BUSINESS CASUAL 2.0
Suiting is, and probably always will be, an essential part of menswear (or #menswear, if you can recall the small but influential Internet movement from over a decade ago). However, as streetwear raised through the ranks in the fashion echelon and became a defining part of the contemporary style zeitgeist, polished tailoring and heritage footwear waned in relevance for trendsetters and fashion media outlets. This year saw a return of suit-y staples both on the runway (notably Balenciaga, Vetements, Gosha Rubchinskiy, MISBHV and Prada) and Instagram, yet the resurgence served more as a satirical reimagining of corporate clothing as opposed to a glamorization of it.
Swathed in a color palette of conference room blues, reds, beiges and grays, “business casual 2.0” looks were defined by shoulder-padded blazers, slouchy dress pants and ill-fitted oxford shirts and often styled with clunky sneakers (see above), hoodies or squinty Matrix-style sunglasses. Looks like “normcore” never really left after all.