The Top 10 Men’s Shows of 2022
The fashion show has come a long way since its humble beginnings in European hotels and ateliers, where designers hosted exclusive viewings for the fashion elite. With the rise of the internet and social media, collections are more accessible than ever, forcing designers to push the boundaries of their shows to stay relevant in the tidal wave of up-and-coming fashion.
The spectacle of fashion was on full display this year as luxury houses and emerging designers alike made a full return to in-person shows and presentations.
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At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men’s fashion and reflection on gender, runway shows have become more than just an outlet to present clothes. They have transcended to new heights, reaching larger audiences than before and pushing the boundaries to create an event with unpredictable theatrics.
But the judging criteria have also shifted. The clothes are important, of course, but now show venues, creativity, and the impact on culture as a whole are now all elements taken into account by the fashion crowd.
Celebrity impact also continues to reign — ranging from Celine shutting down two major streets in Paris with Blackpink member Lalisa Manobal arm in arm with V from K-pop group BTS to actor Jeff Goldblum walking and closing Prada’s fall 2022 show — solidifying that the fashion arena is no longer only for the industry.
Despite all of this change, the excitement of seeing collections as they were intended remains — in sequence, depicting a story, and forecasting the direction of men’s fashion for the next season and perhaps for seasons after that.
Here, WWD’s top 10 men’s shows of 2022:
1. Saint Laurent Spring 2023
As WWD’s Miles Socha wrote, here was a destination show laden with history, given how much Morocco revved and shaped the aesthetic of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent. Held in the Agafay desert one hour outside Marrakech, Anthony Vaccarello’s choice of venue left many gobsmacked by its otherworldy beauty. “Just before the finale, a circle of light appeared in the pond, and a hulking lighting rig slowly emerged and propped itself up vertically, like some portal into another dimension,” Socha wrote. “The sense of wonder reached another crescendo.”
2. Thom Browne Spring 2023
“The collection Thom Browne showed at H?tel de Crillon on Sunday night was one of the most thought-provoking of the week, with the designer feeling freer, and wilder, than ever before,” wrote WWD’s Samantha Conti. “What started as a subversion of the runway format, with prim and polished female ‘guests’ interrupting a show as they dashed around to find their seats, ended with a parade of tweed jock straps — and one racy pair of denim chaps.” As Conti summed up, whether foolish or fearless, the show “certainly left everyone talking.”
3. Celine Spring 2023
With Blackpink’s Lalise Manobal and BTS band member Kim Tae-hyung (known as V) waving like royals from the balcony, K-pop pandemonium overshadowed Hedi Slimane’s finely hewed rock-star collection. But when the hubbub has even LVMH luxury titan Bernard Arnault getting out of his seat to film it, the clothes are clearly secondary. As WWD’s Socha wrote: “Perhaps what gives Slimane such longevity, and his current momentum, is that he doesn’t get bogged down in the foibles of fashion, preferring to embed his designs in a broader cultural context spanning music, architecture, artistic movements, pop culture and youths…”
4. Louis Vuitton Fall 2022
“If there’s one lesson that Virgil Abloh taught the fashion industry, it’s that a limitless imagination pays off,” wrote WWD’s Joelle Diderich. “The late designer’s final men’s wear collection for Louis Vuitton encapsulated the themes of boyhood and the touches of surrealism that ran through his eight collections for the French luxury house.”
5. Dior Men Pre-Fall 2023
The French fashion house unveiled the collection after sunset in front of the pyramids of Giza, in a spectacular display that set a new bar for destination shows in the post-pandemic period, wrote Diderich. As models emerged like spectral dots on a lit-up strip of runway on the horizon, the three pyramids successively lit up, their edges outlined in white against the pitch-dark sky. “Keen to sidestep potential accusations of cultural appropriation, Jones grounded his 75 looks in the Dior women’s archives,” she wrote.
6. Prada Fall 2022
Jeff Goldblum, Kyle MacLachlan and Asa Butterfield were among the actors walking the Prada show, which focused on “clothes that make people feel important.” As WWD’s Sandra Salibian wrote, “Striding with a decisive pace in front of the audience, these characters looked powerful in their combination of sartorial staples and workwear — both elevated and given equal importance and dignity.”
7. Zegna Spring 2023
Shown on the rooftop of the company’s storied wool mill smack in the center of Oasi Zegna, a 90-minute drive from Milan, artistic director Alessandro Sartori’s spring collection continued to push his vision of what he believes is relevant for the Italian menswear brand and his new take on tailoring. “The designer has honed his skill at subverting under and outer layers, as his shirts become jackets and jackets become shirts and this hybrid function adds modernity to wardrobe staples,” WWD’s Luisa Zargani wrote. “The color palette was beautiful, ranging from powder white and buttercup to dusty rose, honey, vicu?a and mocha, juxtaposed at times with charcoal, sulfur and black.”
8. Willy Chavarria Spring 2023
Willy Chavarria took us to church (literally), showcasing a lineup of sensually charged sportswear infused with couture-like constructions. “Still coming off a high from being named as the recipient of this year’s Cooper Hewitt National Design award for Fashion Design, Chavarria’s latest effort has once again proved the importance of highlighting key aspects of the Latino culture melded into modern American fashion, a formula we have come to yearn for from Chavarria,” wrote WWD’s Luis Campuzano.
9. Rick Owens Fall 2022
Owens’ blistering fall show featured Sisters of Mercy played at bone-shuddering volume, disorienting strobe lights, a sleeveless sweater bearing the word Urinal, sculpted helmets that sprouted lit fluorescent tubes — “and clothes that were as fierce as they were majestic,” wrote WWD’s Socha, adding that “His dark, rebellious spirit was there in spades, along with an undercurrent of sensuality and glamour…”
10. Y/Project Fall 2022
Glenn Martens collaborated with Jean Paul Gaultier on optical illusion body prints inspired by a ’90s-era collection that TikTokers are obsessed with. “Martens’ output mirrors his logorrheic speech pattern, so there were chunky outerwear pieces in his signature swirled constructions; sagging cargo pants festooned with straps; knitwear in colorful pixellated patterns; shearling, denim and technical jackets artfully twisted using wire inlays — and more ideas to spare,” wrote WWD’s Diderich.
Launch Gallery: Top 10 Runway Shows 2022: Men