Menswear Fall / Winter 2022
New York Fashion Week was a little — okay , a lot — less glamorous without Tom Ford in the mix . Having canceled his show due to production issues related to Covid , he ’ s dropping a lookbook in the middle of the Paris schedule instead . Ford was a regular here during his Yves Saint Laurent days 20 years ago . The difference between then and now is that Ford ’ s been Californiafied — a casual element has infiltrated his collections since he moved to Los Angeles in the shape of tracksuits and other forms of athletic wear . That aside , he ’ s speaking the same language as his peers here and in Milan who ’ ve rallied around the suit for fall .
Tailoring is one of the threads holding this season together , only these aren ’ t suits for the 9-to-5 grind . Designers have been thinking about after-hours suits , the kind women used to wear when we still went out to clubs . With Covid on the decline , the mood on the Paris runways has been just this side of decadent .
Ford was clearly feeling for something similar with his sumptuous velvets , satins , and faux furs , and the rich jewel tones he styled head-to-toe : Sapphire velvet blazer-hoodie hybrid ( at least that ’ s what it looks like in the pictures , no text explanation was forthcoming ) and sapphire velvet trousers ; turquoise stockings paired with turquoise evening sandals . Or the amethyst feather chubby that was accessorized with an amethyst hood , hose , and wedge heel shoes . The vibe for men was much the same : color and texture were the main stories , all the way down to the models ’ iPhone cases , a quick zoom-in on which suggests that they ’ re velvet .
This was one of Ford ’ s more covered-up collections of late , until the end . The lookbook finishes off with a pair of Guy Bourdin-ish images of long dresses whose sexy interplay of sheer and opaque shows the young guns playing with body-con exactly how it ’ s done .
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