Male midlife makeovers steal the spotlight at Paris womenswear shows

Twenty-something pop singers are usually the default stars of fashion week. However, during the latest womenswear shows that wrapped up on Tuesday it was a cohort of middle-aged men who unexpectedly stole the spotlight. Forget Mamils (middle-aged men in Lycra), now it’s all about the middle-aged men in Loewe.

Those embracing the midlife makeover and experimental fashion included a 56-year-old Daniel Craig, who swaggered into the Loewe show wearing a haphazard knitted jumper, cargo balloon pants, unlaced hiking boots and yellow-tinted sunglasses. Next came a 71-year-old Jeff Goldblum in baggy white chinos and an oversized leather jacket. At Saint Laurent, a 60-year-old Lenny Kravitz posed in a black and silver striped pussy-bow blouse tucked tightly into even tighter trousers, while a 69-year-old Willem Dafoe closed the Miu Miu catwalk wearing a white shirt with the collar half sticking out from underneath a navy jumper and unbuckled boots.

After decades of boring suits, we have officially entered a new fun fashion era in menswear. As 60-year-old Rob Lowe’s deep-cut he-vage-baring vest, which he wore to the Stella McCartney show stated, it’s “About Fucking Time”. The Outsiders star teamed it with supersized dove grey trousers that featured a metallic chain down the side of each leg. Images of Lowe et al were catnip to social media. “I love when men find their sense of style and it’s totally hot and unhinged,” read one comment. GQ described Craig’s look as “sublime chaos”.

Craig first went viral in July when he starred in an advertising campaign for Loewe, a heritage Spanish brand that has become white-hot thanks to the Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson. Gone was Craig’s signature Bondesque short back and sides and steely expression. Instead he debuted a jauntily-cut fringe and pursed lips while modelling everything from wacky knitwear to even wackier beaded trousers. His most recent appearance at the label’s show in Paris riffed further on his fashion rebrand.

“It’s maybe unconsciously challenging for some people to see an actor so closely associated with such an anachronistic but established male archetype as James Bond attired like they’re an independently wealthy contemporary art curator indulging in a low-level midlife crisis through directional dressing,” says Luke Leitch, a contributor to Vogue. “But I think it’s great. The idea of what’s ‘smart’ or ‘normal’ or not is a canard designed to restrict, just like ‘common sense’.”

While their younger counterparts have widely shunned the old Hollywood dressing rule book, think Timothée Chalamet in a backless red satin two-piece by Haider Ackermann at the Venice film festival and Harry Styles in a rainbow mesh jumpsuit at the Grammys, the shift in the male midlifer’s aesthetic is more of a jump scare. In 2022, a then 58-year-old Brad Pitt made headlines when he wore a skirt instead of a standard tuxedo. When asked by Variety why he chose to wear it, Pitt replied: “I don’t know! We’re all going to die, so let’s mess it up.”

Pitt’s skirt and Craig’s cosy knitwear are a long way from the Marlboro Man’s virility, so are we witnessing a new iteration of masculinity? Andrew P Smiler, PhD and author of Is Masculinity Toxic?, says this shift in fashion parallels changes in the definition of masculinity. “As cultures change – and western culture is in the midst of substantial change – then definitions of masculinity also change,” he says. “We see some guys staying close to what they know, while others are more willing to make more extensive changes. Some of these guys may see themselves as helping create those changes in masculinity and culture.”

Evolutions of masculinity aside, brands aren’t just mobilising older celebrities in the hope of attracting the grey pound. This older cohort resonates widely with gen Z and plays into the fusion of mainstream culture and internet culture, which have become inextricably intertwined. Twin Peaks’ 65-year-old Kyle MacLachlan, who sat front row at the Balenciaga show, is regularly referred to as “babygirl” online – an affectionate term for a man considered hot and sensitive. Baby boomer Goldblum is called “Father”, another slang endearment with a sexual twinge.

Leitch says part of Goldblum and MacLachan’s appeal is they “exude a non-conformist intelligence that complements apparently quirky clothing and brands”. The author and cultural commentator Jason Diamond says the fact that they have been around for so long is also alluring: “We’ve been able to watch them age into classics. There’s such a cultural gulf between interesting, real-looking men and these incredibly hot, almost unreal-looking guys. I really like Chris Hemsworth and Ryan Gosling, but hardly any men look like them. Nobody looks like Goldblum or Dafoe either, but that’s part of their appeal. They’re unique.”