Thom Browne built a new uniform from the old ingredients of American tailoring. He began in New York’s West Village in 2001 with five made-to-measure suits, then made shrunken proportions, cropped trousers and red-white-blue grosgrain part of a very recognizable vocabulary. The clothes are disciplined, but the humor is always close to the surface.
Thom Browne
The Uniform, Recut
Browne’s first business was made-to-measure suiting, and the label’s womenswear still treats tailoring as a place to play. Skirts, tanks, jackets and sweaters translate the house’s compact proportions into pieces that feel both formal and slightly mischievous.
Cotton-blend midi skirt
Thom Browne
$1,750
Ribbed merino wool tank
Thom Browne
$790
Virgin wool-twill straight-leg cropped pants
Thom Browne
$1,350
Cropped virgin wool-hopsack jacket
Thom Browne
$2,490
Striped cotton-poplin shirt
Thom Browne
$920
Bow-detailed striped silk crepe de chine shirt
Thom Browne
$1,500
Embroidered cotton shirt
Thom Browne
$920
Grosgrain-trimmed striped wool sweater
Thom Browne
$1,450
Asymmetric grosgrain-trimmed pleated wool midi skirt
Thom Browne
$1,590
Tool leather and grosgrain-trimmed canvas tote
Thom Browne
$1,150
Grosgrain-trimmed striped wool-blend sweater
Thom Browne
$1,050
Heritage grosgrain-trimmed cotton-canvas sneakers
Thom Browne
$550
Small Objects, Big Signals
The red-white-blue grosgrain tab and the Hector bag are not quiet details, but they are unusually consistent ones. These accessories carry the house codes in a smaller format, where a stripe or a dog shape can change the whole read.
Our honest take
Thom Browne works best when the strictness and the absurdity arrive together. If you take one thing away, let the proportion be the statement, then stop before the look starts explaining itself.
