If these Thom Browne clothes ring a bell, it’s because the designer invited famous friends and otherwise to dinner at the Commerce Inn during New York Fashion Week, and dressed them all in his clothes as a special bonus. In lieu of a runway (he had just held his second couture show in Paris in June), this made for compelling social content on the brand’s Instagram account, as well as guests’ TikTok feeds. In this clamp you can addison rae, evan mock, alton mason and Gladiator II‘s evil twin emperor Fred Hechinger vamps for the camera.
A few weeks later, during a showroom appointment in Paris, Browne explained that the season started with the plastic that people used to cover their furniture with in the ’50s and ’60s. “I like to develop fabrics that are both technical and classic,” he explains. He had used the material for shoe coverings in his previous collection. It is water resistant, so it is equally useful for the raincoats that open the men’s and women’s collections. The collection has no shortage of interesting materials, from his go-to seersucker and madras to the ingenious tweeds that are an increasing part of his repertoire.
Proportionate play was, as usual, one of his concerns. A mini skirt and an oversized sport coat for an off-kilter combo. Another look combined a shrunken jacket with an elongated button-down, a slip dress and another skirt, while a trompe l’oeil technique created a similar layered look from a unique sheath. His beloved dog Hector was another friendly motif. Browne gave the fit-and-flare poodle skirt, another relic of the 1950s, a makeover and placed the little pup on the bottom of a midi pencil skirt — call it a dachshund skirt. One piece on the rack that didn’t seem to be in these photos is a canvas barn coat. Martha Stewart wore it to the dinner party in New York, which was perfect casting.