Austin Butler Updates the 1930s Suit

Austin Butler may be Oscar-nominated for playing a 1950s rock icon, but in Paris on September 26, he was channeling the 1930s. At the Saint Laurent runway show, Butler stepped out in a particularly voluminous suit with a matching overcoat that made it seem as though he was ready to audition for a particularly chic reboot of Dick Tracy at a moment’s notice. Still, one particular detail affirmed that we are still, in fact, in the year 2023: Butler wore no shirt underneath his suit jacket—a recurring recent style of dress for Hollywood’s heartthrob class.

The suit and coat come from Saint Laurent’s fall 2023 menswear collection; updating pre-war silhouettes with flashes of a more liberated, modern sensibility has been a speciality of creative director Anthony Vaccarello of late (indeed, parts of the womenswear collection presented on Tuesday could be described as “if Amelia Earhart was a baddie”). It’s a fitting mode, too, for Butler, who was recently named the face of the brand’s new MYSLF fragrance—considering he has something of a classic Hollywood, leading-man vibe himself.

Butler also has a knack for inviting a certain amount of allure on the red carpet without coming off as thirsty (see his previous subtle use of mesh shirting and pussy bow blouses). So it’s no surprise he’s not afraid of the “no shirt, no problem” club.

Butler attended the show solo, sans girlfriend Kaia Gerber. While it’s no secret the pair are dating, they’re quite selective about what red carpets they’ll walk together. The last time they appeared on one as an ensemble was back in April.

Gerber has actually been absent from fashion week altogether so far this season. She didn’t walk a single show during New York, London or Milan, and has so far been absent in Paris as well. The last time she walked a runway was back in July, when she opened Valentino’s couture show.