How Thom Browne stands the test of time by remaining focused and doing what he truly loves

Thanks to the signature shrunken silhouette, four-bar stripe and that specific shade of grey, you can spot a Thom Browne fan a hundred metres away. And it is quite the experience to be surrounded by a dozen brand aficionados in outfits they’ve styled themselves—some in mismatched socks adorned with ravens and roses, others in shorts or pleated skirts—when they converge at Upper House Hong Kong to meet the visionary, who visited the city for the first time in six years.

We ask Browne, who also travelled to Tokyo and Shanghai last year to celebrate his eponymous brand’s 20th anniversary, how his signature uniform has been received differently in Asian markets from the west. “You just see the appreciation of it … people see that focused idea, and understand that there’s so much more to it,” he says.

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Thom Browne men's fall 2024 collection (Photo: Thom Browne)

The signature Thom Browne stripe (Photo: Thom Browne)

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The signature Thom Browne stripe (Photo: Thom Browne)

The brand, which now includes menswear, womenswear,childrenswear, accessories, homeware and more, is available in 40 countries. It’s a far cry from its beginnings, when Browne offered five cuts of suit—all with high-waisted trousers and super-tight jackets, just the way the designer loves them himself—in a small, “by appointment only” shop in New York’s West Village.

Moving to New York from Los Angeles in the early 2000s, Browne was determined to carve out his own space in the crowded fashion landscape. Rather than simply starting a label, he set out to “reintroduce [tailoring] in a way that made an interesting detail, because the last thing I felt like anybody needed was another designer.”

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Details from Thom Browne women's fall 2024 collection (Photo: Thom Browne)

This focus on reinventing the classics through proportion became the hallmark of the Thom Browne aesthetic. “I wanted to make sure that I was doing something that really gave the reason to why I was worthy of existing,” he explains. “I do like to play with the proportions and take ideas that people think they understand and make them not understand.”

Thom Browne autumn-winter 2024 runway look displayed at JOYCE Pacific Place store window (Photo: Joyce Boutique)

Thom Browne autumn-winter 2024 runway looks displayed at JOYCE Pacific Place store window (Photo: Joyce Boutique)

But in the early days, many people didn’t understand or embrace his collections. “I feel like sometimes people can see if you’re forcing an idea on them that isn’t fundamentally true to yourself,” he says. “I think it’s the only reason my collection succeeded; it took almost five years for people to really even consider it, and I think they only started considering it because they saw that [I] really loved it, and it was so personal to me; that I feel like this is my thing.”

Joyce Ma, founder of Joyce Boutique, the pioneering luxury Hong Kong boutique which shaped the retail-scape of the city and East Asia starting in the 1970s, was among those who recognised Browne’s vision early on. “Joyce was one of the first people who really embraced my collection, and I feel like she’s one of the old-school merchants that had such vision. So it’s very special for me to come back for Joyce [Boutique],” he says. During his visit, the retailer also co-hosted a series of programmes across the city, including offering limited made- to-measure services, and offering fashion enthusiasts a closer look at his latest runway creations.

JOYCE Pacific Place window features runway looks from Thom Browne autumn-winter 2024 collection (Photo: Joyce Boutique)

AsTatler sits down with the designer in a corner of the Thom Browne boutique at Landmark, it’s clear that his passion for his craft has only grown stronger over the years. “It’s evolved so much, but I feel like it’s evolved in the best way. It always felt true to where it started at the beginning,” says the man who is dressed—as always—in a crisp white shirt, cardigan, snug blazer, boyish shorts, matching tie and a pair of black leather brogues; fun fact: he stopped wearing trousers in 2013. “I always felt when I started my collection that if I didn’t wear it myself, why would I ever expect somebody else to want to wear it?”

Designer Thom Browne photographer at his store at Landmark (Photo: Tatler Asia/Zed Leets)

Thom Browne (Photo: Tatler Asia/Zed Leets)

Browne’s approach to evolution is subtle yet meaningful. Each collection presents different proportions and interpretations of his core aesthetic, always “starting from that tailored point of view and making that classic image feel interesting”. Rather than dramatic departures, Browne offers fresh perspectives on his established codes—university inspiration, preppy style and a love of sport. Yet he is quick to point out that his collections are about far more than one silhouette. “What is exciting [to] all of us in the future [is] there’s so much more to the collection than it being a very singular idea,” he says.

In the Thom Browne world more than any other, where tailoring is the starting point, storytelling is the vehicle and whimsicality is the experience, so his collections are always imbued with a rich narrative. The inspirations can vary unexpectedly from the 1500s (women’s spring-summer 2014) and Virginia Woolf ’s gender-bending novel Orlando (men’s spring- summer 2018, when he introduced skirts in his men’s collections) to Noah’s Ark (women’s and men’s autumn-winter 2020) and an Olympic Games set 200 years in the future (women’s and men’s spring- summer 2021). “The collections are more interesting when you contextualise [them] within a story,” he explains. “The story makes the clothing more interesting than just clothes.”

Thom Browne returned to New York for the autumn- winter 2024 show (Photo: Thom Browne)

I always felt when I started my collection that if I didn’t wear it myself, why would I ever expect somebody else to want to wear it?

By - Thom Browne

After more than a decade of showing meticulous tailoring in theatrical dreamscapes, the American designer, who has been honoured three times as Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), finally made his Paris couture debut in autumn-winter 2023. For Browne, the approach to ready-to-wear and couture is the same: “I approach it the same way as [all] collections. There’s not that much difference in regard to the ideas. There’s different levels, but the approach is the same, the storytelling is the same,” he says. “I want people to see the quality of what I do. And for me, some of the most fashionable things, [which are] important in fashion, are just making fashion very well.”

Thom Browne autumn-winter 2024 collection (Photo: Thom Browne)

For the women’s and men’s autumn-winter 2024 collection, he played with the story of The Raven, a 1845 poem by Edgar Allan Poe, and infused his signature tailoring with a darker yet still fanciful edge. Continuing the techniques shown through his debut couture collection, the line-up features a blend of classic structured and warped silhouettes, including a panelled tweed overcoat paired with a black pencil dress, and a reimagined tuxedo that showcased the atelier’s innovative approach to traditional styles. Set against a snow-clad floor and a giant, black- puffer-coated tree, some garments featured sculptural designs that appeared to peel away, evoking the imagery of the moulting feathers of the black bird.

Thom Browne autumn-winter 2024 collection (Photo: Thom Browne)

These shows are integral components of Browne’s creative expression. “With the couture show in July, it was really celebrating the theme of the Olympics and how sports are such an important inspiration for me,” he says of the autumn-winter 2024 show. And, given that haute couture is the Olympics of fashion, the show was a spectacle. Presented less than a month before the Paris Olympics began, the collection paid tribute to the historic games.

Backstage at Thom Browne autumn-winter 2024 couture show in Paris (Photo: Thom Browne)

Models struck poses reminiscent of classic athletes, playfully subverting expectations as they navigated a nearly all-white landscape. Browne’s innovative manipulation of muslin—a cloth traditionally reserved for mock- ups—challenged convention, transforming a basic fabric into a canvas of couture elegance, and underscoring the ethos that beauty can emerge from the unfinished.

Sporty elements such as tennis skirts and lace-up track boots were seamlessly integrated with dramatic evening wear, showcasing Browne’s signature flair for blending the formal with the playful. The show culminated in a striking tribute to Olympic glory, featuring models in bronze, silver and gold sport coats.

Thom Browne autumn-winter 2024 couture collection (Photo: Thom Browne)

His complex designs and mature craftsmanship rooted in tailoring sometimes lead to people analysing, or even over-analysing and over intellectualising his work. But the 59-year-old designer says he simply stays true to himself. “I just [do] things that I like to do myself and [that are] very true to myself,” he says. “I never really thought of what I should be doing, I did [ what I wanted to do] almost just instinctually.” This instinctive approach has served Browne’s business well too, hitting milestones one after another, from high-profile collaborations with the likes of Samsung and Baccarat, and dressing football league FC Barcelona to launching an exclusive home furnishing collaboration with Frette this year.

He is also one of the most celebrated contemporary designers on red carpets. Thom Browne’s couture spin on Met Gala’s themes have created some of the most memorable looks over the years on stars including Solange Knowles, Cardi B and Gigi Hadid. “It always feels that it’s almost like a good relationship, and not just something that’s done for business,” he says of the celebrity dressings.

Gigi Hadid attends The 2024 Met Gala (Photo: Getty Images)

Cardi B attends The 2019 Met Gala (Photo: Getty Images)

Of course, he has a personal interest in the Met Gala, as his long-time partner Andrew Bolton serves as the chief curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Referring to the 2025 theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, Browne says: “I love the idea that Andrew is doing the show. I think it’s a really brave show; it’s a really, really intellectual show, probably one of the most challenging shows. He does such good work. I think he’s the most important person in fashion, and [I love] how he introduces these amazing ideas in the world of fashion. So I can’t wait to see what the show is going to unfold [in May].” Is he ready for the dressing requests for next year’s events? “I love doing things for the show because I find it’s my way of celebrating Andrew’s work," he says.

Perhaps where Browne’s true grit lies, and what makes him one of the most important American designers of this generation, is his vision of creating a world where everyone can find individuality in uniformity. Whether on celebrities or in real life, people who choose to wear Thom Browne are instantly recognisable, yet manage to express themselves distinctively. “I love the idea of uniformity, and I do feel like you see such individuality within that uniform, so it’s such a part of what I do,” he says. In today’s industry, which often prizes novelty over consistency, and at a time when designers are striving to combat algorithms, the Thom Browne brand has stood the test of time by remaining focused—from his grey flannel suit two decades ago to the 110 retail stores, all mimicking the décor of his workplace, with grey marble walls and metal shutter blinds.

Inside Thom Browne store at Landmark in Hong Kong (Photo: Thom Browne)

As chairman of CFDA, Browne is deeply invested in nurturing the next generation of designers. His primary goal is ensuring “the success of the next generation, and not just designers that are designing for other companies, but individual designers that actually succeed on their own. That’s what I feel like is the most important.”

His advice to emerging designers is straightforward: there are no shortcuts. “Sometimes young designers don’t realise how hard it’s going to be, and how long it’s going to take. The idea of actually just designing something really, really good … most of the time, it’s not just designing something, and then all of a sudden, success,” he stresses. “It’s up to the individual designer to create something that is important enough, that is sustainable, and also to do something of quality. Because quality is always interesting to people.”

Designer Thom Browne (Photo: Tatler Asia/Zed Leets)

I love the idea of uniformity, and I do feel like you see such individuality within that uniform, so it’s such a part of what I do.

By - Thom Browne

As he begins another decade of his brand, Browne remains focused on continuing to push the boundaries of his craft while staying true to the core values. “It’s really just doing as much as possible in the best way so that you feel like it’s still true to where it all started.” And what’s in his personal future? “Just [being] home with Andrew and Hector”—the famous dachshund that inspires so much of his work.

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I always felt when I started my collection that if I didn’t wear it myself, why would I ever expect somebody else to want to wear it?

By - Thom Browne

I love the idea of uniformity, and I do feel like you see such individuality within that uniform, so it’s such a part of what I do.

By - Thom Browne

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