Thom Browne Is Taking the Couture Stage
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Remember the headline-making gold bullion Thom Browne glamour gown and cape Lizzo wore to the 2022 Met Gala? The one that took 22,000 hours of needlework to craft? More than one pair of hands was working no doubt, but still — that’s more than 900 days for one look.
Which is to say, the New York designer is already doing couture. But on Monday, he will make it official when he shows for the first time on the Paris haute couture calendar, at Opera Garnier.
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At couture, he will position his Thom Browne signature gray suit on the same vaunted stage as the Chanel tweed suit, the Dior Bar suit and other fashion classics that have stood the test of time.
For Browne, it all started with the gray suit, of course. He launched his label in 2003 with the intent of reintroducing tailoring to the early 2000s crowd living in jeans and T-shirts.
“I think this really encapsulates what I want to say in this collection, starting with the gray suit at the highest level coming from an American designer,” Browne said of the all-gray looks he chose for WWD’s couture preview shoot, including a women’s Chesterfield, sport coat, trousers and pleated skirt with hand finished tipping, worn with a corset and tie, and a men’s sport coat and skirt with hand-finished tipping worn with a merino wool cardigan vest.
“It’s what I want people to see in regards to our tailoring — different proportions and shapes, heightening the fabrications and the embroideries to a real couture level. There’s different sections in the collection, so there are also some more conceptual pieces along with the more relatable,” he explained.
As chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Browne is aware of the optics of showing in Paris. But he did present at New York Fashion Week in February, and as he sees it, by doing couture he’s flying the flag another way.
“I think American fashion should be seen around the world, and seen in the best way. And I’ve been showing in Paris for 12 years, so it is part of my business. It’s also important that I show in America like I did with my past collection. But the most important thing for me to do is lead by example and to show that you have to be true to yourself and do what is best for your collection.”
He’s upping the ante, he said.
“I’ve put pressure on all of us to make sure that we don’t disappoint and we’re worthy of being amongst the best couturiers in the world and respect the heritage that goes along with having the honor of being on the calendar.”
The show will be salon-style and client-heavy with about 300 guests, some of whom already have appointments next week to place orders at Browne’s Avenue Montaigne atelier, where 40 seamstresses are hard at work finishing the collection.
“Of course, I’m showing it in the way that I see it, but with it being couture, customers will be able to take looks from the collection and personalize them for themselves. It’s also in the showroom with the rest of the collection that’s been selling the last week-and-a-half. Together, it represents the breadth of what we do as regards to the height of couture and what we do commercially that supports the business.”
So is this an audition for the Chanel job?
“No, Virginie [Viard] is doing a great job and I’m just doing my thing at Thom Browne,” he said.
But is he interested one day in going to a house with a couture tradition?
“I’m very interested in being at Thom Browne. I really think the focus, especially in my position at the CFDA, is nurturing the next generation of new houses and new collections. One of the most important things for me in showing during couture is to show there are new collections worthy of being the next generation.”
Browne is clearly settling into the CFDA leadership role.
“It was my responsibility after 20 years of getting so much from the fashion world to give back, and make sure everybody gets a chance, but everyone that’s getting a chance realizes that it’s a lot of hard work and there’s never a guarantee,” he said. “The main focus should be on pure creativity and starting from there, and also not rushing. It’s making sure that you are as clear as possible as long as possible so that it becomes important enough to be able to sustain itself.”
The biggest news to come out of Paris men’s ready-to-wear week was the debut of another American, Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton. The star-studded spectacle that shut down the Pont Neuf also sparked a debate about the future of luxury — will it be led by Hollywood hype or haute handcraft?
“I start from craft and creativity, and I think Pharrell has an amazing voice….Everybody has to approach it their own way. The choice of Pharrell was great in that he has ideas and a sense of himself. That’s a good place to start,” said Browne who, it should be pointed out, was also not classically trained as a designer, though he did work at Giorgio Armani and Club Monaco before starting his own label.
Browne has also had a front seat to fashion history alongside his partner, Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Andrew Bolton. But he was actually introduced to couture much earlier, when he traveled to Paris during the fall 2005 season with his friend from back in the Los Angeles days, Libertine designer Johnson Hartig.
“It’s the reason why I do my shows the way I do because the first shows I ever saw were a Christian Lacroix couture show, a Chanel couture show and a John Galliano couture show. And I thought, ‘OK, well, if you do shows then this it what you do.'”
Cue the theatrics, which Browne has deployed on the runway for ready-to-wear from Day One. Expect the same at couture. Whether he will be a regular on the calendar remains to be seen, however.
“I moved to Paris Fashion Week 12 years ago to challenge myself in the center of creativity, then bring it back to America and represent what I think American fashion can be around the world.”
Twenty years in, he’s done that, crafting an internationally recognized image with the help of parent group Zegna and plenty of his own Hollywood hype.
The latest? Thom Browne the brand plays a key role in the storyline of the second season of Hulu’s hit series “The Bear.”
Spoiler alert: At the end of episode nine, chef Sydney Gadjahar (played by actress Ayo Edebiri, who was a guest of the designer’s at the 2022 CFDA Awards) gets her own custom-made Thom Browne chef’s jacket. The message? She’s arrived.
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