Qantas puts men on Martin Grant’s runway

Australian fashion designer Martin Grant has high-flyers of two kinds to thank for his new foray into menswear.

Australian designer Martin Grant, right, with models in his Paris atelier. ‘Girls like that “boyfriend” look’. Picture: Xavier Schwebel

Martin Grant has high-flyers of two kinds to thank for his new foray into menswear.

The Paris-based Australian designer said creating the cabin crew and pilot uniforms for ­Qantas reminded him that he “still knew how to do proper masculine tailoring”.

“It’s true — that’s the first time in years I had done menswear again,” he told The Australian.

The other kickstart was when French actor and good friend Nath­alie Baye called on behalf of another friend, actor-comedian Vincent Dedienne, who was in need of a tuxedo for last year’s Moliere theatre awards in Paris, in which he was nominated. Could Grant recommend anyone, Baye asked.

“I already loved what he does, he’s the best,” Grant said. “So I said, ‘Well, I can do it’. So I made him a made-to-measure tuxedo. That was the first piece in the collection. He won the Moliere — and looked fantastic.”

After the tuxedo came a number of coats, including sporty duffel coats and a luxuriously plush shearling coat in navy, Grant’s signature colour.

These were the result of a more personal quest: “I was cold and needed a coat — it’s as simple as that. I’ve been trying to wear coats from the women’s collection but there’s always something not quite right. But you just jig it a little bit and bring it back to that masculine thing.”

Rounding out the 25-piece collection are simple silk-wool suits, the jacket single-breasted with one button, 1970s-style chalk-stripe gangster suits, best worn with a cream turtleneck jumper, and separates in jumbo corduroy.

Given his women’s wear has attracted an A-list clientele and some of the world’s best department stores and boutiques over the past “30-something” years, Grant is happy to offer the same level of sartorial attention to men, something he hasn’t done since he started his label.

US department store Barneys, the first department store to stock his women’s wear, has also signed up as his first major menswear stockist.

Given the current pace of the global fashion cycle, Grant is also pleased to offer some calm amid the mayhem, having cut his women’s collections from four a year to two.

“In this time of everything moving so fast and of throwaway fashion, men’s doesn’t have that feeling to it. It’s not a dirty word to say that it’s classic or timeless or about quality, so that attracts me as well.”

And his new designs are attracting a less-expected clientele as well. “I’ve got women asking for certain coats, even the duffel coats. Girls like that ‘boyfriend’ look.”