On the red carpet, men in Hollywood have typically stayed safe, but this is now changing. The days of A-list men solely dressing in formal suits or tuxedos are long gone. In fact, if this year’s best menswear styles are any indication, they might soon stop existing. This year, guys opted for more daring outfits, picking looks that ranged from sculptural and intriguing (like Justin Bieber’s XXL Balenciaga suit worn to the Grammys) to wild and dramatic (like Lil Nas X’s enormous feathered headgear by Harris Reed, worn to the VMAs). Vogue is reviewing 29 of the year’s most dynamic and adventurous guys in honour of this momentous development.
Timothée Chalamet wore a sparkling red Haider Ackermann backless halter top when he appeared on the red carpet in Venice for the Bones and All premiere. Talk about a surprise! Another striking appearance? When Wesley Snipes arrived at the 2019 Oscars wearing a silk blazer and matching Givenchy Bermuda shorts. Despite the fact that no one could have ever predicted it, we are still talking about it months later. We don’t understand how Snipes managed such a challenging silhouette with such simplicity.
Not every man’s award-winning red carpet ensemble this year was this spectacular, of course. There were other covert decisions that had an effect. For instance, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai of Reservation Dogs frequently wore his own, Indigenously created jewellery with sharp suits. The flowy, baby blue Dolce & Gabbana style that Leslie Odom Jr. wore to the Glass Onion premiere in Los Angeles last month is an example of how he tended to choose more sophisticated suits in vibrant hues.
The most photographed occasions of the year showed that Hollywood men are moving outside of their comfort zones and choosing more distinctive costumes, from the understated to the extravagant. Something tells us that this won’t stop happening just yet in 2023. We say go for it!
