If these Thom Browne clothes ring a bell, it’s because the designer invited friends famous and otherwise out to dinner at the Commerce Inn during New York Fashion Week, dressing them all in his clothes as a special bonus. In lieu of a runway (he had just put on his second couture show in Paris in June), it made for some engaging social content on the brand’s Instagram account, as well as guests’ TikTok feeds. In this clip you can see Addison Rae, Evan Mock, Alton Mason, and Gladiator II’s evil twin emperor Fred Hechinger vamping for the camera.
At a showroom appointment in Paris a couple of weeks later, Browne explained that the season started with the plastic that people used to cover their furniture with in the ’50s and ’60s. “I like developing fabrics that are both technical and classic,” he explained. He had used the material in his preceding collection for shoe coverings—it’s water resistant, so it’s equally viable for the raincoats that open the men’s and women’s lineups. The collection has no shortage of interesting materials, from his go-to seersucker and madras to the ingenious tweeds that are a growing part of his repertoire.
Proportion play, as usual, was one of his preoccupations. A miniskirt and oversized sport coat made for an off-kilter combo. Another look paired 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 out a singular sheath. His beloved dog Hector was another friendly motif. Giving the fit-and-flare poodle skirt, another relic of the 1950s, a revamp, Browne put the little pup on the bottom of a midi-length pencil skirt—call it a dachshund skirt. One piece on the rack that didn’t seem to make it into these pictures is a canvas barn jacket. Martha Stewart wore it at the New York dinner party, which was perfect casting.
