Men’s style

Update: The Met Gala is officially returning this year! On Monday, Vogue announced the Costume Institute’s plans for not one but two major exhibitions, along with a “slightly smaller celebration” pending government guidelines later this year on Sept. 13, timed to the closing of New York Fashion Week. The magazine also confirmed the event will return to its regular scheduling in 2022 and continue to host the party on the first Monday in May next year.

While a theme has not yet been announced for the 2021 Met Gala, the details surrounding the two-part exhibition may offer some clues. The first part of the exhibition, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” will open on Sept. 18, while the second, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” will show starting May 5, 2022.

“I think that the emphasis on conscious creativity was really consolidated during the pandemic and the social justice movements,” … Read the rest

Image Source: Getty / Mike Coppola

Asian American fashion designer and activist Prabal Gurung was born in Singapore, grew up in Nepal, and lived in India before starting his New York-based namesake brand 12 years ago “to show marginalized people that they are seen, and that they matter.” He is one of the influencers, editors, and designers using his platform to address the anti-Asian hate crimes in America, among others such as Phillip Lim, Public School’s Dao-Yi Chow, and Allure Editor in Chief Michelle Lee.

While he’s speaking up now, most recently penning an op-ed for CNN about the discrimination he’s faced in the fashion industry, urging the rest of his peers to stand for change and inclusivity of all minorities, it’s not the first time Gurung has stressed the … Read the rest

The amount of time I’ve spent online shopping in lockdown might indicate that I am someone with money to spare, which I can absolutely assure you I am not. Yet I have somehow managed to amass a melange of items – a paltry substitute for all of the people I did not see and all of the places I did not go over the course of the past year. Fortunately, I have an emergency budget for exactly these type of purchases – you know, the ones made during a global pandemic – and have considered them to be a part of my 2020 healing process. With the hours I’ve logged on retail sites, in addition to the targeted Instagram posts I’ve traversed, I’ve come to find many new brands to help nurse my quarantine habit and inspire my “When We Are Back Outside” aesthetic. One of the main sources of … Read the rest

If Kim Possible were a real-life person, would she have to wear clothes exclusively from Banana Republic Club Banana? After behind-the-scenes photos from the live-action Powerpuff Girls reboot set surfaced on April 7, fans of the original Cartoon Network show proved that, when it comes to the translation of cartoon outfits to IRL costumes, sometimes it’s OK to deviate from the original design. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup traditionally dress in monochromatic matching A-line dresses with black belts, white socks, and sleek black Mary Janes. The live-action reboot costumes are nothing short of accurate, but fans had a Mojo Jojo-level problem with the simplicity of the designs.

Like the square, uncomplicated structure of the animated outfits, the IRL costumes leave a lot of detail to be desired. After all, if the … Read the rest

Twenty-one-year-old gender-fluid Lewis Freese has been recognized by Sports Illustrated Swim as the first-ever male finalist in the annual Swim Search for 2021, which is led by an open casting call. This is his second year applying to the contest, and he’s still a full-time student designing a major in business marketing, gender women sexuality studies, and retail merchandising. Lewis hails from Minnesota and takes his spot as one of the 15 finalists who could go on to be included in the issue among others from the LGBTQ+ community like trans woman of color Leyna Bloom and trans model Valentina Sampaio, both of whom made history on their own.

Lewis took the time to thank his followers and support system in a video posted … Read the rest

For many of us, quarantine fashion translates to whatever is cozy 一 and sometimes cute. If you’ve been fortunate enough to spend most of your days lounging in sweatpants or leggings, just know that we’re right there with you. In uncertain times, it’s nice to feel a sense of camaraderie when it comes to getting dressed 一 which is precisely why I’m so thankful for Courtney Parchman, aka @averagefashionblogger, and her LOL-worthy TikToks that are all too relatable. Parchman (known as “Corny” to her friends) prides herself on making videos that celebrate bodies of all shapes and sizes, and simultaneously calls out the fashion industry for its complicity in propagating unrealistic beauty standards. Over a year into lockdown, it’s the wry humor and hilarity that I desperately need in my life.

Here, Parchman talks to POPSUGAR about the origin of the viral TikTok account, her favorite bloggers to follow, and … Read the rest

It’s impossible to talk about Bollywood screen style without talking about designer Manish Malhotra. After all, he’s in charge of most of the iconic outfits we all still dream about today. I spoke with the designer to learn more about how he paved his way into films, designing, and, of course, some of his most talked-about creations seen on the silver screen.

While the designer has always been interested in movies, he realized what he wanted to do in life while he was modeling during his college years. “I got my first break in 1989 when Juhi Chawla was starring in the David Dhawan film Swarg where I created two costumes for Juhi for one song sequence. But the movie Rangeela was my turning point,” Manish told me. “That was in 1995. The director, Ram Gopal Verma, was clear with his brief, and actress Urmila Matondkar was also all set … Read the rest

It’s exciting when a movement as powerful as sustainable fashion bypasses the buzzword phase and proves its staying power. How the effort is executed, however, varies widely from consumer to brand, whether you’re thrifting at a consignment shop or choosing biodegradable packaging for all your shipping needs. When it comes to denim, in an effort to conserve clean drinking water and keep the planet free of pollution, companies implementing water conservation efforts are blazing the trail for the apparel industry writ large.

Eco-minded brands use water-saving wash techniques at various points in the denim-making process to reduce water usage. For the uninitiated, cotton irrigation makes up 92 percent of the water footprint of a pair of jeans. According to The 71 Percent, it takes a whopping 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton for your blues – that’s a mind-blowing figure for just one garment. While seemingly minor details … Read the rest

Lovecraft Country star Jamie Chung – who is nominated for a SAG Award tonight – made a powerful statement that transcended the fashion sphere during the 2021 SAG Awards. Jamie wore a firetruck-red, off-the-shoulder Oscar de la Renta gown with ruffled sleeves, which she paired with matching Stuart Weitzman heels and a custom Edie Parker clutch engraved with gold lettering that spelled out “Stop Asian Hate.” “In some Asian cultures, the color red symbolizes joy, luck and happiness,” Jamie captioned a post on Instagram on Sunday. “In Korean culture it symbolizes creation, passion and power. I’m so proud of my history and heritage.”

Following the fatal Atlanta spa shootings on March 16, Jamie sat down with POPSUGAR to deliver an inspiring message about the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. “I think what’s most important, especially with our community, is speaking up about it,” she said. “We’re so conditioned to … Read the rest

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I still remember walking into Abercrombie & Fitch, the store drenched in Fierce cologne you could smell from the mall entrance without trying. I was probably wearing a fringe-hem denim skirt just like Ashley Graham’s, in search of another one in a slightly darker wash to go with my lighter Le Tigre polo. Even then, I knew about tonal contrasting. Graham was clearly a fan of the same look. The 33-year-old supermodel, who is slowly picking up fashion gigs after spending time with husband Justin Ervin and their new son, Isaac, has been providing us with some damn good social media content lately.

After cracking us up by doing very mundane tasks around the house in luxury clothes and heels, Ashley shared two nostalgic throwbacks we can’t stop … Read the rest