It’s safe to say that designer Thom Browne has reached icon status, with his pieces in the collections of major art museums around the world and countless CFDA awards to his name. Upon his launch in 2001, he single-handedly changed the silhouette of the classic men’s suit, eschewing the roomier proportions of the ‘80s and ‘90s for a cropped and shrunken silhouette that is now a menswear standard. With his reverence for tailoring and an ability to consistently refresh the conventions of haberdashery, he has dressed men and women alike, fueled by a belief in the suit's ability to elevate and transform its wearer, no matter their gender. (See Elsie Fisher’s ultra-cool three-piece ensemble on the Oscars red carpet for further proof of this magic.)
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His runway shows are also the stuff of legend. Editors, buyers, and fashion industry followers eagerly await the spectacle every season, whether he's presenting a Willy Wonka-ian crew of flannel-clad garden gnomes, an army of mid-century office drones, or pastel-bouffanted models donned in trompe l'oeil skirt suits. "For me, my shows are really important. I love doing them. I love the entertainment of them. I love giving a story to the collections," Browne told Marc Karimzadeh in 2016. "If I wasn’t able to do my shows, I wouldn’t be as interested in fashion as I am."
This season was an especially significant one, marking ten years since the designer presented what GQ called one of the most influential runway shows of all time — the Fall/Winter 2009 menswear collection that featured a phalanx of identically-dressed paper-pushers in a retro office setting. Browne returned faithfully to this concept for the current women's collection, with each model sitting at her own desk, tapping out correspondence on a vintage Olivetti Lettera typewriter. He followed this throwback moment with a parade of classic Thom Browne: 90-degree shoulders and exposed wrists; a mélangé of plaids, stripes, and cheeky prints; and the overall precision of cool and powerful suiting. (And of course, Hector.) You can see it all for yourself — scroll down to watch the full video, filmed live in Paris.