If the straight boys are exploring a softer masculinity, queer fashion is embracing kinky leathers.
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TOM GEORGE IMAGES COURTESY OF
FASHION EAST Every September, around the same time that coffee shops fight to be the first to drop a PSL and Caitlin Covington awakens from her slumber, TikTok and Instagram gays signal that it’s going to be a ‘femme top fall’. It’s not; according to Google Trends at least. Perhaps the queer desire for femme top recognition is a response to the recent universal fawning over straight-identifying ‘babygirl boys’ such as Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal and Timothee Chalamet. Or, the rise of softer masculine expressions among straight men – Pleasing pastel nail varnishes, cutesy broccoli perms and preppy sweater vests, all on the biggest DL fuckbois you’ve ever met. Or perhaps, it’s a desperate attempt by influencers to gain cultural capital by coining a viral seasonal aesthetic. One thing is clear though, in reality many designers have been leaning far from femme energy in their most recent menswear offerings – think more: wipe-clean leathers, whip-like belts and harnesses over oiled up pecs. Spring Summer 2025 is giving dom top.
Berghain was clearly on the minds of designers this year. For his final collection under the Fashion East programme, Olly Shinder continued to subvert the power dynamics of uniform. The splicing together of 50s boy scout hats with prison guard attire, whips made out of plaited hair, latex finger gloves and leathers with an oil-like gleen, all twisted with the archetypes of porn and fantasy. The characters became increasingly indecipherable from each other. The Berlin nightlife energy was most evident in a look that saw loose cutout panelled shorts merely held up by the straps you’d see on a worker’s overalls, fashioned to allude to a harness. Get you an outfit that goes seamlessly from the building site to the sex club!
Olly Shinder at Fashion East ss25
In a similar vein, Maria Koch told Vogue that her menswear
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Jacob Elordi
Paul Mescal