MENSWEAR TAKES CENTRE STAGE

Words: Thea Bichard. Images: Dan Beleiu.

With bold styles and personality-packed prints the order of the day for AW21, it’s time to channel your main character energy.

MENSWEAR TAKES CENTRE STAGE

Words: Thea Bichard. Images: Dan Beleiu.

With bold styles and personality-packed prints the order of the day for AW21, it’s time to channel your main character energy.

IRL fashion weeks are in full swing, we’re untethering ourselves from wall-to-wall WFH, and after a not-so-hot summer of new-found freedom, we’ve regained our fashion footing. So, what to look forward to this season? Well, trends are no longer trending. Instead, style that expresses what we each love and value is continuing to influence our sartorial choices for AW21. Read on to discover the personality-packed looks, designers and pieces that shout YOU!

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DRIES VAN NOTEN - Geometric print collared shell coat (sold out) / JACQUEMUS - Le Double contrast-panel cotton-jersey T-shirt / PAUL SMITH - Collared merino wool cardigan / MARINE SERRE - Moon leather trousers (sold out) / FALKE - Tiago cotton-blend knitted crew socks / BALENCIAGA - Slippers / JACQUEMUS - Le Pitchou leather cross-body coin purse

MAKE IT PERSONAL

Public Displays of Aestheticism in recent months have shown where the mood lies for menswear, and it’s anything but formulaic. We saw Lil Nas X’s kilt. Daniel Kaluuya accessorising his Oscar with Cartier diamonds. Lakeith Stanfield’s Saint Laurent jumpsuit. Everything Marc Jacobs posts to Instagram. Telfar Clemens’s sculptural, unisex Olympic uniform for Team Liberia. Slowthai in head-to-toe leather for Bottega Veneta.

Each brought their personality to their outfits, and that’s exactly what’s making fashion exciting this season. When it comes to you and your wardrobe? These are the characterful pieces and game-changing designers setting the stage for us to be bold this season...

Sample our new-season picks

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WALES BONNER - Brixton striped cotton-knit jumper (sold out) / RICK OWENS - Ribbed semi-sheer woven top / JW ANDERSON - Patchwork high-rise slim cotton trousers / SACAI - Intarsia-pattern wool jumper (coming soon) / BOTTEGA VENETA - Puddle Bomber mesh and rubber ankle boots / JW ANDERSON - Belt checked recycled-canvas tote bag / AMBUSH - Oval-charm brass necklace

HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE - Pleated relaxed-fit woven jacket / DRIES VAN NOTEN - Graphic-print relaxed-fit cotton shirt and Geometric-pattern relaxed-fit wool jumper / JW ANDERSON - Marble-print asymmetric woven bucket hat

STOCK UP ON NOT-YOUR-AVERAGE KNITS

After months of relying on the comfort of tracksuits and jumpers, we had an epiphany: what if we refuse to go back? Nanushka, Dries Van Noten and Sacai are among the designers who seem to have asked themselves the same thing. Rather than ditch the knits, they’re jazzing them up with trippy patterns and giving us a healthy hit of colour therapy. Grace Wales Bonner’s research into Black scholars at Oxford University in the 80s influenced her vibrant take on preppy sweater vests. Charaf Tajer’s musings on the Monaco Grand Prix led to Casablanca’s louche layers. They may be bold, but there’s nothing novelty about these knits – we’re always going to have cause to brighten up a grey Monday in November, right?

Show jumpers

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SAUL NASH – Jumper, gilet and trousers (all coming soon) / JW ANDERSON - Brand-appliqué oversized cotton-poplin shirt / BALENCIAGA - Sneakerhead mesh and faux-leather cross-body bag and Mold cut-out EVA and foam sandals

NANUSHKA - Milo graphic-print knitted cardigan / MARINE SERRE - Moon-print high-neck recycled polyamide-blend top / JW ANDERSON - Brand print straight cotton trousers / GIVENCHY - Giv 1 croc-embossed leather mid-top trainers / PANTHERELLA - Short ribbed cotton socks / JACQUEMUS - La ceinture brand-plaque leather belt bag

GET CREATIVE WITH CASUALWEAR

How can you send a lightning bolt of energy through the pieces you throw on without a second thought? The likes of JW Anderson and Issey Miyake have led the way for years with experimental, craft-led designs that level up your everyday looks. This season at Selfridges, we’re also welcoming dozens of earth-conscious designers, independent labels, and Black-owned businesses that are each shifting the dial for men’s style. See NEWGEN designer Saul Nash for technical pieces designed to move freely with you, Marine Serre’s ‘ecofuturist’ moon prints across recycled-jersey layers and upcycled-denim jeans, and French label Bluemarble’s colourful take on the classics.

It’s exciting to see how the personality-filled AW21 collections are full of pieces you can invest in to express your individual style, rather than promoting short-lived trends. I am a personal fan of patterned shirts and statement trousers, and we have plenty of strong pieces within the AW21 buys. Look out for Bianca Saunders and Saul Nash, who are both bringing this energy to Selfridges this season.

– Jack Cassidy, Head of Menswear Buying

Keep it casual

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BETHANY WILLIAMS - Graphic-print woven jacket (coming soon) / PAUL SMITH - Turtleneck fine purl knit cashmere jumper / VALENTINO - Relaxed-fit wide stretch-cotton trousers / SACAI - Graphic-intarsia knitted jumper (in bag - coming soon) / JW ANDERSON - Belt checked recycled-canvas tote bag / GEORGIA KEMBALL - Ring (coming soon) / BALENCIAGA - Hybrid Rectangle acetate sunglasses

BETHANY WILLIAMS - Graphic-print woven jacket (coming soon) / PAUL SMITH - Turtleneck fine purl knit cashmere jumper / BALENCIAGA - Hybrid Rectangle acetate sunglasses

LOOK TO OUTDOOR GEAR

When we talk about ‘performancewear’, usually that’s a synonym for practical first, looks second. But why not both? When we teased the new season a few weeks back, we encouraged you to ‘Pump up the practical’, and we stand by it as autumn gets into full swing. Alongside the more utilitarian bomber jackets and workwear we touted, there’s a myriad of windbreakers, track jackets and trousers cast in bold colours, covered in expressive patterns or cut from upcycled garments. Look to the bright prints at Bethany Williams, who upcycles materials and supports grassroots organisation The Magpie Project through her collections; (di)-vision’s earth-conscious spliced-together jackets; lauded London designer Craig Green’s signature Worker jackets, and new-to-Selfridges label Arnar Mar Jonsson’s patchwork pieces.

Amp up the everyday

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FENDI Quilted silk-twill down jacket (sold out), Romano Flat Baguette leather shoulder bag (sold out) and Baguette shell cross-body bag / SANDRO - Slim-fit cotton shirt (sold out) / BIANCA SAUNDERS - Relaxed-fit woven trousers (coming soon) / BOTTEGA VENETA - Puddle Bomber mesh and rubber ankle boots

OUR TOP COATS

Last winter, outerwear was more or less the only way for us to demonstrate sartorial nous on our little daily walks. A trophy coat, 2020 showed us, semaphores your personal style in a weatherproof way that you can’t achieve with anything other than, perhaps, a pair of Puddle boots. Fast-forward to now, and we’re spoilt when it comes to coats this season. Peacock in your Fendi, Canada Goose and Rick Owens puffers. Luxuriate in the Bottega Veneta shearlings, Bianca Saunders technical jackets and Driza-Bone’s upcycled trenches. Dismiss the grey in yellow, green, blue and red from Prada, Dries Van Noten, Stone Island and Gucci. We’re not hoping for rubbish weather, per se. Although…