Bold boys: Menswear is back with a bite for winter – but no Squid Game tracksuits yet

Whatever menswear messages emerged on the digitised catwalks this season – long dresses, kilts and tunics (JW Anderson, Louis Vuitton, Dries van Noten) – are not for the faint-hearted. Nor is Squid Game’s blood-speckled tracksuits on Netflix for everyday wear. On Instagram, men are wearing make-up and feminine clothes while Prada sent out her Miu Miu collection with girls dressed as boys dressed as girls dressed as tomboys. Some commentators called it gender agnostics: “Bidding the binary goodbye” went on one headline.

Whatever about that, one practical outcome evident this winter in menswear in this country is that there are a lot more weddings due to backlogs created by coronavirus, so a lot more suits in demand for celebratory events and people treating themselves for something special after a long fallow period at home wearing mundane hoodies and tracksuits.

Dining outdoors demands warmth and for comfort there’s now less restriction, more relaxed and wearable dressing. For the variable Irish climate, everyone needs a decent overcoat or a trench, waxed jacket, or a badass bomber jacket, while hardy brogues or tractor-soled boots are imperative for wet city weather outdoors.

Adventurous

Men have become more adventurous since the pandemic, according to Brown Thomas head of menswear Stephen Burnett, not necessarily heading for kilts, but opting for brighter and more optimistic colours. For a real sartorial splash, there’s nothing like shades of scarlet to warm up a cold day indoors or out.

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Along with the familiar big, luxurious and expensive brands from Dolce & Gabbana and Prada to McQueen and Fendi (some pictured here), 20 new more affordable labels have been introduced to the store this season. They include Four Fifteen Am’s colourful, sustainable and ethically produced T-shirts; Daily Paper from Amsterdam whose joggers, hoodies and tees fuse the African heritage of its founders with modern design; and A Cold Wall, functional workwear, sweaters and gilets in high-tech fabrics.

In the meantime, partywear takes on a life of its own and sneakers get zanier and more flamboyant. Daniel Craig’s pink velvet tuxedo may have set a trend, but powerful animal print shirts or those in bright blue or bright red cut to the chase and are bound to be winners in some form or other this Christmas season.

All clothes and accessories from Brown Thomas.

Photographer Perry Ogden assisted by Emmet Banahan; digital tech Catherine Walsh; Art Director & stylist Darren Feeney assisted by Roisin Haines. Model Lukman@notanotheragency; grooming David Cashman & Christine Lucignano; set design Grainne Walsh.