Looking to step out of your comfort zone? Follow Sarah Al Wazzan’s lead and start navigating menswear. The Kuwaiti owner of the children’s boutique, Panacheous; seasoned fashion week-goer; and mother of four, strikes a chord for both her maximalist aesthetic and keen eye on menswear.
“It all began when I took a peek at the Louis Vuitton men’s section. There, I found an oversized cargo jacket with big patches—which I thought at the time wasn’t very Louis Vuitton of Louis Vuitton. I tried it on and just couldn’t take it off,” says Al Wazzan while in conversation with Vogue Arabia. The jacket was plucked from the French House’s Spring 2014 menswear collection by creative director Kim Jones.
Following her covetable find, Al Wazzan’s borrowed-from-the-boys collection expanded when she picked up a printed button-down men’s shirt from Chanel’s Métiers d’Art Pre-Fall 2014 Dallas showcase. “Karl [Lagerfeld] has never designed a standalone men’s collection for Chanel, and that makes this piece extra special,” she says. Al Wazzan delved deeper into menswear when she attended her first men’s Milan Fashion Week and took a front row seat at the Gucci Fall 2016 show. “It was absolutely fun and I felt right at home. There were so many pretty pieces that aren’t available for women. And, because it was a men’s show, it felt very exclusive—like I was in a secret world of my own,” she reminisces. Among the pieces Al Wazzan eyed: a lurex knit jacket, a seafoam velvet robe, a powder blue jacquard suit (which the Italian label adapted in her size), and an embroidered top (spotted on creative director Alessandro Michele in a recent Instagram post). Al Wazzan rounded out her selection with a floral tapestry jacket darted with studs, an appliqué sweater, and a tasseled wool hat with a monster motif.
Yves Saint Laurent championed menswear-inspired styling for women with his Le Smoking tuxedo. First designed in 1966, the iconic suit was charged with sensuality and served as an alternative to the little black dress. Grande dame of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve, was the first to wear the empowering silhouette the following year, while Bianca Jagger made a bold statement at the alter when she married Mick Jagger in a white Le Smoking jacket. In Woody Allen’s 1977 film, Annie Hall, Diane Keaton’s character wore neckties, vests, and bowler hats that continue to serve as an inspiration today when appropriating menswear.
As for Al Wazzan, she grounds her self-titled “soft and rough” style by merging her masculine silhouettes with delicate and feminine pieces. “I once wore my Louis Vuitton jacket with a leather short pleated skirt and tie-belt. The contrast was beautiful to me,” she says. As Al Wazzan continues to tip her hat to menswear, we ask what men’s clothes she has on her radar. “I have my eyes on some Dolce & Gabbana pieces,” she smiles.
