It's plain boy summer

When a month ago Alessandro Michele was spotted in Rome with Harry Styles, the internet community reacted with surprise: why were the kings of baroque fashion wearing only blue shirts, beige pants, and loafers? Yet, the simplicity of the two is not a unique case this season: even Kim Jones, at the end of his Dior show, paired a shirt and chinos (we assume by Miu Miu but no logos were visible) while Kendrick Lamar wore jeans and a very simple red hoodie by The Row for his The Pop Out concert; even Bad Bunny, though not exactly minimal, wore a sober black evening outfit for a dinner at Giraffe in Paris with Kendall Jenner a few days ago. Almost everywhere, both in the street styles of fashion weeks and in the daily outfits of various influencers, a simplified male style seems to have emerged, relatively chaste or at least not as provocative as last summer's transparent shirts and tank tops - and it is no coincidence that according to Tagwalk the presence of tank tops in recent fashion shows has decreased by 24%. It is a reassuring and very wearable style, where the originality of spirit translates into generous volumes and material consistency but in which the somewhat immature irreverence of tribal patterns, fluorescent colors, futuristic glasses, expressionistic distressing, and generally the entire Y2K repertoire progressively loses its place. The new uniform is an untucked shirt, wide and light chinos or bootcut pants, low and anonymous shoes, a bit like Paul Mescal at the Gucci show, but with more pants. It promises to be a perfect summer to be plain - simplicity, after all, spares fewer headaches than its obvious alternative.

Traditionally, society does not expect much from men's clothing: when Valentino Garavani was interviewed by Gianni Minoli in 1981, his opinion on menswear was that it should be classic, no more, no less; and twenty years later, in 2003, even a genius like Lee McQueen had to admit in an interview that dressing men was difficult because, as an audience, they refused advice or exhortations. Two references that help us understand that even fashion visionaries did not have high expectations for menswear which, even with the boom of streetwear first and gender fluidity later, has not moved significantly forward for the vast majority of the male audience. But the pervasiveness of fashion today, which has brought fashion to rappers and athletes and celebrities of all kinds, has meant that even those most averse to the frivolities of dressing have begun to engage with this world: as many said at the time, the first moment men started discussing Gucci was when Sinner showed up with the brand's bags at Wimbledon. The arrival of quiet luxury as the dominant trend of last year, thanks to which brands like Loro Piana found new prominence, has in some ways validated the beauty of the basic male look – as did, last year, The Row's SS24 collection which opened precisely with a men's look similar to that seen on Michele and Styles in the paparazzi shot: a loose blue shirt, beige chinos, simple leather slides. Once again, the lack of originality in the look is counterbalanced by the wide and soft proportions: it is comfort without vulgarity, elegance without arrogance, softness without affectation - a bit like in the old American J.Crew catalogs.

Prada SS25

Gucci SS25

Giorgio Armani SS25

Fendi SS25

Hermès SS25

Loewe SS25

Magliano SS25

MM6 Maison Margiela Resort 2025

Nanushka Resort 2025

Neil Barrett SS25

The Row SS25

Stussy SS24

sacai SS25

Our Legacy SS25

LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi SS25

Lemaire SS25

Kolor SS25

Hed Mayner SS25

Fear of God SS25

Eytys SS25

Emporio Armani SS25

Doublet SS25

Dolce&Gabbana SS25

Auralee SS25

Balenciaga Resort 2025

Bianca Saunders SS25

Brioni SS25

Craig Green SS25

AMI SS25

1017 Alyx 9SM Resort 2025

And The Row's SS24 lookbook perhaps represents the cleanest manifestation of the "plain boy": wide pants, tonal or monochromatic ensembles, a tailoring influence, and a tendency to create looks with clear and essential color blocks. The only concession to flair are the elongated lines, emphasis on collars, wide volumes, and draping, and the occasional rip on the jeans. The simplicity of this ensemble itself requires making the individual parts interesting: airiness, softness, and texture are the three watchwords. This trend was strongly evident in the just-concluded SS25 men's season, where, according to Tagwalk's seasonal report, neutral colors and color blocking increased by 30% and 25%, respectively, while the popularity of the polo shirt doubled. Several examples of this "trend" were seen: perhaps the most notable is Prada, which simulated simplicity by mixing a blue sweater and gray pants as the opening of its latest show; even Gucci moved, albeit with other silhouettes, towards reductionist territories while brands like Bianca Saunders and Craig Green maintained this simplicity but animated it through proportions and layering, respectively – neither collection could be called minimal, in fact, but it is noteworthy that the plain look made its appearance there too, even if disguised by styling. The same can be said for the latest collection from Our Legacy, not exactly minimalistic, but whose lookbook included a jeans and t-shirt combo, while the Resort collection of 1017 Alyx 9SM, the soft comeback of Matthew Williams, moved along these lines of silhouette simplification as did Stussy in its latest lookbook. Many others, from Dolce&Gabbana to Hed Mayner, passing through Fendi, Doublet, or Sacai, have in their own way reinterpreted the look by giving new shapes or drapes to shirts, but their simplicity remains.