Hello, Open Thread. Happy couture week. Yes, the shows start on Monday, after the men’s fashion shows end. (Hope you have been enjoying the special fashion newsletter. Send us your feedback.) Before that, however, the show beyond the shows, or the show in the Alps that is the World Economic Forum, otherwise known as Davos after the town where it takes place. Usually the talk at Davos is all about statement hats and scarves, for obvious weather-related reasons, but this time around there were two unexpected style-setters: the French president Emmanuel Macron, who surprised everyone by taking to the stage in his usual blue suit — and matching blue aviators; and Katy Perry, who was accompanying her boyfriend, Justin Trudeau, the former Canadian prime minister, and modeling something of a fashion pivot. See the photo above. Mr. Macron, it turned out, was wearing his shades for medical reasons, but that didn’t stop the comparisons to “Top Gun.” They reminded me of Joe Biden, the OG political aviator guy, who it turns out may have had more style influence on the captains of industry in attendance than anyone might have predicted. According to my colleague Lauren Hirsch, who is reporting on the conference, black Hokas, the shoes favored by Mr. Biden when he was in office, are one of the biggest footwear trends of the summit, along with snow boots indoors. (“No one has time to change,” Lauren said.) As for Ms. Perry, who was previously famous for dressing like a chandelier and a hamburger at the Met Gala, and for wearing an outfit that squirted whipped cream from the bosom during a music video, she seems to be following the example of Melania Trump at President Trump’s first inauguration and engaging in some first lady cosplay. How else to explain the decorous camel top and skirt, neat bun and very proper earrings? It’s the usual idea that seriousness must equate with boring style. Michelle Obama would beg to disagree. NUMBER OF THE WEEK
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In other news, Giambattista Valli, the Italian designer beloved by the younger jet set generation and known for his rococo evening wear and titanic tulles, has canceled his couture show following reports that his business is in trouble. I’ve been thinking of him a lot in the context of the death of Valentino on Monday.
Mr. Valli always seemed to hold Valentino as a role model, from his Roman aesthetic and affinity for elaborate frocks to his partying with next gen society swans like Lauren Santo Domingo and Bianca Brandolini D’Adda. But as I wrote in my appraisal of Valentino’s influence, that’s a world, and a lifestyle, that seems increasingly anachronistic. It shouldn’t really be a surprise that, glamorous as it may look in paparazzi pictures, it couldn’t really support a business.
Think about that. Then consider the symbolism of the Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino’s greatcoat, listen in as the Styles team debates Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open fashion statement and get a peek at Cyndi Lauper’s closet.
I’ll be coming to you from Paris starting Monday, so check in here for all the couture news and gossip, and have a good, safe weekend.
FASHION IN THE WORLD | ||
An Appraisal The Way ‘Rich’ Once LookedThe death of the designer Valentino marks the end of an era, not just in fashion but in dressing the part. By Vanessa Friedman |
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Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or X. Questions are edited and condensed.
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Between the explosive rise of streetwear, the trend toward celebrity merch and the re-emergence of quiet luxury, the sweatshirt, once that most basic of wardrobe staples, has experienced a hyper-speed evolution.
This is, according to GQ, “the golden age of hoodies,” with one for pretty much every personality and occasion. (I swear that the magazine has a sweatshirt correspondent, it covers the garment so much.)
Not long ago I was at a Fear of God presentation and found myself coveting a sweatshirt with a wide faux turtleneck that seemed to be exactly the kind of sweatshirt that Audrey Hepburn would have worn if she was a sweatshirt-wearing type. Back in her day she obviously was not. But she might be now!
Whether there are sweatshirts that can be worn to work is a different story. As always, it depends on the job and the message you are trying to convey. Office dress codes are as much about peer groups and signaling where you belong in a hierarchy (or want to belong) as they are about actual style.
“A sweatshirt is sort of the final frontier of business casual,” said a friend who works for a tech company. “But recently the emphasis has been more on the business part and less on the casual.” This is especially so now that there is more pressure in the job market and people want to look serious and employable.
Whether you like it or not, and no matter how fancy they may be, sweatshirts are essentially coded casual and youthful. Even student-y, much like the backpack. They are not generally coded corporate, even if they have a corporate logo on the front.
Joseph Rosenfeld, a personal stylist who works with executives on both the West and East Coasts, said much the same.
“When it comes to sweatshirts, I don’t focus on whether they’re ‘luxurious’ or ‘designer,’” he said. “I look at whether they undermine authority in the context in which the wearer would use them. A sweatshirt’s default behavior is to dissolve structure. In most professional contexts, that works against clarity, confidence and discernment, especially for people in visible or senior roles.”
The real question you should be asking yourself, Mr. Rosenfeld said, is not, “Can I get away with this?” It is, he said, “Do I want to give up visual authority on purpose, and if so, what do I intend to say instead?’”
Maybe you want to signal membership in a group, or a department. According to my friend, the only people in her company who wear sweatshirts are the engineers, or coders, and that is as much a visual cue about what they do, and where they belong, as it is about personal taste.
Mark Zuckerberg, perhaps the most famous sweatshirt wearer (at least other than Senator John Fetterman), wore them in part to suggest that “he prioritizes his brain output over personal presentation,” Mr. Rosenfeld said.
Besides, he continued, “he holds so much power that he might even try to neutralize it rather than project it. It’s a flex without any effort.”
But, he said, this would work only “for the very few people who, like him, have a level of unchallenged authority.” Besides, even Mr. Zuckerberg has pivoted away from hoodies and toward a more structured wardrobe.
If you want to try a sweatshirt in the office, dressing it up is crucial. Wear it with tailored pants, a blazer and sophisticated shoes and jewelry. The point is to make it look as little like a sweatshirt as possible — which may take more … well, work, than it is worth.
