Men wearing skirts is commonplace in certain countries including Fiji,Myanmar and Bhutan. In Greece, it’s an integral part of the militarydress uniform. However, nowhere has a skirt been of more culturalsignificance than the Scottish kilt.
A history of the Scottish kilt
According to the Macgregor and Macduff blog, the first mention ofkilts was in 1538. At that time, a kilt was a full-length garmentcalled the féileadh mor or 'the great kilt'. It was a five meteruntailored piece of fabric that was wrapped around the waist, with theexcess material draped over the shoulder. It wasn’t until the early18th century that the knee length kilt we recognize today came about.Over time, different clans identified themselves with specific tartanplaids and colors.
The modern era
Jean Paul Gaultier is credited with the first designer to show skirtsfor men on the runway. They were first presented as part of his EtDieu Créa l’Homme (And God Created Man) collection in 1985, wide-legtrousers with a wrap-over panel created the illusion of the skirt,"challenging masculinity and questioning clothing stereotypes",according to his website.
In Recent Seasons
No doubt due to the blending of gender norms and the desire by many tobe non-binary, in the past few seasons, skirts for men have been shownon many runways, here are some of the best:
Fall/Winter 2021 Runway Collections
Burberry
For the Burberry F/W21 menswear collection, Riccardo Tisci showed aseries of skirts and kilts, mostly over pants, and a variety ofjackets and coats designed with 'British style' in mind. It was atheme he expanded on for FW22 with an emphasis on the heritage of theBurberry brand.
Louis Vuitton
Virgil Abloh's presentation 'Ebonics,' mixed American staples withother global influences, including plaid kilts and skirts under suitjackets.
Molly Goddard
Worn by model Lucas Chancellor, Goddard showed a Royal Stewart tartankilt and a Fair Isle sweater with a a white shirt and suit jacket,accessorized by socks and ‘creepers’.
Fall/Winter 2022 Runway Collections
Off-White
Virgil Abloh's posthumous show entitled 'Spaceship Earth,' look 14worn by Gyuhyun Kim, was a show-stopping combination of a 'shacket'and coat with a pleated skirt over pants, all in black and greentartan.
Jan Jan Van Essche
For look 8, Antwerp's Jan Jan Van Essche showed a pleated skirt overgrey denim jeans under a blouson jacket with a knit sweater andbeanie.
Dolce & Gabbana
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Look 55 was an oversized houndstooth skirt suit over a logo tee andrubber boots.
Gucci
Alessandro Michele presented a collection in collaboration withAdidas. Look 39 was a striped sports coat black leather tie and blueshirt over a yellow tartan kilt over track pants. Accessories mixedGucci and Adidas logos and other details.
Y/Project
Glenn Martens's collection for Y/Project included look 44: a doublelayered waist length jacket of denim and shearling under a silvernylon puffer and dark denim gored skirt with side splits over leatherboots.
Egonlab
From Florentin Glemarec and Kevin Nompeix of Egonlab, look 23consisted of a jacket, kilt and pants all in a neutral coloredwindow-pane check.
DSquared2
From Dean and Dan Caten, a collection they called ‘Hippy Hiker’ and abohemian layered mix for look 42 on Brandon, an embroidered pullovershown over a pair of tattered jeans and split from long tartan kilt.
Off the runway
Mark Bryan, who identifies as a ‘straight, cis male’ photographshimself everyday in a skirt and heels. He currently boasts 660Kfollowers on Instagram (markbryan911).Further evidence that skirts for men are hitting mainstream fashion isthe abundance of appearances by major celebrities wearing them. Thatlist includes Pete Davidson, Machine Gun Kelly, Harry Styles, BadBunny, Diddy and Lil’Nas. Not to mention, the very masculine lookingOscar Isaac. Isaac made headlines at a screening of ‘Moon Knight' inLondon, dressed in a Thom Browne grey pleated skirt suit.All predictions point toward the idea of the man skirt or kilt growingexponentially each season.
