Menswear SS20 tailoring trends

Streetwear may be dominant when it comes to retail sales, but on the men’s catwalk this season there was a seismic shift to moving to smarter, more tailored looks. But smarter does not necessarily equate with boring or traditional, and menswear is looking beyond the corporate office check and embracing more contemporary fabrics, colours and cuts.

Here is our takeaway on men’s tailoring for Spring Summer 2020.

It’s how you wear it

The traditional two or three-button suit is not going to sway a millenial customer to ditch a hoodie or parka. Tailoring needs to fill the wardrobe gap that streetwear can’t cater to. Many luxury brands, from Celine to Dior, are marketing tailoring in novel ways to the youth market.

Here, in-store merchandising is key, and rails of grey and navy two-piece combos are to be avoided. Instead, try merchandising jackets with shorts or denim, or with looser fitting trousers. It’s about mixing rather than matching. At Fendi, the short suit came deconstructed and lightweight, with shorts falling below knee-length and accessorised with sandals. Ties were largely absent, with looks styled with a printed shirt in the same colour palette.

In the pink

Pastel shades ranging from soft pink to nude colours to full-on fuchsia made its way onto the men’s colour palette this season, tailoring not excluded. Challenging the status quo of masculinity, brands are embracing more traditional feminine colours to bring a softer, gentler touch to men’s tailoring.

Utility suiting

Patch pockets on jackets, cargo detailing on trousers, zippers, flaps, and a variation of fabrics like canvas and cottons are mixing up modern tailoring. These lend for a more sporty look and might be easier to lure a younger customer away from streetwear for more tailored options.

Take a shine to it

At Dior, suiting shone. The opening look of a satin single-breasted suit complete with sash and worn with crisp white trainers showed how to mix high and low, street and modern tailoring. At Celine, Hedi Slimane added a sparkle to eveningwear, a seventies disco fever suit that was tight and skinny as we come to expect from his cuts.

Of course if all else fails, there is alway the traditional pinstripe option. Classic tailoring will never go out of style.

Photo credit: Dior SS20, Catwalkpictures.com