Menswear Takes On The Barely-There Trend

The house of Hermès is known more for its inimitable stealth-wealth style than for any kind of overt sex appeal. And yet, the most striking thing at Véronique Nichanian’s spring/summer 2024 menswear show for the brand was endless swathes of exposed skin, courtesy of ultra-short shorts that left legs bare all the way from the ankle to the upper thigh. As the temperature climbs, it’s tempting to shed the layers. Naked dressing has been trending on the runways for a few seasons now, but beyond attention-grabbing antics on the red carpet, the look hasn’t found much traction IRL— which is understandable; more often than not, an exposed nipple is going to elicit a raised eyebrow rather than an admiring glance.

This season, the cleverest designers seemed to have changed tack, finding smart solutions for dressing in as little and as light as possible, in ways that take into consideration how we actually live, work and play. As befits a house like Hermès, the short shorts that Nichanian presented came off as classy, not trashy. They were pleated, tailored and double-belted high on the waist; on top, they were paired with weightless blazers thrown over soft white tanks, or semi-transparent shirts in lattice-like mesh. The alluring effect was one of barely-there dressing while still remaining fully and appropriately clothed. 

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It wasn’t just Nichanian rethinking what high-fashion, high-summer dressing could look like. Miuccia Prada is one of those contrarian designers who thrive on subverting the kitsch and the cliched. And what could be more cliched than the much-maligned Hawaiian shirt? It’s a motif that has cropped up time and again in her collections over the decades. This season, Prada and her co-designer Raf Simons put forth the brand’s most directional take yet on the Hawaiian shirt. It came lushly fringed, with each fine strand painstakingly printed to match the vibrant florals underneath. Where the average beach-goer might wear theirs with board shorts, at Prada they were paired with tailored slacks cut into wide skirt-like shorts and shiny dress shoes. It’s as if the duo said: Party on top, business below—and you better make it fashion. 

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Silvia Venturini Fendi is another designer who has been turning menswear tropes on their heads for a while now by borrowing from the language of womenswear. Her previous collections have seen midriff-baring suits and halter-neck work shirts. For spring/summer 2024, she outdid herself with figure-hugging bodysuits cut high on the hip, paired with pants so low-slung they exposed the models’ hip bones—an extremely subtle detail that nonetheless packed a whole lot of provocative punch.

Dries Van Noten reimagined summer suiting with crinkled silk blazers tucked into drawstring shorts, or worn with the wispiest of rollnecks and ropey sandals. At Dior Men, Kim Jones reinvented the three-piece by chopping off trousers at mid-thigh and swapping out the stuffy button-down for fluid tie-fastened shirts or ribbed, zipped knits that can be adjusted to show as much (or as little) skin the wearer wants. Though their approaches may vary, what these visionaries are proving is that the hot and the haute can definitely coexist.