The ambiguous allure of total grey

For those who enjoy scouring the looks of the fashion month shows, the season's trends must be spotted and extrapolated with patience to make predictions whose fulfillment will sometimes be expected for months. And one of the most underground trends that seemed to emerge during the many shows in Paris and Milan was that of "total grey." In the midst of an admittedly very colorful season, virtually every collection that showed possessed one or more completely gray looks. Breaking the famous association between "grayness" and "boredom," this insistent presence of gray would seem to seek an alternative to the total black that has now largely become the unofficial uniform of anyone working in fashion (in the last year, especially for models, the combo of tank top and black cargo pants seems almost de rigueur) by taking refuge in the freshness and infinite versatility of gray. With the due exceptions of less sartorial brands such as ERL, 1017 Alyx 9SM and Botter, what has mainly manifested itself has been the gray suit in its different color gradations ranging from pearl gray to slate and anthracite to charcoal gray that seems almost black. If in the past this type of suit had a decidedly clerical flavor, today it is to the blue and black suits that it touches the painful association with offices and desks. Indeed, its very being subtly demodé has made it a perfect field for experimentation, thus giving rise to numerous variations and more or less avant-garde reinterpretations But how to explain this apparent gray-mania?

More than a great aesthetic-philosophical choice, this blossoming of gray in next season's menswear has a whiff of shrewd business strategy. Indeed, we are in an era when luxury brands tend to offer customers complete "wardrobes": assemblable, modular sets of clothes that are everyday enough to be bought without excessive thought or second thought and luxurious enough to justify their high price. Individual commercial products are best sold if the end customer can easily integrate them into his or her own look rotation where, conversely, an overly logoed, connotative, or loud item might discourage purchase precisely because you cannot match it with anything you already have. The point is to make it as easy as possible to choose to buy a product, eliminating upstream the potential doubts of those who, perhaps, when faced with a certain item will wonder how they might match it or on what occasions they might wear it. And the color gray is the quintessence of this concept since it is representative of an understated and neutral elegance that in its seriousness and monotony knows how to demonstrate great adaptability and can be matched with everything. There is no aesthetic consideration or noble collecting here but cold retail logic: in principle, buying a gray or blue garment is easier than buying one absurdly colored or covered in graphics that might not meet the tastes of the masses. By this, however, we do not mean to say that the clothes seen on the runways are banal, but that the color gray can make even the least banal garments more commercially digestible and thus seems to have become a favorite of various designers.

Another sign of the times that can be discerned in the gray trend, which has also manifested itself outside menswear (with Jennifer Lawrence, Zendaya, Gabrielle Union, Hailey Bieber and, in January, even on the shocking pink paladin, Margot Robbie), is on the way luxury clientele spends in the uncertain socio-economic environment of 2023, in which wealth is becoming increasingly bitterly divided. Speaking about the neutral and minimalist tones on TZR, WSGN expert Urangoo Samba said: «As consumers continue to make considered purchases, colors with practicality, versatility, and long-term appeal come to the fore. Neutrals gain momentum due to their commerciality too». While in the report on color trends for the coming year by WSGN and Coloro reports that «representing practicality and reliability, this colour is foundational and grounding with a utilitarian edge. It speaks to promoting balance and slowing down, as a timeless shade with transseasonal and long-term appeal». As if to say that in uncertain times we tend to experiment less. That there are gray days ahead for fashion?