Golden Globes style: is haute couture for men the next step in red carpet fashion?
The 2021 Golden Globes might have been unique in the fact that the ceremony had to ‘pivot’ to an online platform, with attendees making a brief, socially distanced red carpet photo call or dialling in from home in their finery. But it also broke new ground in the men’s sartorial arena, begging the question; is couture for men the next step in how A-listers and the High Net Worth are going to dress up, post-pandemic?
Dan Levy, the charismatic creator and star of Schitt’s Creek, appeared online to celebrate the show’s Best Television Series win, doing so in a striking citrine-shaded, fluidly draped suit and jewel-studded top from Valentino’s first couture collection for men.
He was by no means the only peacocking man on the virtual red carpet. It’s notable just how many men went the extra mile in terms of formality. The Crown’s Josh O’Connor, winning Best Actor for his role as Prince Charles in the smash series, opted for a bold Loewe tuxedo in contrasting monochrome with a cravat cascading down the front, jewellery and a heavy-duty Bulgari Octo watch.
American actor Jackson Lee, son of Spike, donned a richly decorative sage and gold kimono coat from Gucci, trimmed with fuchsia-pink sleeves, over a sleek black evening suit.
These wardrobe decisions served to highlight an emerging cottage industry within the upper echelons of the fashion industry: haute couture for men. It was notable, at Paris Haute Couture Week in January, that Valentino’s Pier Paolo Piccioli and Kim Jones, who made his debut at Roman house Fendi via a couture collection, chose to add men into the mix for the first time, creating severe suits and delicate, flyaway cloaks on eveningwear.
It helps that Levy has a penchant for puttin’ on the Ritz - like his Schitt’s Creek character David Rose, he’s no wallflower when it comes to experimentation in the wardrobe department. His zinging Valentino number is perfectly pitched - the colour is buoyantly optimistic in this time of tumult, and he’s accessorised to the nines in gleaming gold boots and Cartier watch and jewellery.
Men's couture is something Italian powerhouse duo Dolce & Gabbana have done for a while now: the pair’s Alta Sartoria range creates suits, eveningwear and louche pyjamas in wildly opulent, decorative embellishment and print. And it sells; the super rich fly from across the world to fill up their private planes with the exclusive ensembles.
When you’ve reached the top of your game, being the only man in the world to own that six-figure Dolce & Gabbana Alta Sartoria jewel-encrusted tuxedo marks you out as a style alpha male too.
As we hopefully begin to emerge out of lockdowns as the year goes on, the idea of haute couture for him indoors at a time when we’ll want to dress up more than ever is a shrewd move on the part of fashion houses. After a year of sartorial flat-lining within our homes, the 0.01% are going to emerge not just in finery, but rarefied, one-off pieces that up the ante.
Similarly, with gender boundaries more fluid than ever, evolving the identity of haute couture beyond frou-frou gowns and fairytale ruffles is a considered development.
Yes, the Golden Globes 2021 boasted its fair share of classic noir tuxedos too - and there’s wrong with that - but in celebrating Valentino’s men’s couture debut, Levy has opened the gilded flood gates. Get set for a roaring '20s approach to dressing that elevates men’s fashion like never before.
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