The Relaxed Suiting Era
From Pitti Uomo to Prince Street
Twice a year, I eagerly delve into the reports and visuals from Pitti Uomo, the prestigious bi-annual menswear trade show in Florence, Italy. This event, known for setting the tone for the upcoming seasons, is a treasure trove of insights for enthusiasts and industry professionals alike.
This season has piqued my interest more than ever in recent memory, as the reports from the editors mirror the fashion trends I'm observing on the streets. This alignment between the industry and what people are actually wearing in the real world is a fascinating development.
Legendary designer Sir Paul Smith joined the podcast Throwing Fits and gave his report on what he's seeing at Pitti this year, echoing and reinforcing my assumptions. When asked what's exciting about menswear right now, he says, "Everything is more relaxed. Everything is much softer." Soft around the shoulders, smooth around the waist, he calls it a "modern working wardrobe."
Despite everything being more relaxed these days, he "still loves dressing up." That's a relief because if Paul Smith stops wearing suits, we all might as well throw in the towel. Suiting, though, looks a little different this year and is evolving, as is much else. This really got me thinking about where the overall style and suiting are in general right now. "Relaxed" is a word often used, which is a peculiar development when paired with "suit.”
Suiting is coming back mainstream to the masses, but not in a traditional way. People are wearing slightly oversized suits, with individual jackets and/or trousers as separate pieces. People are wearing suits but have bigger fits, with a T-shirt and a polo instead of an Oxford shirt and a tie. Listening to Paul Smith made me think of my favorite style photo I took recently, as seen below. Every few months, I like to walk around NYC, capture style, and try to get a grasp of trends.
I snapped the above photo of this man standing outside of Fanelli, which, if you've been to NYC in the past couple of years, has become the unofficial place to see and be seen. I absolutely love what he's wearing, and I think it sums up what's happening in menswear. Frequently, there is a disconnect between what's happening on the runways and what people wear, but this time, it's very much aligned. I think we'll see relaxed suiting in full force this fall once we emerge from the heat dome and enter fall and into winter.
As I'm finishing up these words (read: procrastinating) to send this newsletter out—Instagram shows me a photo of Chace Crawford last night on Jimmy Fallon. He's wearing a beautiful Thom Sweeney suit, with, guess what, a t-shirt. Yet another example of this emerging trend—and yet another reminder for me to get back to work.
Look no further than the vintage shops to reinforce this trend. Just in my neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, last year, cult-following store Chickee's Vintage opened a men's outpost featuring a slew of well-curated vintage Armani, Brioni, Ralph Lauren, and Zegna. Last week, we walked by Ebreo's Vintage, a store filled to the gills with more vintage Italian blazers than the eye can see, and when we went in, it was packed!
This trend is becoming harder to ignore; it's everywhere, from the actual runway to the runway outside of Fanelli to guests on Jimmy Fallon to vintage stores in Brooklyn. The last remnants of the streetwear era are starting to make way for something new and fresh, and I'm pleased to report that suits have reentered the conversation.
