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What men should look like, dress like, and act like has become a considerable preoccupation of late. Timothée Chalamet’s butter yellow Givenchy look at the Academy Awards, which previewed Sarah Burton’s debut collection for the LVMH label, sparked much online debate. Was it too casual for the Oscars, could this be the look of a winner?
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and actor Anthony Mackie have abundant opinions—too many, I’d say—about the current state of masculinity (their take being that the culture isn’t masculine enough). You could chalk this up, perhaps, to the slow but steady increase in the success rate of women in the workplace—a recent study by McKinsey said women today make up 29 percent of C-suite positions, compared with just 17 percent in 2015. (Though at the rate we’re going it will take 48 years for the representation of White women and women of color in senior leadership to reflect their share of the US population.)
This season, fashion designers were equally obsessed with the subject of masculinity, but they’re thinking of it differently and, in most cases—thank goodness—more expansively. Luca Guadagnino has taken on adapting Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho for the screen. As he considers who will be his Patrick Bateman, designers from Balenciaga’s Demna to Gabriela Hearst trained their attention on the “man in finance.” Robert Eggers’s standout film Nosferatu, with its gothic 19th century elegance, also made an impact. See the dramatic outerwear collars and furs at Luar, Fendi, and Campillo. One of the movie’s stars, Nicholas Hoult, sat front row at Burberry next to the brand’s meme-worthy knight.
This year’s Costume Institute exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” will examine menswear in the context of Black men and their style, and the dress code for the accompanying Met Gala is “Tailored for You.” As they often do, designers used their fall collections to offer proposals for the Met steps. At McQueen, Seán McGirr considered dandyism through the life—and wardrobe—of Oscar Wilde. The dandy, or the neo dandy who is his present-day genderbending counterpart, was a recurrent character this season, appearing not just at McQueen, but also at Burberry, Valentino, S.S. Daley, and more.
Heating things up and certainly making our pulses race were all the male thirst traps on the runways (which I outlined for Vogue Business earlier this year). From suits worn sans shirts to completely naked torsos—shoutout to Mica Argañaraz’s six pack at Duran Lantink—and lots of bulging biceps, men have become fashion’s objects of desire. Fear not, manosphere bros, masculinity is still everywhere these days—it just needed a dressing down.
Archetypes
Extras in Nosferatu
Ruffles and feathers.
And lots of florals.
Red carpet-ready tailoring.
Some extravagant furs.
And some really good hats.
A Touch of Drama
Sparkles, feathers, and even peplums.
And a Healthy Dose of Runway Thirst Traps
Honey, I lost my shirt!
And my pants…
The midriff continues to dominate.
The only gun show we’re interested in.
Bodycon, body-first.
Two parting shots…
And Two Designers With Something To Say
