Fashion that travels as well as it looks

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Shawn McKenzie, one of Sportsnet's main television personalities, was home in Toronto for just one day during a 24-day stretch of covering the National Hockey League playoffs this spring.

Living out a suitcase has its fashion challenges for any business traveller but it's especially tricky for a man who's on public display – live in people's living rooms – when he works. McKenzie, who mostly covers hockey but reports on Toronto-based teams in other sports as well, has a winning strategy, though.

He usually brings four "fancy" suits for his TV work and one plain one for off-days. More importantly, the packing minimalist has a fail-safe system to ensure his custom-made suits look pressed and polished when he's on the air.

"You turn it inside out, push the shoulders out, line up the lapels, then you kind of punch the two shoulders together so then they fold into each other and the whole suit is inside out," says McKenzie, whose assignments this spring have taken him to New York, Ottawa and Pittsburgh.

"It kind of falls together and you can fold it in half, and it's the best way not to wrinkle it. You can pack a suit into a small bag. I'll take four suits in a duffel bag and I'll have them all rolled up. I'll pull them out and not wonder what the hell I did with them."

McKenzie is not alone in mastering how to manage his wardrobe on the road. He's among business travellers who've figured out how to pack lightly and efficiently, but still be comfortable and stylish when going from airport to office (or arena, as is the case with McKenzie) to hotel and back to the airport in a relatively short turnaround time.

Fortunately, clothing makers have taken notice of this need, and are increasingly creating fashion that travels as well as it looks.

Brands such as Hugo Boss and Z Zegna are developing lines of suits specifically called Travel, made of wrinkle-free material and allowing for packing efficiency, which is increasingly important as fees for checked bags soar.

Larry Rosen, chief executive officer of Harry Rosen Inc., Canada's biggest purveyor of men's clothing, and a frequent traveller himself, says he's seen a lot of brands at his stores make technological advancements in their fabrics.

"There are a lot more twists in fabrics. They're more resilient. The wrinkles fall out much quicker and they keep their shape much better," he says, singling out Canadian suit company Sameulsohn, which has a line of performance suits that have extra pockets and high-twist fabrics, and shirts from Swedish company Eton.

"People are looking for that functionality in their garments."

Rosen says he tries to get the most out of what he takes on trips and refuses to overpack. He never checks luggage if he's going away for less than three nights.

"I really need to think strategically about what I'm wearing on the plane," he says. "When you go on a longer trip, people feel like they need to bring everything with them. As I've gotten older I've found that if you're staying at good hotels they'll have quality laundry service. You find you can pack a lot lighter.

"My rules of thumb are: Try to use items and looks that transition from day to night and back. I can go away on a two- or three-day business trip with one suit and can look fantastic with that one item."

But while Rosen will likely travel with his suit on, don't expect McKenzie, who flew nearly 50,000 miles through the first five months of 2017, to do the same. He is on board the increasingly popular trend of travelling in sportswear.

"Some guys like to wear their suits on the plane but – this will be embarrassing to say – I get mine cut really tight," McKenzie says. "The guys at Garrison [Bespoke, a custom-suit shop in Toronto's business district] laugh because they'll say: 'You may not be able to sit down very well, but it's going to look good,' and I'll say, 'Well that's all that matters.'"

"I don't have the kinds of suits to sit on a plane for two or three hours. They're not designed for that."

Ralph Dunning, who founded Toronto's Dunning Golf in 2001 and Foreign Rider Co. in 2009, has noticed the move toward the kind of casual travelling favoured by McKenize and others. "Hoodies have replaced the blazer," Dunning says.

Mr. Dunning usually travels to Asia, New Zealand, Europe and New York, and he flew more than 100,000 miles in the first half of 2016, just to give an example of a recent busy period.

"You look at how the guys are dressing on airplanes, especially for longer [flights] and it's different. You look back at even five years ago, I'd get on those planes and the guys are there with blazers. That's gone," he says.

"Products that last longer – that sustainability story – are important. Particularly business guys, the reason they're buying well-made hoodies is because of the versatility factor. Your weekend life and your work life and your travel life are unified now. How guys dress in business travel has totally changed."

And while there are a handful of brands for men specifically tailored for the business traveller – Foreign Rider makes T-shirts and hoodies in small batches of 100 from its Toronto shop, for example – business women are doing similar things to their male counterparts when it comes to deciding what to wear while travelling for business and how to pack.

Julia Michienzi, based out of Toronto, has been the global relationship manager for MBA recruiting and admissions at the University of Western Ontario's Ivey Business School for the past five years. She's typically on the road for up to 65 days a year and flew more than 40 times a year ago.

She says her usual go-to travel outfit is a cotton dress she pairs with ballet flats or white sneakers, a faux-leather bomber jacket and scarf or a chunky cardigan in the cooler months. She'll wear a dress to travel if she has to go right to work as they don't wrinkle as easily, can be comfortable, and packing just one piece is easier than having to take all the pieces of a suit.

She says her "new obsession" is travel cubes – zip-up nylon bags that one can use to organize clothes by task and put into a duffel bag or rolling luggage.

Michienzi has one cube for workout gear, one for business clothes and one for casual clothes – but admits shoes are the biggest challenge because "heels in an airport is never ideal."

"The trick is to invest in a fashionable tote in which you can carry your heels and one or two accessories so that you can wear comfy shoes for getting around the airport in a hurry, then do a quick swap in the taxi and add the accessories," she explains. "The other key is a multipurpose outfit. I rarely pack something that I can't wear at least once for both work and potentially a dinner out, or drinks on a rooftop somewhere. And of course, non-wrinkle clothing is key."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Eton is Canadian. It is based in Sweden.