Men's Tailoring Goes Dapper And Dramatic For Fall/Winter 2023
The tailored two-piece remains the most alluring option for evening dressing that is effortless yet impactful. But this season, its proponents fall into two distinct camps.
Every gent worth his salt when it comes to style is no stranger to the tailored suit. Yet, on the menswear runways for Fall/Winter 2023, designers at Fashion Week are out in full force to offer alternative takes on the classic silhouette. Scroll down for a closer look at the different propositions to the tailored suit this season.
The Minimalists
Left to right: Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2023, The Row Fall/Winter 2023. Photos: Showbit
This set of designers set out to distil the suit down to its essence. No superfluous details, no grand reinventions; in their hands, the suit is all about the purity and precision of the cut, the relationship between cloth and body, and a showcase for the superiority of their Houses’ tailoring ateliers. Demna’s big Redemption collection for Balenciaga was stripped of theatrics in both clothing and staging; instead he opened with a series of suits that emphasised his skill with the scissors.
Left to right: Gucci Cruise 2024, Saint Laurent Fall/Winter 2023. Photos: Showbit
The final look at the Gucci Cruise show—literally the last runway look by the studio team before Sabato de Sarno’s debut—was a palate cleanser of a boxy black suit. Sarah Burton’s penultimate collection for Alexander McQueen was all razor-sharp, surgical-precise lines—a nod to Lee McQueen’s Savile Row beginnings. Other designers too nodded at their Houses’ heritage. Anthony Vaccarello built a new and imposing menswear silhouette using Yves Saint Laurent’s juxtaposition of delicate flou and sharp tailleur; while Matthew Williams referenced Hubert de Givenchy’s couture construction for his sculpted suits.
The Non-conformists
Left to right: Palomo Spain Fall/Winter 2023, Jacquemus Fall/Winter 2023. Photos: Showbit
This camp sees the suit as a symbol of tradition to be subverted. To them, it is a blank canvas, a starting point on which they can project fantasy, emotion, decoration and drama. The Japanese mavericks, like Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto, do it best—using the familiar to fashion the avant-garde. At Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s starting point was the skinny black tie, but he transformed the context around it with punkish leathers and hot pants for men.
Left to right: Simone Rocha Fall/Winter 2023, Bode Fall/Winter 2023. Photos: Showbit
At Off-White, Ibrahim Kamara’s take on the suit was at once futuristic and Afro-centric. Simone Rocha, now that she has expanded into menswear, found the suit to be the perfect vehicle for her exploration of power and fragility. Jacquemus’ ode to Marie Antoinette and Princess Diana yielded his most directional menswear yet. Meanwhile, designers like Willy Chavarria and Alejandro Gómez Palomo of Palomo Spain imbued the suit—for so long a signifier of conventional masculinity—with a distinctly queer sensibility.