After cribbing from suburban dads, chic librarians, elite-tier gamers, and the rebadged phenomenon of โquiet luxuryโ; the fashion-industrial complex is going all in on chefs โ a symptom of pop cultureโs ongoing (and at times seemingly bottomless) hunger for everything food-related.
Granted, this trend, now increasingly referred to by industry obsessives as โchefcoreโ (originally a term coined by style writer Clayton Chambers) has not been simmering in a vacuum.
For years, luxury brands and the designers who helm them have been cashing in on the liminal space occupied by both foodie and fashion culture: McDonaldโs x Adidas; Kith x Nobu; Pradaโs cafรฉ-themed Harrodโs pop-up โ the list goes on.
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With โchefcoreโ however, thereโs a more defined aesthetic sensibility at play.
Grounded in the โunstudiedโ look of celebrity chefs like Anthony Bourdain, or even fictional protagonists like The Bearโs Carmen Berzatto (played by Jeremy Allen White); this particular style trend has proven surprisingly resilient in 2023 โ likely helped along by how diffuse restaurant/dining culture has become within our zeitgeist.
You donโt even have to stream an award-winning TV show to get an inkling of chefcoreโs popularity.
Closer to home, Pellegrino 2000 (Surry Hillsโ wildly popular proto-trattoria) made waves even before opening selling through a run of its own highly limited tote bags; while mixologist Harrison Kenney โ somewhat akin to the patron saint of Newtown hotspot Bar Planet โ habitually wears the venueโs merch on social media, with the vim of somebody making their Australian Fashion Week debut.
Ultimately, the appeal of cosplaying as a bartender who has broken bad or a tortured genius with Michelin stars isnโt all that hard to decipher.
Speaking to The Guardian last October (about the surging popularity of The Bear) Derek Guy, โTwitterโs algorithmically famous โMenswear'โ persona explained โ pretty definitively in my view โ that when netizens are vocal in their appreciation of Tony Bourdain or Jeremy Allen Whiteโs personal style theyโre associating it โwith a kind of rugged, working-class masculinityโ.
Thatโs not to say that all brands who choose to tap the power of food & beverage will do so under the auspices of blue-collar romanticism. For every two or three making comfy, relatable staples (e.g. Service Works, a UK-based label whose tagline is โdesigned for chefs, adapted for allโ) there are also those who have parsed the connection between dressing and eating well.
For whatever reason (must be something in the Claret) the latter approach has proven especially popular in London: Drakeโs, a sporty sartorial label that already offers excellent clothing-adjacent commentary, recently minted its chefcore status via a collaboration with the Michelin-starred nose-to-tail eatery, St. John.
Even Anglo-Italian, nominally a maker of $2,000 suits and sumptuous outerwear, put a range of Londonโs great chefs and restaurateurs into its menswear, solidifying the connection between considered food and considered fashion.
Below, youโll find a couple more labels that come highly recommended (should you yourself be interested in sampling the chefcore style trend):
- Rosa Rugosa (courtesy of Matty Matheson)
- Novel Mart
- Rowing Blazers x Harryโs New York Bar
- Yardbird x Reigning Champ
