Step aside fleeces and casual wear. It’s time for men to dress up. Yes, again! And, finally, you might be thinking, if you’re a true fashion aficionado who thrives on wanting to look your very best at every opportunity.
After many consecutive seasons of almost abandoning suits, and altogether neckties, the tide is turning. On the runways of the Milan Prada and Gucci shows— mammoth fashion influencers, it goes without saying — for fall/winter 2024 neckties are in the spotlight. (The invitation for Prada comprised a silk tie encased in an image of a forest.) The reason? The return of formal events, dressing up again for the office because it’s simply uplifting, and, well, the need for something really different in menswear.
After seeing the world leaders in 2022 at the G7 wearing expensive open-collar white dress shirts — but all tieless —, it’s time fashion started looking the other way. Namely dressing up. With ties. As we all know, fashion is cyclical by its very nature, and even elements that seem nearly extinct, like the tie, sometimes have a shot at renewal. That’s where we’re at.
In the era of comfort wear, we failed to recognize that fashion has that innate quality that resonates with taking care of our appearance and, by the same token, being generous in our presentation of ourselves to others. Think of it much the same way you would set a table for a chic dinner with friends. You want to host them so they feel good. It’s that same quality that transcends trends.
Dressing up for the world is a truly generous gesture. So we should never underestimate the joy a style of clothing, or the choice of a bold accessory, brings to others. When it’s combined with authentic presence, it elevates the person wearing it and it does the same for the people seeing them. Grace and flash combined. How nice.
No More Rules
Once a symbol of the business uniform, and one of the last bastions of the classic salesman attire, the tie has “transformed from an obligation to a pleasure,” Christophe Goineau, the creative director of men’s silk at Hermes, told Bloomberg in May 2023.
And rigid rules no longer apply.
Striped or paisley ties can be combined with flower-printed shirts, and even the humble hoodie can be elevated with a sharp Oxford shirt and a classic tie. It’s the mentality of super stylish men who are changing the status quo once held by the necktie.
Insiders have also noted that keeping the thinner rear blade longer than the thicker front strip has been popular for a few years now. Apparently, it’s a casual way to wear a tie as an outfit’s exclamation point outside of formal occasions. Why not!
According to Will Welch, global editorial director of GQ magazine, in an interview in Business of Fashion, “It wasn’t so conscious at the time, but in retrospect I think the impulse to put on a tie every morning was a pretty straightforward reaction to the beginning of the end of the pandemic,” he says. Obviously, Will lives and breathes fashion in his professional and personal life, but his wanting to wear more formal attire probably acted as a barometer of what other men were feeling, too.
Spring 2024 Heralds a Change
The change started happening in fall 2023, with the unveiling of the men’s Spring-Summer 2024 collections. Four percent of the looks included a tie. I know, this sounds very low. Except that figure was three percent more than the previous years’ spring collections. In Paris, at high-end shops Hermès and Charvet, sales have experienced a double-digit percentage uptick over the past year.
Does that mean men are ready to start embracing neckties, once again?
According to Bloomberg Business, sales of ties have increased for two straight years but they remain down from 2019 although the volume for modestly prices ties (the $50 variety) is expected to rise. Surprisingly, sales of pocket squares have also grown for two years.
That says a lot about the desire to dress up.
Although the number of people wearing a tie to go to work has decreased, there are still men who choose to wear a necktie for an important meeting and for special events. Although one could expect to see a groom wear a necktie or a bow tie for his wedding or a funeral (no pun intended!), the desire to wear a tie to stand out is certainly a thing at the moment because so few people are wearing them now. So we’re moving away from a uniform mindset to the idea of embracing an accessory that sets the wearer apart. Now this is interesting.
Maybe that’s the idea for esports champions to dress up occasionally with a slim suit and tie. In 2020, Dior collaborated with Chinese e-sport superstar JackeyLove on an Air Dior capsule collection of ready-to-wear and accessories. The luxury label later sponsored the gamer’s team in classic men’s suits for the award’s ceremony of one tournament. And, yes, some of the players wore neckties. Ready to tie one on for yourself?
