Opinion / Jamie Waters
Sportswear swap
Guys, are you ready to don sharp tailoring and polished leather lace-ups? The menswear crowd has congregated in Florence and Milan for the past week’s autumn/winter shows and, judging by the collections, it seems as though the pendulum has swung back to formal dressing (after murmurings for several seasons that it was heading this way). Combine this with the recent comment from designer and streetwear guru Virgil Abloh that streetwear is “definitely gonna die” in 2020 and you’d think that it was a done deal. But whether a more buttoned-up look will really permeate mainstream urban dress codes the world over this year isn’t clear.
For starters, Italy is the epicentre of tailoring so it’s natural for Italian brands to embrace formal ensembles more so than, say, US brands. More importantly, while there was barely a trainer on the catwalks, there were still plenty of comfy-looking kicks in the front row. The boom in sportswear and streetwear has made it acceptable to dress comfortably and casually nearly all the time. This shift has gone beyond a fashion trend; it’s become part of our lifestyles. We’re now more active and favour gear that can take us from one occasion to the next without fuss. So if brands are to tempt consumers into dressing more sharply, they will need to imbue tailored ensembles with sportswear’s comfort and ease (affordability is another factor).
In Milan, Salvatore Ferragamo did just this with oversized coats and trousers whose roomy proportions recalled the relaxed silhouettes typical of streetwear. Meanwhile, Caruso, with a new creative director, presented looks that were well cut but still fairly casual and colourful. And Traiano, a young Milanese brand, unveiled suits, jackets and pleated trousers made from a stretchy nylon (which doesn’t wrinkle and can be machine-washed) digitally printed with patterns that mimic wool and plaids. Sound futuristic? It just might be the way to get sportswear-obsessed shoppers back into two-pieces.