MENSWEAR SHIFT ON VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2024 RED CARPET.
Hot and steamy were an understatement. The humidity in Venice at the 81st Venice International Film Festival exceeded previous Summers, anecdotally. It was like no humidity I have ever experienced, noted Mr. Eugene. Franklin Eugene’s 2024 appearance on the Palazzo Del Cinema red carpet and his sartorial expression vibed with what many other men who appeared on the red carpet were doing, wearing, and feeling. I saw less shirts with ties than I ever had, noted Mr. Eugene.
Sheer and semi-sheer crew necks, air ties, V-necks, and open collars of all form and fashion abounded in menswear that graced the mother of all red carpets (Venice is the OG of film festivals – the oldest). Franklin Eugene didn’t know exactly how it would all play out but knew what he as feeling and how he wanted to express it. Mr. Eugene opted for an ultra-light weight wool crepe which took him years to find. He finally found it in Latin America. Hued in his personal go to black, Mr. Eugene carved the fabric into the strong, clean suiting silhouette that is the hallmark of his suit designs.
The suit had a one button jacket and his signature eight button arm cuff. He styled the suit with his deep V-neck, double breasted tuxedo shirt in black satin. “I had been wanting to sport that shirt on a red carpet for a minute,” noted Mr. Eugene. “It was originally part of the Franklin Eugene Sunlit collection and made its global debut in a sheer, white fabric. I reimagined it in black satin and my team at Savile Row Dubai made it a tangible product that we sell. I wore it a few years ago to chat with Al Pacino but the blazer I wore hid most of it.
I intentionally walked the red carpet with the suit jacket open to draw the viewers eye to the shirt. With the ultra-light weight suit fabric and open air on my chest, I was feeling a relaxed vibe and flow. It felt right from the inside out. I, like so many other men on the that red carpet, had managed to really find my groove in that unprecedented Venice heat and humidity. A shout out to my pattern cutters and sewers for never letting me down, state Mr. Eugene.
Everyone from Brad Pitt to Roberto Bolle appeared on the red-carpet sans tie channeling a relaxed feeling with a strong cut silhouette. “No one knew what anyone else was going to wear. Gents were vibing on a look, an idea, a feeling – without planning to do so,” advised Mr. Eugene. This editorial team agrees based on the spirit and vibe captured in these images of Mr. Eugene and the other images we have seen from the Palazzo Del Cinema red carpet.
