Men’s fashion online magazine INFASHIONITY.COM brings you the top looks and trends straight off the runway shows held in London Milan and Paris where designers presented their vision for fall/winter 2019, a post streetwear-obession era is starting with a return to a new-found elegance.

Dear readers,

We thought a lot about how to bring you the top trends we spotted thanks to attending shows in London Milan and Paris and decided to mix it all together to bring you a complete (but not exhaustive) overview of what we felt was the most striking this season.

And we are quite excited to start with an observation: men’s fashion’s obsession with streetwear is (at last) starting to phase out. Don’t get us wrong, there were still plenty of (chunky) sneakers walking down the runways (Zegna, Valentino), however, one cannot deny that the main trend this fall winter 2019 season was a return to elegance, thanks to reinvented tailoring.

If some seemed to find it a little boring or not a very exciting season, we feel that it was about time a better balance between street and formal wear was brought back. The winter 2019 man is no longer torn between casual and elegant, he embraces both sides of the menswear spectrum. His suits are not boring but his casual clothes are no longer over-logotized.

The predominant silhouette is still quite relaxed, even, surprisingly, at Celine, where Hedi Slimane showcased pants that were – compared to his signature skinny look – quite loose.

A sense of rigor was sometimes felt as several shows opened with series of black looks (Prada, Valentino), or Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain army wearing mostly black and white looks.

However this strict first impression rarely lasted for a whole collection.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON

• Dior: Kim Jones made his models’ job easy as they didn’t have to walk but simply had to stand on a moving runway.
• Zegna: the House staged their show in none other than Milan’s main train station. The collection also focused on sustainability (#usetheexisting) as many looks were created using recycled fabrics.
• Berluti: Kris van Assche made his debut as creative director for the brand, bringing his sharp tailoring skills to the House and offering suits in vibrant colors.
• Celine: Hedi Slimane presented his first menswear only collection for the brand. It was a very Slimane collection that cimented his signature style and was inspired by his recent stay in London.
• Louis Vuiton: Virgil Abloh’s sophomore collection for the brand was inspired by Michael Jackson, which could be seen for example with sequined gloves. The show’s set reproduced the iconic Billie Jean video.

We have regrouped looks from different designers into categories that we have identified as interesting and main trends.

1. ROMANTIC ELEGANCE

Many looks evoked a sense of sensibility, fragile masculinity, thanks to fabrics (lace, silk), porportions (high waisted pants, bouffant sleeves), embroidery…

This man is not afraid to showcase emotions through clothing.

The giant floor-length silk scaf – slash – tuxedo belt wrapped around a tailored double breasted Dior suit simply screams contemporary elegance.

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2. MONOCHROME

Total look is in !

A clear trend, tone on tone looks were recurrent in several collections. Layering is of course key in the winter season but you can dare to do it all with one colour.

Especially: camel.

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We also observed an interesting shade of blue /petrol blue popping up in several collections:

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3. THE REIGN OF THE OVERCOAT

King of the winter’s closet, there wasn’t one collection that didn’t include at least one desirable overcoat.

In vibrant colors, fabrics, patterns, various lengths and sometimes exagerated shapes, overcoats will reign supreme next winter over the parka or ski jacket.

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4. REINVENTED TAILORING

Suits are back. Yes. But they aren’t boring.

Designers found new twists or daring propositions to make a basic suit interesting.

A belted jacket (Cerrutti), or a double belted one (Prada); a mix between a tailored suit and a bomber jacket (Zegna), patterns, exagerated or cropped proportions (Celine, Dior). There are plenty of options to reinvent the suit (even, why not, wearing nothing but one!)

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5. POPS OF VIBRANT RED

While we mentionned that many shows opened with series of all black looks, they were quickly followed by pops of vibrant red.

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6. XXL SCARVES

A typical winter accessory is given a new twist, scarves were XXL this season.

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7. Fusion

Another good indicator of the merge between formal and casual we mentionned earlier (Balmain’s half denim-half tuxedo jacket), the final trend we spotted is what we call “fusion” clothes, hybrid garments.

Perhaps was it designers’ way of expressing that the modern man doesn’t only make binary decisions but can embrace different sides of his style.

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Our trends report is coming to an end.

We hope you enjoyed it and find inspiration for next winter. Find more looks from our favorite shows on our instagram account : instagram.com/infasionity__

InfasHionably yours.

runway photos credit: nowfashion.com (unless stated otherwise)