The Row Men's Intellectual Aesthetic : 5 Key Categories for the Artistic Gentleman’s Lookbook Over 5 Years
In 2018, The Row officially launched its menswear collection, initially featuring only 6 outfits. Since the 2018 and 2019 menswear lookbooks were mostly presented in black and white (I still don't understand why black and white was used, as the purity of color is itself one of the standards for judging quality), I've mainly compiled from 2020 onwards, trying to select more colorful styles. Starting from 2020, The Row's official website Collection archives include detailed summaries of each season's men's and women's lookbooks.
The image above shows The Row's 2018 menswear, and the image below shows the 2019 menswear. Overall, we can see that it features basic black and white shirts, cashmere sweaters, notch lapel single-breasted suits, notch lapel double-breasted coats, Balmacaan trench coats, and more. In comparison,Brunello Cucinelli is more suitable for tall, robust, old-money middle-aged and elderly groups, while The Row is more appropriate for slimmer, artistic young intellectuals, giving off a French man's style. Every time I see The Row's menswear, I can't help but think of Serge Gainsbourg and Louis Garrel, and The Row's male models also carry a strong French aesthetic.
The Row's menswear is an upscale alternative to the relatively popular Lemaire menswear, with prices typically one to two times higher, but the quality is undoubtedly superior. The Row is meticulous in fabric selection, using top-grade cashmere, silk, lambskin, and high-count wool, while employing matte finishes to highlight the natural textures. The fit and attention to detail are also exceptionally well-executed.
Next, I will organize The Row's menswear lookbooks from 2020-2025 by categories including suits, coats, trench coats, shirts, and cashmere sweaters.
01
Suits, Coats, and Trench Coats - these heavyweight pieces typically range from 15,000 to 30,000 RMB on The Row's official website, with some heavyweight cashmere coats reaching up to 50,000 RMB.
Blazer
In 2020, The Row's suit silhouettes remained fairly traditional and structured. While not dramatically waisted, the shoulder construction and fitted effect leaned toward British tailoring styles. After all, The Row's brand name directly pays homage to London's Savile Row, so its suit tailoring naturally builds on the bespoke techniques of that area, employing upright tailoring to enhance shoulder lines.
The Row's basic suit style is the single-breasted design, featuring either two or three buttons.
By 2022, The Row's suits began to develop their own distinctive style, moving away from traditional suit patterns toward a more relaxed, drapey feel, striking a balance between Savile Row tradition and contemporary minimalism: maintaining the precision of British tailoring (like full lining and natural shoulder lines) while incorporating American loose silhouettes and the relaxed feel of "intellectual style."
This season's suits featured higher notch lapels to accommodate three buttons. On the front of the jackets near the shoulders, you can clearly see extra fabric creating some pleats (I don't know what this technique is called, so I'll simply refer to it as layered three-dimensional tailoring), adding dimension to what was previously flat. This excess fabric creates space for the relaxed style, while slightly extended shoulder lines (1-2cm wider than traditional British tailoring) increase the sense of ease.
The Row's 2023 SS collection suits began using single buttons and experimenting with innovative designs. The leftmost jacket has an apple-green collar, the middle one features a peak lapel, while the rightmost continues the traditional notch lapel design with the layered three-dimensional tailoring from 2022, though executed in a more fitted way.
The 2023 FW collection innovatively adopted a V-neck design for cashmere suits, though it doesn't appear to be The Row's main suit style yet, but may continue to appear in the coming years.
The Row's 2024 SS suits removed the layered three-dimensional tailoring: the left one leans toward American suiting, while the right one, though appearing simple in design, is different from the ordinary suits of 2020. The slightly extended shoulder lines create a rectangular (even somewhat square) shape, which has become characteristic of The Row's men's suits.
The Row's 2024 FW collection continues with the squarish suit design, available in both two-button and three-button options.
The Row's 2024 suits feature an additional straight line at the shoulder where the arm connects, creating an extra edge or transition, which may be inspired by the female collarbone. The image below is from Maria McManus 2024 Fall, a mid-to-high-end New York women's brand established in 2020, which I'll write about separately later.
Both the 2024 SS and FW collections each experimented with one double-breasted design, though double-breasted styles appear more frequently in The Row's men's coats.
Coat
The Row's core men's coat styles are double-breasted and single-breasted Balmacaan designs (trench coats also primarily follow these two silhouettes). While they have released apple-collar and closed-collar styles, notch lapel and peak lapel designs predominate.
The Row released two apple-collar coats in the 2021 FW collection, but haven't featured many since then.
Both the 2022 SS and FW collections introduced single-button, closed-collar designs in mid-length coats, short coats, and jackets. This design was primarily concentrated in the 2022 men's collections. The 2022 FW coat was produced in three colors.
Here are the 2022 SS closed-collar jackets and shirts. The blue jacket also appeared in 2022 FW, changed to black. Looking at these, you can see that The Row's menswear follows a minimalist monochromatic approach, quite different from Brunello Cucinelli's mix-and-match men's style.
Their signature double-breasted coats have been released in both 2021 and 2023.
In 2024, they focused heavily on releasing multiple double-breasted styles, including both notch and peak lapels. After seeing these buttons repeatedly, you can sometimes identify The Row's buttons at a glance.
They even released special double-breasted versions with capes and belts. The one on the left is from 2025 FW.
Finally, there's the Balmacaan coat, a classic in The Row's menswear. Their coats are either the double-breasted style shown above or various lengths of this Balmacaan pattern. The Balmacaan has appeared annually since 2020. The leftmost image is from 2020, while the other three are from 2022, when this style was heavily promoted.
In 2023, The Row innovated by changing the collar to a notch lapel and creating a scarf cape version.
The Row's 2024 FW collection featured particularly small notch lapels on both mid-length cashmere coats and lambskin jackets.
Left: The Row 2024 FW, Right: The Row 2025 SS Similar to their suits, they created both relaxed layered three-dimensional tailoring styles and fitted versions.
Windbreaker
Like their coats, trench coats are primarily available in double-breasted and Balmacaan styles. The Row's men's double-breasted trench coats from 2021 and 2025:
Two single-breasted trench coats from 2022: the left one has a covered placket, while the right one features the classic Balmacaan trench coat silhouette. Like Burberry, The Row uses gabardine fabric for their trench coats, which provides stronger wind and water resistance.
From my personal experience, the key detail in the Balmacaan spring/summer lightweight trench coat is the collar. This shirt-like collar needs to have a sense of space to look good - it shouldn't lie flat against the body but should allow space at the fold. Well-designed trench coats always maintain this spatial quality. The Row 2023 SS:
02
These lighter, thinner items typically range from 8,000 to 15,000 RMB on The Row's official website.
Shirt
Like their suits, The Row's men's shirts started with more structured, fitted styles in the early years, but in recent years have shifted toward looser, oversized fits with a stronger sense of relaxed ease.
The Row's menswear from 2021 and 2022: shirts, belts, and trousers with center creases. The center crease design gives the trousers more dimension, makes legs appear straighter, and creates a more structured look.
The Row's 2023 SS white shirts began showing oversized proportions. These oversized shirts paired with jeans and wide-leg pants create a more casual, everyday look.
The Row's 2023 FW shirts feature concealed plackets that hide the vertical row of buttons, while the trousers are wider and more oversized, with more drape.
Left: 2023 FW, Right: 2024 Spring. Both shirts have more complex shoulder shapes, no longer simply fitted at the shoulder. They add a straight line at the junction of the shoulder and arm, creating more visual interest. Some women's cashmere sweaters also feature this distinctive pattern with interesting transitions, which has become one of The Row's signature design details.
The collar on the right shirt has been changed from a regular shirt collar to a small notch lapel. In the coat section above, there's a 2024 jacket and mid-length coat also featuring small notch lapels.
Sweater
The Row's men's cashmere sweaters have evolved from initial fitted basics to increasingly distinctive pieces with more relaxed, laid-back qualities.
The 2023 SS cashmere sweaters for men still feature ordinary, mainstream silhouettes and styling, similar to the shirt styling first promoted in 2022.
By 2023 SS and FW, they began creating looser cashmere sweaters, paired with crew neck t-shirts underneath to add layering at the neckline, hem, and cuffs. In contrast, Brunello Cucinelli pairs shirts under cashmere sweaters.
The 2025 SS collection continues this styling and cashmere silhouette, with extra space in the arms allowing the fabric to drape naturally.
For 2025 FW, The Row begins pairing white shirts underneath the sweaters.
Others
These four shirts, sweaters, and jackets from The Row all feature bomber jacket silhouettes, with ribbed cuffs and hems for a snug fit, loose sleeves for ease of movement, and waist-length, cropped cuts.
They represent The Row's designs from 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The suede jacket on the far right shows traces of The Row's layered three-dimensional tailoring approach seen in their suits.
Then there's The Row's 2025 SS styling of shirts paired with small vests. Personally, I don't like this look, as it makes the models appear somewhat constrained. Additionally, I've noticed that models across various brands seem increasingly melancholic these days, unlike the more cheerful-looking models of the 90s.
Epilogue
Overall, The Row's menswear style leans toward artistic tranquility, suitable for slimmer, younger men. Although The Row only began introducing its menswear collection in 2018, over these 7-8 years of development, their men's clothing has evolved from ordinary, mainstream suits and shirt silhouettes to gradually establish its own distinctive style. Beyond simple, unified color schemes, The Row has progressively developed a modern, relaxed aesthetic through tailoring, collar designs, silhouettes, and other design details.
This article specifically compiles The Row's menswear lookbooks; later I'll continue organizing their womenswear collections. Their women's line is truly extensive, having been developed since 2010, and will require several articles to cover thoroughly.
Many of The Row's shoes are unisex, and I'll write a dedicated article about them as well.
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