Posted on April 30 2018
What or who are mens’ fashion influencers? For most of us, they are the designers, models and celebrities from whom we take cues to develop our personal style. But it can work both ways. Pete Townshend of The Who once remarked that he found it odd that they would be considered style-setters. Apparently all the band did was spot new fashion styles in the audience and made them their own.
Regardless of who or what influences fashion, there are undeniably those who set the pace more than others.
Here are three of them.
Beau Brummell
Mr. Brummell might be the very first ‘arbiter of mens fashion’. Born in the late 1700s, Brummell came of age at a time when mens’ fashions were quite ornate, frilly and colorful. Breeches were worn down to the knees and stockings up to the breeches.
Brummell rejected the ‘fancy’ menswear of the time opting instead for a style that reads like today’s men’s fashion tips: understated, but perfectly fitted jackets and full-length pants, immaculate shirts and a well-knotted cravat. it wouldn’t be wrong to say Brummel is the father of today’s men’s suit.
Steve McQueen
Some people just have ‘it’. They would look fabulous in a potato sack. Steve McQueen had it, but so did many celebrities and influencers of his time and of today. So how did ‘The King of Cool’ change menswear forever? By showing us that we all can wear and look good in a wide variety of fashion styles by following just a couple guidelines.
If you google images of McQueen, you will see him in everything from POW duds, to formal three-piece business suits, gym pants, t-shirt and jeans, leather, denim, sweaters, turtlenecks, long hair, short hair, beard, no beard, and so on. Do the same for McQueen’s contemporaries, like Clint Eastwood, or today’s icons, like Ryan Gosling, and you’ll see more or less the same look, but in a different shirt.
McQueen shows us how to look good in anything we wear. Make sure what we wear is fits well, and and wear it as if its been our style forever. Own it
Hedi Slimane
Whether you love or hate ‘skinny’ jeans, you have Hedi Slimane to thank or blame for them. After decades of menswear designs that favoured larger builds and looser fits, Slimane began the trend back to better fitting fashions for men of average builds. As head designer for Dior Homme, Slimane introduced his silhouette style to fashion runways in the early 2000s, it continues to influence mens’ fashions today.
In so doing, he became the first menswear designer ever to win the Council of Fashion Designers of America award (presented by David Bowie). Slimane has since gone on to create designs for Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Jack White, Daft Punk, Mick Jagger, The Kills, Madonna, The Libertines and, of course, the late David Bowie.
Want to become your own menswear fashion icon? Stop by Ed’s Fine Imports and we’ll set you up!
