Bonobos Steps Out of the Shadows With New Ad Campaign

The story is well known by now: Andy Dunn and Brian Spaly founded Bonobos during their days at Stanford Business School to offer men a better-fitting khaki. What isn’t as well known is that one of their first customers was a classmate named John Hutchison who recalls buying a pair of pants from Spaly that he sold out of the trunk of Dunn’s car.

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Fast forward 18 years and Hutchison is now the president of Bonobos where he is committed to returning the company to the forefront of the men’s polished casual business.

On Monday, Bonobos launched a new ad campaign called “Fit Is a Feeling” that leans into its history as an innovator in terms of fit. Each pair of pants is offered in five fits while there are three fits in shirts.

Hutchison acknowledged that Bonobos has been “a little quiet” over the past two years and “we’re excited to tell people Bonobos is back.” This marks the first major campaign for the company this year and it will be featured on digital channels such as Reddit and YouTube, streaming channels, social media and out-of-home locations in key markets including New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville and Washington, D.C.

In the past several years, Bonobos has undergone some massive changes that started in 2017 when Walmart purchased the business for $310 million as part of its push to beef up its digital offerings and compete more effectively with Amazon. Dunn, who had been running Bonobos, joined the retailer to oversee its digitally native brands, but left in 2020.

Six years after the purchase, Walmart pivoted and made the decision to sell off the brands it had acquired including Modcloth which it sold in 2019, Moosejaw to Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2023. Bonobos was acquired by WHP Global and Express Inc. at the discounted price of $75 million in April of 2023. Since then, Express filed bankrupty and was rescued by a consortium called Phoenix that includs WHP and three of its landlords.

Hutchison, a veteran of The North Face and Nike, was actually brought on board by Walmart in 2022 following the departure of then-chief executive officer Micky Onvural, to both lead the business and help get it ready for sale. He was retained by the new owners and Dunn was brought on as “brand adviser” to Bonobos by WHP.

“It’s been quite a ride for two years,” he said. “But I came in feeling that our product has always been great, it’s just fallen off the radar. So we’re trying to get the brand back out there.”

He said he sees “so much opportunity” for Bonobos and while the past year has been about integrating Bonobos into the WHP and Express portfolio, “It’s good to be part of a business that understands us better than Walmart did.”

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The campaign features a series of videos of guys going about their days — striding through the streets or riding their bikes to work in a Bonobos blazer, shirt or pants, or even hoisting a glass decked out in a tuxedo. It was created in partnership with Con Williamson, creative director and founder of Wilco Collective.

The videos tell viewers that when clothes fit properly, it inspires confidence. “When pants fit, the world sees it,” says the narrator in the videos.

The products featured in the campaign include chinos, Weekday Warrior pants, dress shirts and Jetsetter blazers.

In February, Bonobos introduced Classic Fit, a new option with a roomier fit from hip to hem and a relaxed medium rise, followed by the Gramercy Jean, a New York-inspired pant made from organic cotton with stretch.

“We started as a company with better-fitting chinos and we’ve hung our hat on the better bottoms business,” Hutchison said. “But suits and blazers have been on fire for us even before COVID, and our denim business is good. We now service the entire wardrobe of polished casual clothing.”

Bonobos still operates 50 Guideshops in the U.S.: retail locations that are used to help customers find the right style and fit by working with the staff or in-store guides. “Our assortment is way too broad with all the fits we offer to fit in any store,” Hutchison said. But once ordered on-site, the product is shipped to the customer within two to three days. Bonobos introduced this type of shopping in 2012.

In addition, the brand is also carried at retailers including Nordstrom, Stitch Fix and others, he said, noting that he is a big proponent of retaining Bonobos’ wholesale business to complement its direct-to-consumer sales.

Hutchison said the Fit Is a Feeling campaign benefits both wholesale customers as well as DTC shoppers and it will live on through the holiday season and beyond. “It’s a message that will resonate for a while,” he said. “Everyone thinks their clothes fit but offering five fits in pants and three in shirts is really innovative and this is our way to raise the awareness level.”

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