Here’s hoping men want to wear technical outerwear, windbreakers and more athleisure hybrids in the fall.
Designers presenting at London Fashion Week Men’s inundated the runway with off-duty nylon track suits, looser silhouettes and fashion pulled from very specific directions—including childhood, military and ski resorts.
Out of those stories, emerged five details we expect to see more of in the coming fashion weeks in Milan, Paris and New York. The details don’t belong to any one genre of fashion, making them open for designers to freely interpret and update for Fall/Winter ’19-’20.
Wrap star
Scarves are shaping up to be a Fall/Winter 19-20 ‘It’ item for brands to make their mark—be it with logos, words, classic stripes or solid colors. Designers swathed statement scarves across tailored wool coats, cardigans, track suits, short-sleeve tops and everything in between. A-Cold-Wall presented scarves with measuring instrument designs. E.Tautz offered wide stripe scarves with extra-long tassels, while Alex Mullins and Xander Zhou relied on cozy solid color scarves as a finishing touch. And they’re being worn in a very particular way—long and flung over one shoulder.
Thread bare
In one of those odd twists of fate, both Pronouce and Per Gotesson prominently featured rope prints in their collections that were otherwise void of any nautical motifs. Rather, Per Gotesson added prints of frayed rope to long-sleeve T-shirts and the legs of jeans in his collection of deconstructed denim and jersey tops. Meanwhile, rope print snaked across Pronounce’s fitted long-sleeve mock neck tops with thumbholes.
Mock up
The faux turtleneck top is on a path to become the new designer sweatshirt. Another sporty staple of ’90s streetwear to come out of the vault, the basic offers new opportunities for logo placement and it cut a sharp look on the runway with the season’s other must-have detail—the chain necklace. Per Gotesson dressed men’s solid mock neck tops with lapel pins. The neckline was prime placement for Cottweiler’s cursive logo. This all-ages trend takes a dressier turn with turtleneck knits seen in Oliver Spencer’s alpine-inspired collection.
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Pipe dream
Designers are defining seams and edges with contrast piping. It’s a low-key way for tailored pieces to dabble in pop colors like orange and fluorescent green. Daniel W. Fletcher and Feng Chen Wang took a classical approach to piping, trimming relaxed jackets and trench coats with tonal fabrics. Pronounce opted for a high-impact look, trimming checked coats, leather trousers and ’70s-style leisure suiting with white and neon piping. And the piping trend may evolve to include ribbons, leather, printed fabrics and fringe beading—an embellishment Pronounced experimented with on jackets with front flap pockets.
Lucky charms
Another relic from the ’90s—the chain necklace—added an instant cool factor to silk suiting and sportswear. And bonus points for the designers who added tongue-in-cheek charms like dollar signs and initials. Gold necklaces with dollar signs were front and center at Private Policy’s show, where necklaces were styled with silk suiting and worn under collared shirts. Necklaces with chain tassels were worn over turtlenecks at Feng Chen Wang. And jewelry may be a golden opportunity to menswear designers to expand their business. Citing a Euromonitor International report, The New York Times reported last fall that sales for men’s fine jewelry climbed 22 percent from $4.3 billion in 2012 to $5.3 billion in 2017.