The 16 biggest Autumn/Winter 2022 trends for men
Fashion is back! Clothes have returned! Dressing up is here to stay, wahey! The Autumn Winter ’22 menswear show season, mounted across the month of January, was full to bursting with more going out gear than we could shake a face mask at, and the renewed sense of energy was palpable on the runways in Paris and Milan.
As such there were was plenty to look at, write about, touch, and – with any luck – there will, in turn, be plenty to wear out in the world when the stuff finally hits the shops this coming winter. So, to help you decide what to buy when the time comes, here at British GQ we’ve distilled all of the most important trends you need to acquaint yourself with right now.
From misery chic to pops of pastel pink, consider yourself covered until SS/23.
If there was one silhouette that dominated the Autumn/Winter ’22 show run, it was the extra-broad power shoulder (think Alexis Carrington meets Herman Munster in the mind of Superman and you won’t go far wrong). Commonly combined with an inhumanly synched waist and worn on the frame of a particularly angular model, the look — which has its roots in Demna’s early collections for Balenciaga — is a little bit agro, a little bit 80s-infused and totally back-to-life ready.
From the razor-shouldered leather trench coats at Prada, through to the otherworldly enlarged shoulders at Dolce & Gabbana, when it comes to your glenohumeral joints this winter, more is absolutely more.
The double-breasted tailoring trend has been doing the rounds for some time now, but for Autumn Winter ’22 it reaches its perfectly proportioned peak.
From the full wraparound jackets at Dior, Prada, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana — all of which were cut with the precision of couture gowns — to the neoprene-bonded hourglass blazers at Dunhill and the origami-style double-breasted suit jackets in shades of coffee, chocolate, and dijon mustard at Etro, Louis Vuitton and Brioni; the best takes on the trend elegantly coddle the body, creating the illusion of length, all the while infusing the wearer with a seventies-edged elan.
From supple leather trousers designed to drape like excellently expensive leg skirts, to perfectly polished leather coats and streamlined lambskin blazers, the finest hides could be found covering all parts of the body at the Autumn/Winter ‘22 shows.
The effect was as edgy as you’d expect at Rick Owens, where leather trousers cut like chaps ruled the day, but there was a softer mood demonstrated in the cannage-stitched car coats at Dior and the supple lambskin suits in soft shades of Nutella and cocoa bean at Hermes.
Although the days of slovenly lockdown dressing may now be well behind us, the truth is that some of our lower-key sartorial habits may well be here to stay. Case in point, the welcome continuation of the saggy, baggy overall trend which has persisted for the past few seas
Although the vast majority of the world’s most important luxury brands have gone fur-free (both Dolce & Gabbana and Ermenegildo Zegna recently joined Prada, Gucci, and Versace in banning the fluffy stuff), there was still plenty of faux to be found on the AW/22 runways, and the resulting looks were surprisingly strong.
From the Belle Epoque-inspired fur-trimmed overcoats at Prada, which were best worn with arachnid elegance by celeb guest model Jeff Goldblum, to the fluffy shearling coats at Loewe and Prada, the best piece was a shearling panelled trench coat at GQ’s brand of the moment, Jil Sander.
Where once chunky, lumpy jumpers were dreaded Christmas gifts, now the world’s most important designers have reimagined the humble nana knit as the most important element of your winter wardrobe. Come Autumn/Winter ‘22 the trend will be for voluminous architectural knits built-in with a shedload of extra structure.
At Prada and Etro roll-neck sweaters featured cropped hems and expanded shoulders, while the military-inspired cable knit sweaters at Dunhill and Paul Smith were designed to be worn oversized. But it was in the trompe-l’oeil jumpers at JW Anderson, where knitted chain links fronted sun yellow crew necks, and at Dior, where hundreds of fabric flowers came attached to knitted sweaters, where the trend really came into its own.
Function has a tendency to lead form in menswear, and nowhere was the statement more present this season than in the oversized, multi-pocketed safari jackets walked billowingly down the premier runways of Paris and Milan.
At Dior and Louis Vuitton classic stone and taupe safari-style jackets came belted and elegantly synched at the waist, whilst at Paul Smith and Prada pattern was the order of the day. Whichever type of safari jacket you go for, however, the key is to ensure that you opt for something with roomy bellows pockets for optimum storage (function!).
Chisel-toed boots have been stomping their way down the world’s runways for some time now. Where the trend originated in its most recent iteration is up for debate, with some touting Rick Owens’ “Tractor” boot as the progenitor, and others referencing Daniel Lee’s “Lean” at Bottega Veneta.
For the Autumn-Winter ‘22 season, however, the best of the stompy black shitkickers could be found at Prada, where square-toed beasties were teamed with ruched suit trousers; at Dunhill where Mark Weston’s now trademark Chelsea boots looked menacing worn with funereal suiting, and at both Jil Sander and Dolce & Gabbana where witchy winklepicker-style boots looked excellent worn with lashings of, you guessed it, black.
There’s a famous line in 2009’s seminal Vogue documentary The September Issue, in which Yves Saint Laurent’s then creative director Stefano Pilati laments the lack of colour in his collection. “It’s my mood”, Pilati tells Anna Wintour, a touch apologetically.
It would seem that, for Autumn Winter ’22, the world’s designers share Pilati’s predilection for all things monochrome, with a whole host of the most important indulging in a multitude of head-to-toe black looks. At Rick Owens and Jil Sander, the designers opted for a drapey, ever-so-slightly witchy aesthetic, while at Louis Vuitton, Versace and Bianca Saunders, taut black tailoring was the order of the week. The peak-misery vibe really came into its own, however, at Vetements, where creative director Guram Gvansalia included black-out face coverings to top off his many layers of black tailoring.
At Loewe and JW Anderson, where both brands are overseen by British creative director Jonathan Anderson, velour roll-neck sweater vests and mirrored tank tops ruled the roost, respectively. At DSquared2 the lithe Canadian designers showed engorged takes on classic argyle sweater vests, whilst the look was at its most recognisable at Etro, where Fair Isle v-neck sweater vests were worn with nought but a smile and a wink (oh, and a pair of chinos).
Animal print prowled down the runway at Jil Sander, where an oversized abstracted leopard print coat slouched over black tailoring; at Versace where oversized pop-infused leopard sweaters were the thing; at Dolce & Gabbana, where an enormous faux leopard fur coat had shades of Cruella about it; and at Dior where chi-chi leopard print berets worked in roarsome (sorry) tandem with a roomy leopard blouson and an equally capacious car coat.
Another vestige of the time that style forgot (aka, any one of the lockdowns of the past few years), the designer slipper has been gaining a great deal of traction in the recent seasons. From the souped-up takes on Croc-esque rubber clogs at Bottega Veneta and Fear of God, to the crunchier art teacher styles at Jil Sander and Gucci, this season the look reached sumptuous new heights.
JW Anderson showcased a clotted cream take on his now-beloved chain mule, Dolce & Gabbana showcased a chunky black rubber slipper, and Dior revealed the sex clog to end all sex clogs, in the form of its new collaboration with recent LVMH acquisition, Birkenstock. They even came embroidered with Monsieur Dior’s favourite Lily of the Valley flowers, care of Kim Jones, too!
Defined by a soft-shouldered construction, a natty wrap around waist belt, a soft-handled fabrication, and, ideally, a shawl lapel; this season’s strongest dressing gown coats could be found in toothsome double-faced cashmere at Dior and Brioni, in chunkier wools at Vetements and Acne, and, perhaps our favourite, in a preppy shade of sunbleached yellow as part of designer Nigo’s inaugural collection for Kenzo.
Joyful, playful, and surprisingly easy to wear, pink should be one of the chromatic mainstays of your wardrobe whatever the season, and – as luck would have it – the Autumn Winter ‘22 runways were full of the colour. From candyfloss overcoats at Casablanca and Rick Owens, to baby-skin satin overalls at Prada; and from the fluorescent magenta overcoats at Ami and Vetements to the faded burgundy puffer jackets at Paul Smith, there was a shade of pink to suit any pallet. Just don’t ask for anything “millennial”. That’s so 2019.
Justin Bieber’s been wearing them and Hedi Slimane’s been selling them, the baggy jean is officially back and there’s absolutely nothing that you (or I) can do about it.
From the heavily branded take on classic “grunger” jeans at Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga, to the high-waisted styles at Y/Project and Vetements; perhaps the easiest takes on the trend could be found at Kenzo, where denim-expert Nigo cut elegantly draped jeans from immaculate swathes of raw selvedge, and at Bianca Saunders, where the British designer showed her own baggy indigos with matching blouson-style jackets.
Lashings of pink aside, the colour which truly dominated the Autumn/Winter ’22 runways was bright, bold, haemogolobin red. Unapologetically in-your-face and characteristically tricky to wear, the designers in Paris (think Casablanca, Vetements, and Hermes) preferred to show their perfectly pimple-hued pieces in casual form, with sweaters and puffer jackets order of the day.
In Milan (think Etro, Fendi, and Dolce & Gabbana) bright red dress suits were things of overstated-yet-elegant beauty. If you’re going to invest in one piece for the forthcoming season, however, our advice would be to keep it simple with a bold crimson cashmere sweater, which will look great worn with pretty much anything. Even pink!
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