Relaxed suiting steals the show at Paypal Melbourne Fashion Festival's Menswear Edit
Sporty twists to suiting, three-piece tailoring featuring t-shirts and knitwear with cutouts – here's what we saw on the menswear runway at PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival
FOR THE BULK OF 2024, quiet luxury ruled our wardrobes. Corporate bros after a piece of the stealth wealth pie were inspired by boardroom dramas such as Succession and Suits, the costume departments of which nudged us towards investing in streamlined designs, expensive-feeling fabrics and unembellished or logo-less pieces, because after years of dominating the menswear-verse, overt branding began to feel a little capacious.
But now that we’ve turned the corner into 2025, pop culture icons like Timothée Chalamet and Colman Domingo are embracing a return to fun-sized silhouettes, loud and proud colours and memorable details (opera scarves and brooches, baby). And the same goes for the men of PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival, where we saw a personality-driven approach to fashion that was all about flair, fun and wearability.
Traditional suiting took a backseat on the Menswear Edit Runway, which was instead all about contrasting aesthetics and high-low styling – something Chalamet has been leaning hard into of late. Held at Carlton’s iconic Royal Exhibition Building on Thursday evening, Melbourne-based band Radio Free Alice soundtracked the dynamic runway, their Brit post-punk energy teasing an upbeat yet relaxed autumn/winter offering.
Contemporary Melbourne brand Christian Kimber kicked things off, remixing utilitarianism with elegant ‘70s suiting – as well as tinted eyewear (a Kimber first to hit stores later this month). Trained on Savile Row, Kimber merged gritty leather jackets with preppy shirting and scarves as well as three-piece suits styled with V-neck t-shirts.
Family business Godwin Charli embraced the bootcut jean – à la Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl Halftime Show – pairing a light blue wash with a rust-coloured cardigan, plaid overcoat and sharp sunglasses for a perfect weekend fit. Meanwhile, Chinese-Australian designer Chris Ran Lin presented his take on two of-the-moment fashion trends: vintage clasps and chunky knitwear. Low-cut, multi-textured coats were given a little more functionality with fireman-like hooks, while chunky cable knits featured cutouts for some extra intrigue.
Joseph and James proved the staying power of short shorts, balancing the micro bottoms with oversized tops – stark white shirts, crimson cardigans and canvas tote bags by Haulier. Brother Wolf dabbled in literal track suiting, adding an athleisure twist to staple with two-stripe maroon tracksuits iterations mingled with with pinstripe shirting, ties and loafers.
Moodboarding our Euro summer travels (or appeasing fans of The Talented Mr Ripley), Mr Cuff heroed light layering and linen with strappy gladiator sandals – another menswear trend showing no signs of slowing down. And on the other end of the spectrum, TWO.ONE, the brother label of Sydney tailoring brand Farage, merged practicality with hedonism sending topless models down the runway in metallic or camo rain jackets styled with slouchy pants and chunky sneakers – fit for the running track, or next weekend’s rave.
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