Now that winter has ended and spring is here, it is as if men have awoken from hibernation and are venturing outside again. Of course, they want to look their best as they step out into the spring sunshine. This year for spring and summer, looking good in menswear will combine casual with formal in new and exciting ways.
Echoing this, Head of Samsung Fashion Institute Lim Ji-yeon says, “In this spring and summer’s men’s collection there is a tendency to prepare for a new generation and a new era, and a free optimistic approach to dreaming of a better tomorrow prevails,” adding, “Traditional jackets are thrown away, while relaxed and loose fits, gentle deconstruction based on new and lighter expressions of ideas, and a new sensual esthetic are showing through.”
Formally casual
With the extension of the pandemic, men’s interest in fashion items that combine comfort and practicality has only grown. There is a particular focus on items that can be worn at work and at play, and that can function in changing weather circumstances. An example is the range of garments that are a hybrid between a shirt and a jacket. Men want to be able to quickly throw something on if it feels cold or wear an over-fitted shirt if the occasion demands.
Left: Galaxy has created an “AthFlow” look that functions as both workwear and comfortable daily wear, with items that are flexible and have athleisure feel with added comfort and luxury.
Right: Galaxy Lifestyle has launched a new Urban Workwear line for men who prefer a casual look.
The emergence of an eclectic formal style
Men are searching for ways to recover that feeling of relaxed style they wore every day before the COVID era. Multipurpose items that can be worn regardless of formal or casual, time or place, day or night, are hot. A new way to enable free expression of personality like existing street fashion is through tailoring. It features an urban chicness and neatness while adding a technical touch, or by constructing a contemporary style through a combination of utility and styling.
This new lifestyle that has become familiar over the last couple of years has led to a reduction in the wearing of classical styles. Instead, casual updated eclectic formal styles have emerged. These feature looser-fitted, more comfortable materials, and monotone suits or jacket-pants combinations. Suits and pants are also perfect when mixed with casual items, hence enhancing activity through stretchiness without forgetting luxury.
Left: Galaxy is focusing on futuristic gray and medical white, with the romance of green and sherbet as highlights.
Right: Rogatis has released a suit made of casual materials in monotone colors, including one combination with short pants for a playful new look.
Spotlight on neutral and lavender
As for colors, neutral, earthy, vivid, and pastel colors are big this season. With the rising importance of colors with a comfortable feeling, neutral colors take center stage. Clay beige, which feels soft and clean, is used as a color that can work both on and off the clock.
White calls forth feelings of minimalism and modernity. It fits both formal and casual settings and works with stripped back forms and clean lines. White is mainly applied as a block color but shows different facets through differences in surface texture and fabric transparency.
Pastel-tone lavender with a little white or gray is a strong color. Cool pastel colors reminiscent of sherbet also stand out. In fact, pastel colors stand out as important colors that can encompass the overall atmosphere of this season’s collection.
Left: MVIO uses a light linen material in to shirts, pants, and outerwear, giving it neutral colors and monotones to evoke a casual mood.
Right: Rogatis has found creative ways to mix pale pastel colors with neutral colors to create subtle moods.
Eco-friendly is no longer a choice – it’s essential
At the end of 2021, Dutch menswear manufacturer Suitsupply was selected by the nonprofit organization Fair Wear Foundation as a company that is fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities.
The Foundation praised Suitsupply for its achievements, such as protecting its partners and workers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It also cut transportation emissions in its supply chain by 40 percent and increased usage of renewable energy in its stores by 23 percent. Discarded raw materials are recycled and woven, such as the circular flannel fabric from Vitale Barberis Canonico mills in Italy. Only the highest quality natural fibers are used by Suitsupply, and more than 80% of the materials used are biodegradable and recyclable.
Left: Suitsupply has a suit made from pure wool traveler fabric from Vitale Barberis Canonico textile mill, where waste water is purified before being released back into the ecosystem.
Right: Suitsupply’s two-pocket casual shirt-jacket also looks like formal wear with its luxurious fabric and high-quality manufacture.
The items shown above and many more can be found online at SSF Shop, Samsung C&T Fashion Group’s website.
