Designer Page

MICHEL MEN is the American menswear brand founded by Brooklyn-born, Haitian American designer Whitney Michel.

Our philosophy

Whitney Michel is a New York menswear designer and multidisciplinary creative whose work explores the idea of the modern American uniform. Through MICHEL MEN, her menswear brand, Michel creates considered cashmere for men who move the world—grounded in the belief that how we live shapes who we become. Michel's creative inspiration pulls from her artist father, classic American films, and being raised as the only girl in a family with four brothers. Created during her senior year at Parsons, the MM thesis at Parsons led to an internship in Vogue's men's editorial department — launching a decade-long career in menswear. Michel later went on to style icons like Tom Brady, Joel Embiid, Derek Jeter and Rob Gronkowski. During this creative period, Michel also served as Chief Creative Officer of a legacy advertising agency, guiding award-winning storytelling for American brands, Ford and Lincoln. She left that role in summer of 2025 to fully build the MM story.

Born in Brooklyn and raised as the only girl among four brothers in a Haitian American home, Whitney Michel is exposed to menswear in films.
Her Financial District dorm said it before she did. GQ covers ran floor to ceiling, crowded in with posters of the films she'd watched on repeat: The Boondock Saints, Wall Street... Stories centered around powerful male figures. "You know you're into menswear, right?" a roommate asked. By the end of her junior year, Michel had turned her focus to menswear. MM becomes her senior thesis.
Vogue's men's editor sees Michel's senior thesis and brings her in as an intern. Freelance work follows, and with it a decade in men's styling and editorial. Assisting a former GQ editor, she contributes to GQ, Esquire, Man of the World and more, on shoots with Bradley Cooper, Richard Gere and Morgan Freeman. Then come clients of her own: Tom Brady, Joel Embiid, Rob Gronkowski and Derek Jeter, men whose power is rooted in discipline.
MICHEL MEN returns with a line of accessories, launched through a crowdfunding campaign that reaches its goal in the first 24 hours. These accessories would soon be featured in Esquire, Forbes, Mens Health and British GQ.
Just after MICHEL MEN is awarded an ICON360 grant through the CFDA and Vogue's A Common Thread, the brand launches a limited-edition accessories collaboration with The Tie Bar, led by GQ creative director at large Jim Moore. "Her keen eye for style and inspiring ability to reflect on the past while staying totally modern, and true to her vision, makes her a men's wear force to watch," Moore said in 2021. Pierce Brosnan, Michael Caine and Forest Whitaker are soon seen wearing the brand.
MICHEL MEN expands into made-to-order cashmere, produced in New York. Michel is selected by Bethann Hardison for her Designers Hub, and becomes Chief Creative Officer at a legacy ad agency, leading campaigns for American icons like Ford and Lincoln.
Word spreads. MICHEL MEN appears twice in The New York Times and is worn by men from Steph Curry to Tom Hardy.
A love of menswear that began with the movies comes full circle: MICHEL MEN opens Him, produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele. MICHEL MEN expands the collection of knitwear, leaving her role as an agency Chief Creative Officer to fully build the MM vision. That year, she also creates Blackbird Theory, an interior design practice centered on peace in the wild.
Four brothers. The men on screen. A wall of GQ covers. A decade dressing men of discipline. It all led here. In 2025, Michel left her role as chief creative officer at a legacy ad agency to devote herself to MICHEL MEN. "I want to make pieces that feel like armor, but move with ease, for the men who move the world," she says. "That's my vow."