Post-Streetwear, Menswear Looks to Knits For Autumn / Winter 2020

As menswear's slow departure from the hype era gathers speed via an increasingly acute focus on craftsmanship through fabrications and sleeker silhouettes, it was the treatment of the logo this Autumn/Winter 2020 season which most tellingly suggested boy had become man. Amongst a legion of tailored looks, the integration of the logo–a pillar of streetwear culture–in knitwear gave logomania compelling grown-up appeal across the board.

Kim Jones set the tone back in December at the Dior Pre-Fall 2020 show in Miami with the opening look: a double-faced cashmere knit emblazoned with Shawn Stüssy's revamped Dior logo. Stüssy's recognisable typography–synonymous with youth culture and also with the dirty word that is 'streetwear'–created the pattern for the knit, brought to life in neons by Dior's head of knitwear and jersey Brian Moore. It was the ultimate statement about the homogenisation of couture techniques and t-shirt graphics.

As menswear came around the corner in early January, designers were merging the craftsmanship of a good knit with the sensibilities of the hype era, and the devil was in the detail. In Paris, intarsia knits continued to take hold, as OFF-WHITE's creative director Virgil Abloh entwined the label's graphic logo delicately in white across the hem of a bright red jumper, paired with pleated pants and black Cuban boots.

At Givenchy, Clare Waight Keller looked to a 'sleek future wardrobe', as double-faced cashmere translated logo to vest, whilst Telfar Clemens turned to print, sending out a cream cable-knit with TELFAR printed in collegiate type-face.

Meanwhile Fendi focused on knitted accessories- notably a yellow scarf and knitted bag combo. Paired with cigarette pants, floating pleats and an abundance of square-toed boots, the knit ensured notes of logo-mania's playful novelty remained whilst menswear exercised a penchant for the sartorial. The boy lives on in a man's world.