Men's Spring/Summer 2015 Fashion Trend: Statement Stripes

Time To Change Your Stripes?

As one of the easiest patterns to pull off there is, it’s hardly surprising that stripes continue to cement their place within the modern gent’s wardrobe year after year.

Yet while the traditional Breton T-shirt is a perennial spring/summer classic that will never fall out of fashion, this season sees both luxury designers and high street giants putting all new slants on stripes. From vivid block-stripe knits to wide-striped tailoring, this timeless motif has been re-imagined for the coming months.

But will these bolder takes increase the pattern’s popularity? Or will a preference for more subtle variants prevail?

On The SS15 Runways

It was Gucci that set the trend in motion, with a heavily nautical collection that paid homage to all ranks of men at sea – from naval officers to swashbuckling pirates.

A striking navy and white vertical stripe dominated – worked across lean blazers, trousers and a roomy band collar shirt – but the pattern made plenty of subtler appearances as well, either in the form of detailing on the sleeves of summer-ready topcoats and blazers or accessories such as neck scarves and the straps of wraparound bags.

However, the collection’s standout piece was undoubtedly an all-over striped suit that managed to steer clear of Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice territory, and come off as solid option for smart-casual occasions:

Dior Homme

Kris Van Assche at Dior Homme also took sartorial inspiration from seamen, offering his own distinctly contemporary take on the fisherman’s traditional yellow slicker, as well as the Breton stripe.

Utilising various combinations of navy, white, red and yellow (there was a particularly Gallic red, white and blue combination), Van Assche’s broad Breton stripe was applied to scoop neck vests, which were worn over shirts and underneath suit jackets.

Finer stripes were on show too, coming in either classic navy and white or red and grey, spaced far apart and spanning the breadth of button-down shirts:

Kenzo & Paul Smith

Other designers adopted a similar approach, putting a new spin on the motif via the use of bold hues.

For example, Kenzo opted for graphic, often asymmetric stripes in peppermint, coral and aqua, while at Paul Smith, there were multi-coloured horizontal, vertical and zigzag stripes that took their colour cues from the label’s signature branding:

E. Tautz

Keen to take traditional stripes into uncharted territory was Patrick Grant at tailoring label E. Tautz.

For his collection inspired by the great British seaside, Grant co-opted a classic navy and white deckchair stripe and applied it to everything from voluminous outerwear to lean trousers and baggy shorts. These pieces were either cut straight and vertical, or moulded to the curvature of the body – i.e. straight through the torso but slightly slanted on the arms.

But it wasn’t all about pushing boundaries. Grant also incorporated several pinstriped tailored separates that offered an alternative for those not quite ready for bold stripes and oversized fits:

J.W.Anderson

Elsewhere, at J.W.Anderson, the clothing was about as far away from a conservative pinstripe as you can get.

Delivering another collection of his signature androgyny, Anderson served up head-to-toe striped looks in olive, blue and mauve, each made up of blouse-like shirts and trousers, accessorised with a generously sized neck scarf in exactly the same fabric.

By no means easy to pull off, these looks probably aren’t worth emulating directly, but it just goes to prove how integral stripes are to this season’s aesthetic:

Stripes For The Everyday Man

Of course, a pattern as fundamental to men’s style as the stripe is hardly season-specific. But what these runway examples do suggest is that now’s the time to broaden your horizons (and your stripes, too, while you’re at it).

For example, if you usually stick to pinstripes, why not try subbing in block-stripes instead? Or if you’re usually conservative with colour, why not opt for something that makes more of a statement, such as a multi-coloured or pastel stripe?

Team them with neutral warm-weather staples and you won’t go far wrong: