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A couple of years back, Thom Browne and his partner Andrew Bolton purchased Teviotdale, a historic Georgian pile in the Hudson Valley. Built in 1774, the manor—where George Washington is reputed to have once stopped by for tea—needed some repairs. But while Browne and Bolton are mid-renovation, the designer has still been dipping a toe into his new neighborhood. On a recent autumnal Sunday, Browne met a group of actors for dinner at Stissing House, a colonial-era tavern a short drive away. A long dining table was set with white linens and flickering candles, and everyone was wearing a different Thom Browne tuxedo. “It’s very Dracula pastoral,” quipped Rebecca Hall, as she walked in alongside her husband, Morgan Spector, followed by his The Gilded Age castmates Louisa Jacobson and Denée Benton. With a fire in the hearth, The Summer I Turned Pretty alums Sean Kaufman and Minnie Mills got cozy, draped in his-and-hers black tie. Browne is a master of showcasing his work in novel ways. There are his lavish theatrical runway shows, of course, but the designer has also built a captivating aesthetic universe far outside his big top productions. It helps that practically anytime a group of people hang out together while decked out in his clothes, it reads as a moment; the simple act of wearing Thom Browne casts you in his surreal story. Take Doechii’s iconic performance at this year’s Grammys, which was reminiscent of one of Browne’s personal favorite examples of genre-busting drama: His famous Pitti Uomo performance art piece in 2009, which he calls “one of the most important things I think I’ve done.” Lavish dinners have recently served as a key motif of Browne’s madcap Americana. In early 2020, he published a look book where a group of safari animals show up at a sprawling banquet in Paris and gorge on a gray suit-clad model, who turns out to be made of cake. Last September, Browne took it a step further by skipping a traditional runway show in favor of a raucous feast at Commerce Inn, where a tableful of celebrity guests sported his new collection. This occasion was technically a campaign shoot for a winter 2025 black tie collection, but it felt more like an excuse for Browne to get some of his favorite actors together over oysters and fish pies. “I've always wanted, selfishly for myself, to do things differently, and not be so scripted in one way,” Browne said. Having been to a couple of them now, I think I’ve got a good handle on the Thom Browne dinner party formula. You need a good crowd of creative people whom Browne admires (the designer told me he’d binged The Gilded Age a couple weeks prior). You need a historic room that encourages dressing up, a guiding principle of Browne’s life. “Everybody knows me for my mid-century aesthetic in regards to my stores and all, but my personal aesthetic in regards to how I live is very classic Georgian,” he said. “Some type of formality is important to me.” You need cold champagne. And of course, you need everybody in full Thom Browne. Formalwear has been one of Browne’s particular strengths ever since Ed Norton hit the Oscars in an early design in 2003. Ever since, Browne has twisted black tie codes with endless creativity—just see the 21 custom looks he dreamt up for guests at this year’s Met Gala. But when he’s not making tuxedos with over-the-top couture techniques, Browne has a few formalwear rules to live by. For one: “Well, it has to be black,” he said. “I’m not always into black tie being so fashion. I like it to be classic, and especially for men, I like it to be really, really beautifully classic and timeless.” From there, Browne isn’t so uptight. “In the shape and the proportion, I stick to classic Thom Browne, but the fabric can be anything,” he added. “It can be black denim, it can be black cotton canvas, it can be mohair, wool, or cashmere.” Case in point, Sydney Lemmon’s tuxedo dress was tailored inside-out, lining exposed; my own tux that evening was made out of sturdy workwear canvas, like the world’s most elevated Carhartt set. Speaking of denim, a fabric not commonly found in his gray flannel world, Browne revealed that he has finally perfected a pair of jeans. Made in Japan, the raw denim buckle-back jeans resemble a pair of slim mid-century dungarees, and when cropped with a cuff go perfectly with the rest of the Thom Browne wardrobe. “I’ve done denim for a long time, but I've never done a true Japanese selvedge denim with a real jean factory,” he said. As for why it took so long? “I was just finally ready,” Browne replied. Are the jeans a sign that the Hudson Valley lifestyle is rubbing off on Browne already? Is he considering relaxing the meticulous personal uniform that built a fashion empire? Browne laughed. “I can’t wait to have an occasional pair of brown shoes,” he said, deadpanning. “There are some different Thom Browne rules upstate that I can’t wait to establish.”
