Seven years ago Barney’s New York conducted a survey among its male customers with the aim of understanding how they made purchasing decisions. Most said they wanted to dress “correctly” in any environment. Without intending it, those who tried to solve a hypothetical mystery ended up confirming that the consumer had internalized the principles on which they had built their business, based on the idea of ??the existence of good taste. The department stores, which closed in 2020 after 97 years of business, were in fact outlived by those principles.
For years it has been relied on that there is only one suitable formula for showing up for everyday appointments or important occasions in the same way that it is naturally assumed that underpants come in packs of two and socks in packs of three. That the shirts are sport or dress, that chino pants are wild or that tailoring has to be rigorously boring, and that to cover the need that may arise at any given time for each one of them, all you have to do is go to the department with your name.
Seen from afar, the landscape of men’s fashion brands seems too flat to correspond to an industry on the rise: throughout this year the market is expected to grow by 5.7% compared to 2.89% for women’s. Is a business that according to Euromonitor International will reach 547.9 billion dollars in 2026 sustained by consumers who, in short, dress almost the same? Not quite.
A look around is enough to appreciate that after a long time (the first drastic change in style experienced by men occurred with the so-called “great masculine resignation” in the 19th century, when they reduced the expression of wealth in their clothes to a minimum to relegate the role of speaker of status to the wardrobe of its women, and the second would arrive in the eighties represented by the casual Friday) something is changing. The man is more willing to experiment, to have fun and, of course, to use clothes to express his ideas.
Enter Harry Styles. Styles in a two-piece suit with a tight waist touched by a flower of disproportionate dimensions signed by Harris Reed for Nina Ricci. Styles in a see-through Gucci top. Styles in a low-cut sequin jumpsuit from EgonLab. Each of his appearances and the latest Saint Laurent men’s collections prove that the adjective “sexy” can be applied to men in the same way that until now it has only been applied to women.
The 29-year-old Briton, yes, has been showered with criticism that has little to do with his sense of taste. His look, which comfortably crosses the borders of what has traditionally been considered men’s or women’s clothing, and his use of queer symbols have raised suspicions of queerbaiting, that is, of wanting to win the support of the LQTBIQ public without ever having expressed belong to that community.
He is not the only artist who has decided to turn his stylistic choices into a banner of advanced thinking. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, began by getting a manicure, continued in gender-fluid fashion, and even kissed a dancer during his performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Coming from a reggaeton singer, a markedly heteronormative genre, it’s a clear sign of progress.
To ignore archaic masculinity, it is not necessary to wear a skirt like Brad Pitt at the premiere of Bullet Train in Los Angeles or Oscar Isaac at Moon Knight in London. Matty Healy, leader of the band The 1975, wears Beatles-esque suits as he sings “I thought we were fighting but it looks like I was gaslighting you.” Nothing is more modern than understanding the difference between arguing and manipulating.
Thimothée Chalamet, Steve Lacy or Lucien Laviscount are also part of the group of men who are changing the rules of etiquette. For them it is the Vichy check aprons by Prada, the overskirts by Dries van Noten or the pink suits by Zegna. They are all heirs to figures such as Bowie or Marvin Gaye and, to a certain extent, to universally accepted style icons such as Steve McQueen or Paul Newman. They all have one thing in common. They are (or were) always comfortable in their clothes. And that’s the only thing that makes a look the right choice.
