Scrolling through my social media recently, I’m seeing a lot of hype around Fall fashion week – for menswear. The Richard Hawkins-adored runway at Loewe, the feminine Dior silhouettes, the Louis Vuitton front row, Naomi Campbell on a menswear catwalk – I’m enraptured by the spectacle of the season, and it seems I’m not the only one.
There’s undeniably a mainstream excitement for the latest menswear showings that I haven’t clocked in years’ past.
And I’m here for it.
There’s been a lot of chatter in recent years about the upward trajectory of men’s fashion. Long gone are the days when men can throw on some cargo shorts and a shirt and call it a day. Style is firmly at the center of conversations around the modern gent – and the most culturally clued-in aren’t afraid of taking big swings with their choice of clothing (and accessories and hair).
We’ve watched as male celebs have upped their contributions to the red carpet. Think: Timothee Chalamet, Harry Styles, Lil Nas X and Pedro Pascal all rocking cutting-edge designer wares to rival any decent display of gowns.
Then there are the gents whose street style turns heads. Athletes like LeBron James, Lewis Hamilton, and Travis Kelce have become numerous fashion houses’ first call when it comes to street style exposure.
Of course, we can’t go past the headline-making designers and creative directors, whose own personalities and celebrity status have elevated their brands. In 2023, Louis Vuitton made a big-name hire in Pharrell, whose own reputation as a “cultural maison” (per the words of the fashion house) set him in good stead for the role.
While male fashion designers have long enjoyed an element of celebrity, it’s often due to their association with womenswear. Now, social media is celebrating designers like Jonathan Anderson (LOEWE) and Haider Ackermann, for their unique and exciting contributions to menswear.
Men’s fashion week events have become more interesting from a tabloid perspective, with A-list front rows a hot ticket for famous faces.
And just as stylish men swarmed the front rows of womenswear fashion week, trendy ladies were keeping a keen eye on upcoming menswear trends, with the likes of Taylor Russell and Lila Moss making appearances at this season’s most fashionable shows.
Meanwhile on the runway, designers are taking bigger creative swings.
While it seems the SS24 womenswear shows preferred a lot of minimal, easily wearable, mostly basic looks, it’s as though many brands have saved maximalism – and all the fun – for menswear.
Personally, it’s fueling some major sartorial fantasies for my own wardrobe.
As gendered clothing becomes less rigid in its parameters, we’re seeing a lot of traditionally feminine garments and silhouettes appear on the runways of men’s fashion week. Naomi Campbell even closed the show for Balmain’s Fall Menswear, flipping a recent trend of androgynous men appearing on womenswear runways, and embracing the world’s biggest living supermodel as a rep for menswear.
While the cuts are decidedly feminine in 2024, another aspect of the masculine/feminine fashion continuum is the popularity of oversized, masculine cuts worn on women. Given slouchy fits remaining the trend du jour for women’s fashion, it makes sense to comb over men’s fashion week for that ‘style to steal’.
While this isn’t exactly a new idea – we’ve all heard the term ‘boyfriend jeans’ or heard women on TikTok espousing the virtues of shopping for oversized shirts or blazers in the menswear section – I, a person with traditionally feminine styling habits, am loving the glamor and excitement of what’s coming down the menswear catwalks.
With that in mind, here are some of the most exciting displays I’ve seen at this year’s Menswear Fashion Weeks.
The Best Looks To Steal From Men’s Fashion Week
