Guys in Well Tailored Suits, Skirts and High Heels
Guys in girls’ clothes? Why Not? Stated the show notes at Thom Browne’s Spring 2018 menswear show in Paris. The designer presented powerfully, chic womenswear (and yes, high heels) on male models that challenge traditional gender roles. High heeled shoes were orignally meant for men and were particularly popular with royalty to help them stand taller than the rest.
This season, it all began with a pair of baby shoes that Browne himself once wore as an infant. “I like the idea that when you are a baby, you wear pretty much the same clothing as your brothers and sisters. And I think that culture dictates which way and what kind of clothing you wear—but it is nice that you can pretty much wear whatever you want,” the designer explained. “I wanted the audience to look at the baby shoes, and reminisce back to where it all started.”
In keeping with the designer’s unique aesthetic, many of the garments were rendered on the small side and cropped, as if to illustrate children outgrowing their clothes. Each of the carefully assembled ensembles capitalized upon Browne’s impeccable craftmanship and appeared in the form of double breasted jackets, skirts, culottes, vests, and supremely fitted sheath dresses. Although skirts were occasionally replaced with trousers, many were cropped to mid calf, and shortened as minis, and lined with the designers signature red white and navy striped ribbon accents. Naturally, Thom Browne’s pup, Hector also made an appearance; this time, in the form of a metallic gold embossed print worn atop a schoolgirl inspired pleated skirt with high heeled oxford shoes.
The brilliant thing about the collection is that while skirts and kilts for men are nothing new, in Thom Browne’s hands, they evoke an entirely new vocabulary that enhances masculinity. That’s just his point: that men and women can embrace genderless clothes with the full confidence to wear whatever they want. The supremely tailored silhouettes in masculine gray wool, seersucker and poplin steered the collection away from any mere connotation of drag, creating a much more inspired wardrobe that just might foreshadow the future of fashion.
See All the Looks from the Collection
