2022: The Year Men Dressed Great
We are approaching the “the best of 2022” time of the year, where lists round up the most epic and memorable moments of the past 12 months. Including tv shows, music, performances, pop culture moments, books, podcasts and of course fashion.
If there is something we can all agree is that the year 2022 saw the return of fashion driven heavily by, once again, Tik Tok. Although not an easy return as each country will face a different recovery when it comes to domestic sales, sales that rely on tourism, accommodating to new online mindsets and hopefully ongoing advances in sustainability.
Courtesy of Vogue
2022 also welcomed back red carpet events, after parties, galas, press tours and Fashion Weeks pre-pandemic schedule. Yay! Giving us more fashion content than we could handle, looking back and choosing favorites is hard. Between street style, red carpet looks and personal style, how does one choose their top 10? Besides, fashion and style are completely subjective as they are experienced differently by each one of us.
So we selected our favorite stylish men who we believe see fashion as a medium for experimentation into finding oneself, ones style and not just defining it. These fashionable men appeal to the general style census, but how?
Gendering clothes is so last year, take a look at Celines Mens’ Fall 2022, Sacai Men’s Fall 2022, System Pre-Fall 2023 or RTA Pre-Fall 2023 and you can’t tell me you can’t see either Bella Hadid, Alexia Demie, Keke Palmer or any other girl or guy wearing pieces or total looks from these collections. That is what I loved about 2022, the purposeful lack of gender exclusivity.
Evan Mock, an actor, skateboarder and fashion enthusiast has been making a nme for himself as an established fashion inspo reference. Standing out for his range on mixing feminine and masculine into his looks, experimenting with volume, silhouettes, color clashes and bold accessories. His looks take center stage and his aloof demeanor just adds to the cool factor. Vogue France, during an interview, asked him to define his generation in a few words and this was his response; “More accepting than ever. We are limit pushers, rule breakers.” Same goes for his style, rule breaker. It’s not about what the clothes might mean to anyone else but how confident they make you feel.
Mock is the embodiment of what skateboarding during 2022 looks like, completely fashionable. An aesthetic that followed him during this past spring/summer 2022 Fashion Week. Some of his best looks included a head to toe Vivienne Westwood moment accessorized with the most amazing metal bear and pearl chains. Vivienne Westwood definitely suits him as he wore a denim on denim look that included a corset and Calvin Klein underwear. For Fendi he switched it up by baring his chest wearing a shearling jacket, leather skirt and the cutest Mary Jane shoes and logo bucket hat.
Bella Hadid and Rihanna are without a doubt or question fashion royalty. Their style is so good that the “we’ve all seen the pictures she looks absolutely beautiful, um, and he is there” sound doesn’t apply to them as their significant other's style is just as good. Couples that dress well together are just magnifique and we couldn’t expect less from A$AP Rocky. Arguably one of today's best dressed musicians, a risk taker whose influence is deeply engraved in mainstream culture. Like others before him he is redefining what it means to be a part of the hip-hop genre, one that goes hand in hand with fashion. A fashion killa couple.
Courtesy of Grazia
Marc Kalman is not just Bella Hadid’s stylish boyfriend, while not a lot is known about his personal life, we know his resume includes art and fashion direction. Judging by his style we know he has that funky and aesthetic vibe. Marc’s style is all about baggy silhouettes, muted tones, long hanging shorts with grunge-90’s elements like Dr. Martens, tank tops and plaid bottoms. They sort of are our Brad and Jen from the 90’s style couple. I can just picture them wearing each other’s outfits and smashing it.
Aging has never been a problem for men so a well tailored suit will not make the cut. We like when fashion is still an important element of a men’s identity. Like exchanging the average suit pants and white buttons down for a fiery red velvet blazer paired with a chiffon bow blouse or better yet what about an off-white kimono suit from Dzojchen paired with brown Cuban boots.
I scoured the internet and found that the common sentiment as to why 2022 is Chris Pine’s best year in terms of fashion is his nod for Bode, CFDA’s 2019 Emerging Designer of the Year. We saw him looking fresh and totally boho-chic wearing an ivory grape vine shirt and burgundy striped pants for his Jimmy Kimmel appearance back in March.
This year’s ending comes with the closure of the World Cup, which brought an unexpected twist where many of us became obsessed over the players. And if you went into full fangirl mode I know you know who this gorgeous Spanish man below is. Yes, Hector Bellerín is football’s most stylish player. The F.C. Barcelona is redefining the archetypical fútbol player aesthetic. His 70’s mustache, mullet and passion for fashion as he has been a part of the British Fashion Council and GQ Spain named him the most stylish man makes him a rare gem. As sports usually have a very specific look players aim for, so when one breaks the mold we can’t help but love it. He is currently working on his own dream line as well as being the face of Golf Wang Soccer capsule collection. Bellerín is definitely on our to watch lost as we can’t wait to see what he does and wears next.