At his New York Fashion Week debut, the designer amped up a Savile Row classic.
Menswear is still new for Conner Ives. The New York-born, London-based designer, known for his uplifting, and free-spirited take on Americana, has become synonymous with a decadent, after-party infused energy he brings to his womenswear designs since graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2020 . Last year, he made waves with his viral “Protect The Dolls” T-shirts, the proceeds of which were donated to Trans Lifeline, an American charity that provides support to trans people in crisis. But he only started designing for the guys officially last season, first dressing the Conner Ives man in a mix of heavyweight jerseys and undone evening attire.
And for Spring Summer 2027, he’s diving deeper. As a part of the designer’s debut New York Fashion Week show, , he sent two straight-fitting, single-breasted black suits down the runway, made in collaboration with Savile Row tailor Gieves and Hawkes.
Ives' M.O. is a reconsidered look at American identity, part-inspired by nostalgia, and part-informed by the people he grew up with. That isn’t something you might usually associate with Gieves and Hawkes – a Savile Row institution with its roots in British military tailoring. So how do the two come together? Ives spliced Wall Street-ish pin-striped suits with electric green shirts with popped collars, patterned ties, and cummerbunds. In a second look, highlighter pink tall-neck dress shirts with bow ties in the same colour.
But the fun didn’t stop at the waist. In Ives’ tailoring looks, the trousers were tucked into the socks – somewhat mirroring the half-finished energy that comes with the upturned neck. What is the effect? Coupled with the cummerbund and high-volume shirts, you’re breaking up the suit’s symmetry. Is it how you should wear tailoring for a black tie event? Hell no. But it takes the rigidity, bunches it up a bit and turns into something softer and a whole more relaxed.
There’s every chance these guys cycle over to the dinner and then to the after-party. They bring the fun to energetic Greenwich Village hangs, and they do it in suits made in London.
Ives told Man About Town that he sees his brand as “an experiment to figure out what the future of lifestyle design means” in our AW25 issue. He cites Ralph Lauren as a brand he looks up to, a label that dresses the American dream from college campuses to hardy workwear. This vision comes to life through a styling approach that combines these worlds through a considered, and contrasting use of layering.
At Conner Ives’ SS27 show, he built out his own world through suiting, breaking down and leaving his mark on menswear’s most uniform ensemble, souped up with his own and widely loved party-ready spirit. The boys, too, look great in CI.
