Uniqlo x Ines De La Fressange Is for the Fellas

Let’s cut right to the chase: Uniqlo x Ines de la Fressange is criminally slept on. If this is the first you’re hearing of the collaboration, you’re not the only one. While the retailer’s partnerships with Christopher Lemaire and Jonathan Anderson are met with routine fanfare from the menswear crowd, the one spearheaded by the lesser-known French supermodel turned designer seldom garners the same degree of hype. Which is a real shame, because the latest drop is packed with exactly the type of clothing you’ll need this fall: thick knits, sturdy jeans, and svelte, fitted coats that look just at home on the idyllic Parisian countryside as they do on the blustery Northeast.

Fressange first partnered with Uniqlo in 2014, and has only released one collection designed expressly for men in the time since. In 2017, her inaugural menswear capsule included a roster of fall staples inspired by the French movie star Alain Delon and the Danish concept of hygge—cozy Fair Isle sweaters, pared-down trench coats, soft-yet-sturdy tweed jackets. Maybe guys just didn’t get it back then, or maybe Fressange and her partners at Uniqlo simply realized what now seems obvious: if they design it, the dudes will come.

Sidestep the antiquated notions of the fashion binary, and what you’ll find are thoughtful wardrobe upgrades imbued with a healthy dose of Parisian joie de vivre. A nubby tweed overcoat begging to be worn with your favorite blue jeans—or the coordinating trousers. A denim button-up that works equally well solo or as an overshirt; a lightweight pointelle vest cropped to hit just-so at the waist; a double-breasted corduroy blazer that might as well confer an honorary doctorate in existential theory.

We’re not going to waste any more ink railing against the arbitrary nature of gendered clothing—though there’s something a little meta about guys wearing womenswear so directly inspired by menswear. But we will encourage you to expand your shopping habits to include the occasional jaunt across the aisle. At the end of the day, clothes are clothes, no matter who they’re marketed to. Uniqlo x Ines de la Fressange is for the fellas.