Last month, Stranger Things star Joe Keery—paging all fellow Steve Harrington fans!—attended the show’s Season 5 premiere in Hollywood. It was a splashy, star-studded, big-budget affair… yet all I could look at was the simple black T-shirt Keery wore on the red carpet. A month later, I’m still thinking about it.
Fitted extra-tight, the tee clung to his body like Saran Wrap, perfectly matching the one-size-too-small leather jacket and tight black straight-leg jeans he wore with it. But don’t mistake the look for some dry-cleaning mishap: It all came courtesy of Gucci’s spring 2026 collection, which served as designer Demna’s highly anticipated debut for the Italian house. The super-fitted silhouette, in other words, was entirely deliberate.
It was also a bit of a theme in the show: One model wore an extra-small white V-neck tee with bootcut jeans—a look reminiscent of the one that club boys would wear in the 2000s with the douchiest sunglasses you’ve ever seen.
Unfortunately, I find this all very hot.
Gucci isn’t alone in bringing menswear into vacuum-sealed territory, either. After the last few seasons’ focus on all things slouchy—think baggy jeans, oversized suits, and elongated shirts—the tide seems to be turning. For spring, one Acne Studios menswear look caught my eye: a cropped white tank top reading I Feel You, paired with skin-tight brown leather trousers—the kind that Friends’s Ross Geller would have trouble taking off, like in that one episode with the baby powder. Elsewhere, at the 2025 CFDA Awards, singer Sombr hit the red carpet in a shrunken Thom Browne suit—complete with skinny-fit pants and an itty-bitty suit vest—a signature silhouette for the designer.
The only question is: Why now? What’s brought on this sudden urge to stuff ourselves into extremely tight clothing?
Well, it’s no secret that this has been a year of Ozempic mania, protein obsession, and showing skin; it follows that the (endless) cultural conversations around health and wellness have had a ripple effect in fashion. Extra-tight clothes certainly offer one way to engage with the body, leaving little to the imagination about what lies underneath.
And it’s not just models and celebrities slipping into the trend. At the recent spring 2026 menswear shows, we saw many stylish gents rocking extra-tight tees, their pecs and biceps as prominently displayed as any It accessory.
Of course, let’s not forget: One doesn’t need perfectly chiseled abs to test out the look. Just show off what you got! But if you do feel so inclined to get an extra rep in at the gym—health really is wealth!—I’ll see you there after the holidays.
