants as we can.”
Is success going to their head? Nah. They put on their pants one leg at a time, just like everybody else.
For more information on Bonobos, and to order them directly, go to
Photos courtesy of Bonobos.
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Andy Dunn (left) and Brian Spaly (right)
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