The Spring 2019 Men’s

Trend Report
JUNE 28, 2018 12:24 AM
by  S T E F F Y O T K A

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Nowhere is the schism between the highs and the lows of fashion more
evident than in menswear. Over a month of shows in London, Florence,
Milan, and Paris, designers simultaneously offered garments on par with the
haute-est of women’s couture (Maison Margiela) and a remake of the humble
Hanes T-shirt (Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton). In between we witnessed the
continuing influence of streetwear—which can be maximalist, as at
Valentino; technical, as at Alyx; or cultish, as at Undercover—and the rise of,
well, almost no clothing at all, led by Jonathan Anderson’s completely nude
model in Loewe’s lookbook. Are clothes so last season? Not quite.
But you wouldn’t be wrong to notice a shift in the tenor of the season. In a
time when the nature of masculinity is being questioned from all sides,
menswear designers have struggled to posit an example that can be at once
progressive and evocative, while still being financially viable and good for
their business’s bottom line.
So when it came time to count up the trends that left a mark this men’s
season, Vogue Runway honed in on the prints and graphics that are going to
be undeniably hot at sales, a selection of silhouettes that have already taken
over street style, and a handful of new ideas that have the potential to push
the fashion conversation—and men’s ideas about dress—forward. All nine
are presented below. Gentlemen, choose your team wisely, and may the best
trend win!

Dad Jeans Are Here to Stay

1/11
Versace
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With denim trends having run the gamut from wildly embellished to barely
there over the past two years, the simple dad jean has come out on top for
Spring 2019. The medium- or light-wash jean with a straight leg or a slight
boot cut also serves as a smart base for some of menswear’s more kooky
shirts and jackets, as seen on the runways at Versace, Prada, and Off-White.

Skin Is In

5/13
Off-White

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As womenswear edges toward the covered up and modest, menswear is

suddenly all about showing a little skin. At more than a few shows this
season, models were sent out bare chested in just shorts or trousers; some
covered in glitter or paint, as at Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen; while
others were left to glisten in the sun, as at Jacquemus’s menswear debut. The
boldest take came from Jonathan Anderson, who had one model in his Loewe
lookbook pose completely nude but for a trumpet. Not afraid to toot his own
horn, I suppose.

Couture Rises as the Anti-Streetwear

3/7
Dior Homme

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If you’ve done your fashion history homework, you could trace the rise of
streetwear and graphics back to Raf Simons’s early shows in the ’90s, which
had a sort of pulled-from-pop-culture, anti-fashion spin. That makes
Simons’s elevation of menswear as a couture craft all the more potent. This
season the designer eschewed the buzz of instantly comprehensible graphics
or silhouettes for a palette borrowed from Yves Saint Laurent. John Galliano,
surely one of the couture masters of the 20th and 21st centuries, took his bias
cut to Maison Margiela, while Kim Jones served up a smart take on the craft
of menswear at Dior Homme.

Best to Get On That Tie-Dyed Drip Now

4/13
Cerruti

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No surprises here that tie-dye has made it to the mainstream. Rei Kawakubo
gave the look her stamp of approval, sending out an indigo tie-dyed suit at
Comme des Garçons Homme Plus, while colorful shiboris and swirls made
appearances at Amiri, Ambush, and 3.1 Phillip Lim.

You Will Need More Pockets

4/19
Alyx

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Storage space is at a premium in cities around the world—make up for it with

a jacket, trousers, or harness with enough pockets to store your iPhone X,
AirPods, wallet, passport, rose tonic spray, sunglasses, MetroCard, and about
15 other essentials you can’t leave home without. The Spring 2019 answer to
the recently ubiquitous fanny pack? Yes, but it’s also a nod to Helmut Lang
—back in the ’90s the designer pioneered multi-storage solutions built right
into garments.

A Roomy, Short-Sleeved Button-Up Remains

the Shirt to Beat
1/19
Valentino

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Last summer’s Hawaiian shirts have given way to a wild range of patterns in
the classic Tommy Bahama silhouette. At Dries Van Noten, you can get one
in Verner Panton’s iconic squiggle, while Fendi is sending out several in the
house’s popular-again monogram. For the purists, try Valentino’s roomy
camouflage with a tropical detail or MSGM’s coordinating Hawaiian sunset–
print shirt-and-shorts combos.
Leather Daddies Are Back, Weather Be
Damned

7/10
Versace

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Yes, these are the Spring collections, though we can’t blame you for thinking
otherwise considering the number of head-to-toe leather outfits on the
runways. There are jumpsuits from Alexander McQueen, trench-and-trouser
sets from Lanvin, and one red snake-print vest-and-pant ensemble from
Versace that is strangely resplendent. All this bodes well for the Mr. T–
meets–Peter Marino true believers out there, though we’d love it if Stella
McCartney could offer a vegan option, too.

There’s Poetry in Slow Fashion

1/15
Ann Demeulemeester

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From Jacquemus, Loewe, and Ann Demeulemeester comes an aesthetic

revival for the purity, craft, and romanticism of the countryside. Most visible
in these brands’ Provençal straw hats and loose, flowing garments, the
pastoral trend is an aesthetic and philosophical counterweight to fashion’s
obsessions with speed, hype, and urgency. In Etro’s patchwork suit or
Marni’s roomy separates, you’ll be inspired to unplug and get off the grid,
even if just for an evening.

Graphic Knits Have Replaced Graphic Tees

5/11
Charles Jeffrey Loverboy

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Statement sweaters have taken on a cartoony spin, with Snoopy at Iceberg

and