A Style Motif for 2025
Since Harvey's collaborations with Christian Siriano began in 2023, his red carpet moments have tended to share features for each year, bringing daring innovations on men's suits to nearly every event.
That first year, it was elevated tuxedos with luxurious trains, shoulder bows, and cropped jackets.
In 2024, it was the incorporation of corsetry, mesh, and stunning embroidery.
For 2025, Harvey appears to be branching out and pushing the envelope with backless blazers--and new designer collaborations!
Recently Harvey attended the 33rd annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party in a black suit with a twist: not only was the jacket a wrap-style closure with a plunging neckline, it was backless!
Photo by Maarten de Boer for People Magazine.
The wool suit is a custom design by Jonathan Marc Stein Atelier, according to Harvey's Instagram post. The back of the jacket features an elegant gold chain and the belt, with the majority of the back open to the air.
As I mentioned in my breakdown of formal suiting for the post on Guillermo's wedding suit, the single-breasted or wrap jacket style is normally paired with a shawl collar and reserved for elegant but casual at-home wear in classic suiting, such as smoking and lounging jackets.
In this case, however, Stein paired the wrap closure with the much more formal peaked lapels of a tuxedo, usually reserved for black tie or white tie events. The look is finished with a golden lapel chain and four gold buttons on the cuffs, another touch of extra formality. The combination is unexpected, with an overall effect that is sophisticated, sexy, and daring. It speaks subtly of the kind of person who both knows the "rules" of formalwear, and also feels secure enough to break them.
The look was finished with fingerwaves by Connie Agawin and makeup by Romie Macedo. The look was styled by Melvin Sanders, who previously styled Harvey for his appearances on The Drew Barrymore Show and The View earlier this year.
The Designer
Stein is a 29-year-old designer from Ohio whose mission statement includes creating "garments for everyone" that "mirror the diverse qualities of the individuals for which they are made." (Source)
This ties into Harvey's style ethos concepts of inclusivity and authentic self-expression (though it should be noted, Stein's ready-to-wear size guide only goes to a women's XXL--not the first time I've seen similar from a designer claiming to be for "everyone," but unfortunate nonetheless).
Inclusivity is a bit of a fraught concept for the luxury fashion space in general, but that's an essay for another time. It's great in any case to see another designer working with Harvey for his red carpet looks. Christian Siriano is wonderful and will always get props from me for being a trailblazer in this regard, but if he continued to be the only option for actors of size, that would signal little headway being made in breaking the stranglehold thinness and fatphobia have on the entertainment industry.
Speaking of Siriano
...this is the second backless look Harvey has served this year, with the first being the custom Siriano teal velvet suit worn to the designer's own New York Fashion Week show.
Are we in for more backless looks for Harvey on the red carpet in 2025? I hope so!
Notes on Construction
One small quibble I have with both this and the Siriano backless look is the tailoring of the jackets. I realize that any tailoring on something as structured as a suit jacket must be made vastly more difficult by having a good third of the garment's usual construction taken away, but that's no excuse for awkward fitting on a custom piece.
This could perhaps be forgiven for Stein, who has less than a decade of experience under his belt, if he didn't tout his family's history in tailoring and his own background in engineering specifically as selling points for his designs. And Christian Siriano has been working in fashion since the Bush administration! Harvey looks gorgeous regardless, of course, but it doesn't seem unfair to say that a garment custom made for him should fit him better.
That being said, the concept of the backless blazer is still a triumph, in my opinion, and I cannot wait to see what else Harvey has in store for the red carpet this year!
