Image via Complex Original
Fashion is an ever-changing beast. It shifts, sometimes to reflect changes in society’s modes of thinking, and sometimes to create them. That’s what makes it interesting. Equally as interesting are the individual players that populate the landscape, pushing the conversation forward at times, taking a sharp left turn at others. In that spirit, here are 10 men who are challenging convention, leading by example, and doing their best to change the way we think about fashion. Check ‘em out.
Kanye West
This one’s a no-brainer. How many guys out there would be wearing Chelsea boots with stacked denim right now if it weren’t for Kanye? How many hypebeasts would have any idea who Haider Ackermann is, for that matter? Beyond his music and his pop culture status, Kanye’s influence on men’s fashion can’t easily be overstated. Case in point: The fashion show for Yeezy Season 1 got more pageviews than Chanel this season. That’s a paradigm shift if ever there was one. Style.com’s Dirk Standen credits West’s desire to “bring good design to the masses”—also seen in his APC collabs—with crushing success. Sounds about right to us (even if you couldn’t get your hands on a pair of Yeezy Boosts).
Hedi Slimane
Hedi’s been recalibrating the way we think about fashion since his skinny-suited days at Dior Homme (and even before then), but his transformative abilities have never been more apparent than they are in his current position at the helm of Saint Laurent. By stripping away the unnecessary in favor of precision cuts and an unflinchingly cool and oftentimes surprisingly restrained aesthetic, he’s managed to turn the storied house’s wares into ultra-desirable, modern status symbols. His signature look hasn’t changed much over the years, but somehow it always feels like exactly what we need and want.
Dirk Schönberger
There was a time when Nike’s stranglehold on the coveted sneaker market seemed insurmountable. But over the past few seasons that shifted, thanks in large part to adidas creative director Dirk Schönberger. A behind-the-scenes force of the highest order, he’s the man behind the resurgence of the Stan Smith, not to mention adidas’ impressive stable of designer collaborations. Pharrell. Rick. Juun.J. Raf. The next time you pass over those Jordans in favor of a pair of Superstars, remember that it’s Schönberger who incepted you into that decision.
Joe Jonas
We can barely believe that we’re saying it, but we’ve got to give Joe Jonas credit. Not necessarily for pushing the boundaries of fashion itself—he isn’t rewriting the playbook; not by a long shot—but for pushing the boundaries of how we perceive young Hollywood’s approach to the business of dressing oneself. This is a guy that’s managed to navigate the waters from tween pop stardom to the NYFW front row simply by pulling his sartorial act together. He’s not the only one to pull off such a feat, but he may be the only one who’s done it so seamlessly.
Angelo Flaccavento
Part of the dream team of Style.com reviewers, Flaccavento is a lens through which we view the world of men’s fashion. He’s exceptionally well educated on the subject, of course, but he’s also passionate about its sociological ramifications—all the ways in which clothing and style reflect the state of things in the world at large. Where some of the other men on this list lead by silent example, Flaccavento does so explicitly, in prose that captures the imagination and then pushes the mind one step further into the consideration of something that might not have occurred to us before. He gives voice and direction to all those swirling thoughts that occur to us when we’re looking at clothes. But that’s not to say that he’s not impeccably dressed. He is.
Hannes and Simon Hogeman
Perhaps nowhere is the high-low mentality that dominates men’s fashion in its current state more fully realized than on the racks of Très Bien, the Swedish retailer founded by the Hogeman brothers. Labels like CK Jeans and Comme des Garçons coexist and interact with a fluidity that not only echoes the way that men around the world want to dress now, but also informs it. Could we have gotten to this place without the influence of Hannes and Simon? Probably. Would it look quite as good as it does now? Probably not.
Ian Connor
If Hannes and Simon are the kings of high-low fashion, 22-year-old Connor is King Troll. The guy wore Skechers during Paris Fashion Week to prove a point about how similar the mall-food-court castoffs are to styles by the likes of Raf Simons. And he did it with an attitude that was less “devil may care” and more “I don’t even care.” Considering his social media savvy, it’s a pretty sure bet that the apathy is just a façade, but there’s no getting around how effectively he pointed out the aesthetic inconsistencies of our approach to fashion.
Ronnie Fieg
The guy made Asics cool. We’ll repeat that just in case it hasn’t sunk in yet: The guy made Asics—a.k.a, your dad’s lamest running shoes—cool. That’s a feat in and of itself, but Fieg didn’t stop there. The man at the forefront of what can only reasonably be described as the burgeoning KITH empire also heads up one of NYC’s most influential sneaker shops, launched a well-regarded line of in-house basics, partnered with Dover Street Market, and gave under-the-radar Japanese brand Ones Stroke one of its most visible platforms in the U.S. The label “influencer” is, without a doubt, tossed around all too often these days. Fieg is one of the rare few who actually deserves it.
Bruce Pask
An editorial mind setting the fashion direction for one of the best luxury retailers in the world? Sounded promising, especially when Pask made the jump from T magazineto become the fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman. And since the shift, that promise has come to bear, with Pask helping to shape the assortment and shopping experience of the one-percent’s favorite store, refining and reworking things until they’re just right. Now all the rest of us need to do is wait for the trickle-down effect.
A$AP Rocky
Who else could have been so instrumental in the rise of HBA, and so equally instrumental in the efforts to dismantle the brand’s streetwear supremacy? Rocky’s an unapologetic follower of fashion, but he’s also a mercurial figure, as prone to spouting his opinions in whatever outlet is available as he is to unexpected bouts of reticence when he’s being interviewed for, say, a Complex cover story. It’s what makes him a media lightning rod. Coupled with his penchant for clothes, that’s what makes him a driving force in the conversation around men’s fashion, helping create new ideas and foster new outlooks.