When Billy Porter wore a Christian Siriano gown to the Oscars in 2019, it more than an epic fashion moment: It was a bold display of queer pride. The headline-making moment certainly got people talking. “You don’t have to understand or even agree with other people’s authenticity or truths, but we must all respect each other,” Porter told Vogue in 2019. “People are going to be really uncomfortable with my Black ass in a ball gown—but it’s not anybody’s business but mine.”
Two years later, and it’s clear that Porter was onto something. This year, we’ve seen all sorts of men’s skirts from Thom Browne (who has long perfected the kilt skirt for him and her), to Louis Vuitton, Chopova Lowena, and more. Men’s skirts are certainly not a new idea. Designers like Jean Paul Gaultier were showing men’s skirts back in the ’90s, and many traditional men’s skirts have existed for centuries, such as the Scottish tartan kilt and the floor-length Indian mundu. However, the sheer abundance and availability of men’s skirts in fashion now is definitely noteworthy. Frankly, it’s about time.
Who exactly is the clientele? Sure, risk-taking celebrities such as Porter, Kanye West, Jared Leto, Marc Jacobs, and Harry Styles have all proudly stepped out in skirts. But I’ve noticed more fashion-forward men and nonbinary people ready to embrace skirts too. Even I, a man who’s never worn a skirt, have found myself drawn to the idea of layering one atop my trousers this fall, like how Chopova Lowena has often styled it.
Quin Lewis, who is a Washington-based foreign-affairs official by day, is a regular skirt wearer and street style fixture at the menswear shows. “I feel really badass when I’m wearing a skirt,” says Lewis. “There is the sense that I’m doing something that’s going against the grain and skirting the rules on what would traditionally be thought of as acceptable attire for men.” Fish Fiorucci, a nonbinary model, adds that they’ve always worn skirts and views them as a piece that shouldn’t be gendered. “I’ve never understood why skirts were labeled for women: Skirts are genderless to me, and also ageless,” says Fiorucci. “They allow me to live in different eras depending on the length, type of fabric, and fit.”
