‘I haven’t had a shave in a week’ – how 2020 rebooted men’s style

It wasn't just slovenly grooming and sweatpants, male fashion embraced the outdoors when the pandemic hit

This week, Twitter's CEO, Jack Dorsey, raised eyebrows with his appearance. He testified remotely before the Senate judiciary committee with a Gandalf-esque growth of beard and a gap-year nose ring. A few days earlier, the rapper Tyler, The Creator had appeared at the People's Choice awards wearing a deerstalker on top of his head, sporting a cream puffer jacket and carrying a man bag. Both Tyler's inversion of an award-show tux and Dorsey's Zoom-call chic are articulations of where menswear and men's grooming are at in 2020.

During the pandemic, men's self-image has taken a beating. Eleven per cent of British men say they feel as if they look at least five years older as a result of the stress and anxiety brought on by the pandemic, while 29% of them have reported visible signs of stress and premature ageing because of it, according to research commissioned by Uvence, a cosmetic clinic.