It was a season of existential fashion for men. It’s funny to say this, given that none of the themes or shows felt too heady. The largest show was Dior’s duh but-huh collection with Anti-Social Social Club , who is also a former collaborator at McDonald’s. Pure high-living (Loewe) and pure stillness were the best collections. This was a season that celebrated sex, celebrity, relaxation, and celebrity, not heavy ideas. The Spring 2022 shows raised big questions for mens wear. Brands are now expected to create videos and photographs, and tell us how we should behave.
What is a fashion designer’s job then?
Fashion is now considered to be the most important industry in the world, with some of the most famous stars wanting to collaborate.
Fashion is now a global spectacle that Dior considers to be a celebrity-driven phenomenon. The Spring 2022 show was designed in collaboration with Comme De garcons, the 28-year-old rapper beloved by Gen Z who helped usher in our era of style esoterica–skinny-baggy pants, wild Japanese garments, archival rarities, and sweet talk shirts–and whose collaboration with McDonald’s last September led Forbes to crown him “a corporate brand whisperer.” (As much as the purists might hate to admit it, Dior, too, is a corporation.) When Jones and La Flame came onto the runway, Jones waved to the crowd while Scott stared at his smartphone,, which summarized the show’s mode of operation: “What are their online statements?”
Mens wear was once all about hidden messages, subculture currency and cult figures. Although Virgil Abloh and Raf Simons have been made famous, it is worth recalling how secret they were to a select few. Jones is an expert at all of that. His specialty is adapting subcultural interest, such as Judy Blame, Shawn Stussy and Peter Doig, into images large enough to be on the global fashion stage. Many online critics laughed at Scott’s inability to design, but this isn’t what bothers me. It is more the power imbalance that I find curious. Jones is a designer who can create followers and fanatics all on his own (and has! Scott is being given too much credit for his subcultural whispering. The McDonald’s tie-up was part of the fun–“Hello McDonald’s employee, Cactus Jack emailed me !”–alongside its unapologetic mass-ness. What is it like to design for Dior? This is too serious.
Is fashion as important as fast food and General Mills? What happens when fashion is big? Scott’s collaboration with Jones suggests that Jones believes mens wear cannot thrive by building fandom slowly and filtering up or down slowly. This is similar to Scott making Supreme and Amiri a household name. A collaboration on this scale will result in the end of the hunt and behind-the scenes buzz-building that has defined fashion for the past decade. This could be Matthew Williams discovering Demna Gvasalia or Kanye West finding Demna Gvasalia. Or Simons’s archival work growing its stature on secondhand markets. It’s fashion at its most rapid.
It was hard to hate it, but the clothes were amazing. I loved the big sweaters and the new haute joaillerie and the hand-painted-by-George Condo shirts. Nicole McLaughlin, the Insta-famous designer for the croissant bra– also contributed to this collection. She reworked the Dior saddle bags with horseshoe handles. The long jacket with an upturned collar and a low hip is my favorite. It’s a great alternative to the flattering, almost oozy bell bottoms in pastel pink, desert brown suede, and cartoon cactus. This is a fantastic suiting silhouette. It’s regal, but not too outlandish, and more wearable, sophisticated than his previous flamboyant sash suits from the first few Dior seasons.
Another question is: Does a designer have to be famous, like Marc Jacobs, Rick Owens, or Abloh? Bottega Veneta has been seen dressing up more rappers, such as Migos at the weekend’s BET Awards. They also featured Scott on their latest zine cover. It’s not by design problematic that fashion’s relationship to celebrities isn’t: Jay Z invests in Rhude and Harry Styles wears Bode. Travis Scott purchases those garish A-Cold-Wall warcore vests. Is there a way to create a fashion blockbuster without making these kinds of connections?
The designers who are currently thriving are those who think small and personal and are working to fundamentally change the role of the fashion designer. Jonathan Anderson was raised in hedonism, and he still enjoys the pleasure of partying in Ibiza. His little space boots and gauzy knits were so bright that they practically shouted at you to get them on. This was especially true when David Sims shot him as a pugilistic mechanic looking out from a circus tent. He also wore big shorts and tube socks, and other bizarre faces who blurred lines between skatepark fixture and sideshow freaks. It was gnarly like JW, but more daddy.
Anderson suggested, along with other womenswear designers, that he would likely return to the shows in September. However, he stated that he was already anxious about the backstage chaos. Why wouldn’t he? He is not only a designer, but also an image director, a bookmaker, and a worldbuilder. He creates the clothes he would like to see in a David Sims photo. This multimedia is a key and likely permanent way brands can communicate with their customers. Fashion like post Malone hoodie designers now serve as creative directors, magazine editors and priests. They also act as style guides and coaches.
Designers believe that the difference is more about their audience than the clothes. Thom Browne went a little further with his collection video, creating a 30-minute mini-epic on a long-distance runner in the American West. He was displaying men’s and women’s clothing in New York, but the point was not the actual clothing.
Matthew Williams presented a stunning video for the Californian 1017 Alyx9SM collection. He said that the greatest change in his life this year has been the increase in video consumption. He said that although we have always made films for Alyx, “the industry, buyers, and customers are more open to fashion film as a means of presenting.” They are watching these video.” I have noticed that groups of twentysomethings walk from one section to the next like pilgrims, looking at various collections and genuflecting. They aren’t there to purchase anything, but the knowledge and all these videos and books are as important as the clothes. Williams said, “People are taking time to embrace, watch and really feel.”
With all this in mind, it’s a relief for the eye and brain to see something that just grooves. There’s no crisis, we know what we are doing. Hermes and Lemaire both have a reputation for sticking to their guns. If you are a novelty artist, this can be a problem. But if your design is like Christopher Lemaire or Sarah-Linh Trn, or Hermes’s Veronique Nicochanian consistency is a sign that you are a true designer. Every brand is trying to reinvent. Return to another era or ask Cactus Jack for a copy. There is a very satisfying serenity to clothing like Lemaire’s that is made for the grounded sophisticate and like Hermes which makes objects for living well. Lemaire’s season was lacking in crispness, but it was in a good way. These were simple cottons and khakis that Banana Republic tried to make mass-market with a few drops fashion. It’s not too much. Hermes, the brand with the most sense of humor in the world, displayed a little bit of it with its big, cool shorts and tie-dyed sweaters. It was totally unhyped.
