RUNWAY: Thom Browne SS18

Thom Browne's runway shows are spectacles. Often times the theatricality of his runway shows overshadow the collections themselves, as if the clothes are not why people fly to Paris twice a year for. Because of this, Browne's shows can be a huge hit or a huge misfire. His Spring/Summer 2018 runway show and collection were the former. There has been a lot of focus in fashion and in the media about androgyny and gender identity, all of which is great. Here, Browne dissects that identity question and posits it in terms of clothing. Women can generally wear anything a man can and barely anyone considers them less of a woman. It is even fetishized and made sexy, think of boyfriend jeans or oversized men's shirts worn as dresses. However, it is not the same for men. If a man wears a skirt, he must be Scottish otherwise he's demeaned and called names, as if his masculinity and the essence of what makes him a man is tied to the fact that he has pants on.

Browne's SS18 collection offers a rainbow of dressing options for men from skirt suits to a length shift dress to his signature shrunken suits, which women have been buying from the start of Browne's label. The sad part of this collection is the realization that many of beautiful garments won't be worn by men because of social stigma.