This Is Why Everyone Is Talking About Timothée Chalamet’s Oscars Look

Cue applause. At last night’s 94th Academy Awards, Timothée Chalamet proved that black tux + white shirt isn’t the only choice for the men of the red carpet. In fact, you don’t need a shirt at all.

For the Oscars, the left-field dresser wore a cropped, embroidered lace tuxedo jacket and fitted pants from Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton womenswear collection. Proving that a bare décolletage is not just for the women, he went bare chested. All the better for showing off those Cartier necklaces (he also wore fistfuls of Cartier rings). For the Vanity Fairafter-party, meanwhile, it was onto a double denim/leather hybrid look.

Chalamet wasn’t the only man daring to do things differently on Oscars night. One man who has been making waves this awards season is The Power of the Dog nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee. Last night he opted for an ice-cool look – a power blue suit by Bottega Veneta, also finishing that off with Cartier diamonds (these lucky, lucky boys).

Other names to note on the night, then? Daniel Kaluuya in a jade Gucci jacket, Best Actor nominee Andrew Garfield in a velvet Saint Laurent jacket (a big trend for men in the last year) and Lakeith Stanfield – who sent pulses soaring in his Saint Laurent jumpsuit last year – in a furry jacket by the house for the Vanity Fair after-party. Swoon and swoon again.

Led by the likes of Chalamet and Harry Styles (hello, feather boas), men have been making bolder choices on the red carpet in recent years, playfully toying with and rebelling against conventional sartorial gender rules. Just last week, the thinking woman’s pin-up Oscar Isaac rocked a Thom Browne skirt.

It’s indicative of a shift towards a more confident masculinity, one that’s being celebrated at the V&A’s current Fashioning Masculinities exhibition. The next generation are savvy enough to know that being a ‘real’ man is about being unafraid to express emotion and enjoying creative freedom. They know that throwing style moves is less controversial than throwing punches.