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RUNWAY: How did Thom Browne dress as a kid? “Pretty much like this,” he says: Gray suit, gray knit, gray shorts, tie, and oxford shoes. There’s something reassuring in the fact that many years and successes later, Browne hasn’t changed much—and not only in his wardrobe. A sense of childlike wonder and fantasy pervades his work, making his shows, whether IRL or URL, some of fashion week’s most magical experiences. (Who else would turn their dog into a spaceship or create a full zoo of animal-shaped leather bags?) It’s a delightful and welcomed quality in fashion, especially during the bleak and too-serious times of 2020 and 2021.
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Now, instead of just dressing adults with a childlike sense of mischief, Browne is adding a full range of kid’s clothing to his offering. He’s launching the collection on the official calendar of Paris Men’s Fashion Week with a comical short film by Cass Bird that sees a group of six-ish- to ten-ish-year-olds enter Browne’s office and get to work. “I don’t think any of them had actually ever seen a typewriter. Shocking,” the designer deadpans. “They looked at it as if it was a foreign object.”
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