The road fashion scene out of doors the Spring 2020 menswear indicates in Paris was a banquet for the senses. Men took to the streets in formidable sports clothing and kilts. However, one particular difficulty was captured by Vogue’s photographer Phil Oh, who stole the show: Quin Lewis. Dressed in Thom Brown’s gingham shorts, he allowed the shortened silhouette to showcase his prosthetic leg, using style to frame self-assurance and empowerment.
By day, Lewis—who’s 39 and resides in Washington, D.C.—is a Foreign Affairs Official with the U.S. Department of State; by way of the night time, however, he calls himself a true “style fanatic.” Last month, he headed to Paris to participate in the Spring 2020 collections, which he does each season (in Milan). “Men’s Fashion Week in Paris is one of my favorite instances of the year after I can wear my satisfactory seems of the season, view the trendy collections, and decide which trends I can include in my clothes cabinet for the 12 months ahead,” he says. His highlights from the Spring runways? “Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton keeps me amazed with his modern tackle suiting, proposing integrated harnesses and sculptural jackets, a few with elegantly finished info on the returned,” he says. “I’m going to have a field day with Thom Browne’s colorful seersucker suits subsequent season.” He also loved Dries Vanalsoral, leopard prints, and the suggestions from Alex, Anandas, and Alyx.
For Lewis, although the road-style scene of doors served as greater than an informal image opp, it became a possibility to deliver a message about fashion and frame positivity. After dropping his proper leg in an accident in 2005, Lewis observed energy heightening his style feel. “I’ve continually had an ardor for fashion. . . It became critical for me to preserve pursuing these passions to the fullest extent feasible after the twist of fate,” he says. “In this vein, turning into an amputee didn’t change my outlook on fashion; it surely made me work tougher to put together appearances that can be undeniably cool, notwithstanding the prosthetic.”
These days, Lewis describes his private fashion as “rooted in tailored menswear, with exacting attention to detail,” adding that his favorite, maximum-worn labels are Thom Browne, Louis Vuitton, and Dries Van Noten (all of which he wore during Fashion Week). He keeps, “I particularly like extremely luxe layered looks, which integrate textures and ambitious prints, paired with something shocking. I stay for monochromatic ensembles and formidable printed suiting fabric.”
A top instance of his use of fashion to express confidence is the Thom Browne match he wore in Paris (the road style photographers went wild for). “I have constantly loved Thom Browne’s quick suits, and once I tried one on, I felt like I changed into providing my most authentic self,” he says. “It was the first time in 14 years that I wore shorts in public, and it became a superb experience. The prosthetic leg tells an effective story of how blessed I am to be alive and walk around with a grin.” Lewis hopes to include even greater shorts into his dresser now, adding, “I’m already taking into consideration carrying a kilt to the subsequent Thom Browne display.”
While Lewis has gotten more experimental with his sartorial choices, he says his dressing method has usually remained steady: “I by no means desired the prosthetic leg to create a useless distraction,” he says. “When I’m carrying pants, the common viewer thinks I sustained a few forms of a brief injury—they can’t fathom that I’m an above-the-knee amputee. However, after my accident, the primary element I found out was to accept the matters I could not trade. I can’t change the truth that I’m an amputee. However, I can control what I wear and how I present myself to the sector. I must provide the maximum assured, the first-rate-dressed version of myself.”
