Quirky accessories are nothing new in the fashion world. Just last weekend, Simone Rocha unveiled beaded face masks at London Fashion Week; while on the New York runways Puppets & Puppets made a bag out of a banana fastened between two leather straps. But this week Anwar Hadid - brother to supermodels Bella and Gigi - debuted a look that might be a first, even for this eccentric industry.
In Philadelphia on Thursday night, 24-year-old Hadid was spotted in cream cargo pants and a camel-coloured suede jacket shrugged over one shoulder. The casual outfit was tied together by one surprising detail: A pair of golden under eye patches stuck to his face. Keen-eyed beauty obsessives might recognize the iridescent crescents - their typical context is inside a bathroom or even a bedroom, during that post-cleanse, pre-makeup window. In short, the model and producer was wearing skincare as outerwear.
The male beauty industry is expected to reach US$115 billion by 2028, up from nearly $80 billion in 2022. In the last three years, Harry Styles, Pharrell, Idris Elba, Travis Barker, Brad Pitt and Jared Leto have all launched skincare lines specifically targeting men. While it was once considered taboo for a man to consider self-care beyond 3-in-1 shower gel or a heavy musk-scented deodorant, notions of masculinity are shifting as a younger generation of celebrities enter the mainstream.
Could Hadid's hydrating golden under eye patches become a widespread trend? Well, fashion has long been inspired by merging the private and public spheres. From Anna Sui's pioneering 1994 collection which saw lingerie reframed as party frocks, to more recently Miu Miu - whose Fall-Winter 2023 knickers were seen not once, but three times on the Vogue World red carpet in London - donning your most intimate garments out in the real world is nothing short of chic.
To those unsure whether Hadid's patches are a symptom of forgetfulness or a true fashion statement, this wasn't some impulsive late-night jaunt to 7/11 that might have interrupted his 10-step routine. He was subverting societal expectations on his way to an alt rock concert - Jesse Jo Stark, to be exact - and what's more rock and roll than that?
CNN
