The menswear shows for spring summer 2022 have now wrapped – with a raucous, post-covid party in Paris by all accounts- leaving in its wake an optimistic and hopeful new stance.
Rather than a complete overhaul of styles, the new ethos seems to be about building on the familiar, but now with a lighter touch, to better fit the renewed openness of what is hoped will soon be the post-pandemic world.
Suits you
The mainstay of every man’s wardrobe- the suit - is back, after a brief, Covid-imposed hiatus. What the pandemic has done for the boardroom staple however, is replace full lenght trousers, with shorts, still worn with a structured jacket. Seen at Prada, Mans, and Fendi, a tailored blazer with shorts clearly is the new way forward
At Armani, however, the concept of the suit was rethought completely, to encompass top and bottom in matching cloth. A blouson zip-through, worn with double pleat trousers, rolled at the ankle? If they are in the same material, voila, it’s a suit, so said the Italian meastro who has been quietly subverting the suit for decades. Over at Hermes, it delighted in turning things litereally inside-out, with a perfectly cut sightly loose reversible jacket over trousers, allowing for two looks for the price of one.
Burberry meanwhile kept things formal with suits still covered in tailors chalk, but downplayed it all by simply removing the sleeves, while Dries Van Noten added a shirt collar to create a completely new hybrid alternative. Dolce & Gabbana added bomber jacket sleeves to its jackets, or patchworking out of fabric offcuts, while at Fendi, it went one better, and sawed off the jacket across the mid torso, leaving a formal bolero, with matching flat front trousers.
Move over
Another new take on the suit jacket is the new closing. Somewhere between a single and double breasted cut, the new take has shifted the button a couple of inches to the right, creating a sort of nipped in waist effect. It might not sound like much, but this elegant new shape was seen to glorious effect at Jil Sander and Dior, that helds its jackets closed with elaborate costume jewellery, and Dolce & Gabbana that cut its from molten golden cloth, or smothered it in multi coloured crystals.
Dance like there is no one watching
There is no mistaking the very rave-y vibe for summer 2022, as designers (and the rest of us) long for the pandemic to be well and truly over, and for crowds to be able to return to the sheer joy of dancing en masse in close proximity. Over at Loewe, there were clubwear inspired top and short combo's, complete with bucket hats and whistles hanging around necks, while Dries Van Noten opted for overly large, neon tops over baggy print jeans. Even Jil Sander, normally the last bastian of minimal expression, let loose with a fluffy yellow tank top the colour of custard, over track suit style trousers, and a loosely knitted tank that simply read 'Fun". JW Anderson went for shaggy jumpers with matching vests, with a large anchor on the chest, in bubblegum pink and tracksuits covered in enormous strawberries. Even Louis Vuitton delivered a over long plastci coat covered in smiley faces.
Long and the short of it
The new freedom seem to extend to trouser lengths, or lack thereof. At Prada, we were gifted micro shorts under blazers, and boiler suits rolled up as far as humanlt possible, while at Dreis Van Noten, trousers were so long, they sat in great puddles of fabric around the shoes. Rick Owens meanwhile jacked his men up on platform soled shoes, and stretched the trouser hem to the floor, making legs looks ten feet long, a tidy trick favoured by one Victoria Beckham to add inches to her height.
Skirts for boys
While this is an idea that has been flirted with multiple times, finally, it now makes sense. After months of lockdowns, travel restrictions and working from home that have shited all previous boundaries, why shouldn’t boy be allowed to ditch the trousers and just wear a skirt? Forget skater skirts or anything too tailored, this is something more relaxed, lungi style. At Louis Vuitton skirts were wrapped over trousers, like Samurai armour, while Dries van Noten stretched tops to just-above-knee-length, worn over shorts only marginally longer. Burberry also stretched tops, leaving just a sliver of shorts peeking out, while Rick Owens revisted swimsuits of the 1930's that came with integral skirt. Even Fendi opted for a collared linen tunic for a very summery feel.
Shoes
All this laid back change filtered down to footwear, with most brands offering various takes on strappy summer sandels. Loewe went one better with a sort of loose, fabric boot that was wrapped at the ankle, as a male veriosn of the Westwood pirate boot circa 1981. Diesel, however embraced this whole easy-living mandate, and simply added boots to the ends of its jeans, presumably to make life easier when returning home after partying for three days straight. Ever the renegade, Rick Owens went one better, with chunky mid calf boots, with an intergrated mini smoke machine, so even if you cannot get out of the house, you can still party like it's 1999.
