Kendrick Lamar
While most attendees at the Met Gala took this year’s Karl Lagerfeld theme literally, sporting high collars, leather gloves, and big shades, Kendrick chose instead to bend it to his will. The Pulitzer Prize winner pulled up in a boxy Chanel leather jacket with a Chanel silk scarf tied around his waist—accented by the house’s double-C logo stitched on his fitted hat and encrusted in diamonds on his tooth—winning fashion’s biggest night handily in the process.
Steve Lacy
This was the year of sick leather statement pieces. So leave it to drip lord Lacy to rock out at the Grammys in an all-leather Saint Laurent look, with a pair of stiletto-heel boots thrown in to make it clear the “Bad Habit” singer isn’t playing games.
Donald Glover
Now this is how you do “creative black tie.” Glover strutted the Golden Globes red carpet in a louche satin robe and flowy matching trousers from Saint Laurent, with one of the Parisian label’s iconic wide-lapel dinner jackets adding the formal finish.
Austin Butler & Kaia Gerber
Not since JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy has a couple’s dog-walking style been so perfectly dialed.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Paltrow remains undefeated when it comes to low-key luxury, even under the most unglamorous circumstances. In court this year for a trial related to a 2016 ski accident, the queen of quiet opulence was a vision of good taste in a flawlessly tailored blazer from The Row and a big bottle of Mountain Valley.
Malia Obama
“Nothing beats watching your children become smarter and cooler than you are,” Barack Obama told GQ in 2015. Here, his eldest daughter—a writer in Hollywood—proves him absolutely correct.
Tyler, the Creator & Pharrell Williams
Two fashion iconoclasts and two generations of rap royalty. Tyler and Pharrell went to Paris and took a besties fit pic for the ages.
A.I. Pope Francis
The fabricated drip seen round the world: A Midjourney-generated image of Pope Francis, the 86-year-old pontiff, wearing a swagged-out puffer jacket fooled social media users around the globe and kicked off a viral online discourse about the implications of artificial fit-telligence.
Jay-Z
Nobody wears a tux better than Hov, and he looked especially debonair supporting Beyoncé at the Grammys in a shimmering silk two-piece, an enormous velvet bowtie, and a blinding Patek Philippe.
Jeremy Allen White
White proves that when you’ve got bazookas for arms, no sleeves are necessary for an incandescent fit.
Cillian Murphy
As J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s historical epic, Murphy looked so damn dapper in his ’40s-era tailoring that it forced us to consider: Are fedoras actually good?
Katie Holmes
Holmes is one of New York City’s great dressers. Who else could make a textbook errand-run ensemble—slouchy Alo Yoga sweatpants, white tube socks, and ubiquitous black Adidas Sambas—look this elegant?
Justin & Hailey Bieber
The Biebers may notoriously dress most days like they’re headed to events on two different planets, but when their tastes do align—as was the case with this harmonious tonal-brown winter layering and his-and-hers oversized pants—it’s a cosmic couple’s-style event.
A$AP Rocky
As Rihanna rocked the Super Bowl halftime show, A$AP Rocky looked every bit the proud partner (and patriot) in a custom Jeff Hamilton NFL jacket, embroidered on the back with a graphic of his beloved’s tattooed hand holding a football.
Jeremy Strong
Artisanal fashion’s number one boy took his tastes to the Mediterranean, going full Loro Piana from his sneakers to the bucket hat at GQ’s Milan Fashion Week dinner.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Dressing like a deranged Gen Z mall rat was not on our bingo card this year for Day-Lewis. He may be retired from Hollywood, but the three-time Oscar winner is still getting off envelope-pushing fits—just of a very different order. Consider this distinctly post-swag ensemble: a Yoshimura-branded trucker hat, black Hokas, and butter yellow Swooshie pants from the Boston skate brand One Gig.
Colin Farrell
The picket line may not be the place to get a fit off, but the sleeveless Irishman caused a scene on the Hollywood streets during the SAG-AFTRA strikes in this kit.
Bad Bunny
Wearing a backless Jacquemus at the Met Gala, Bad Bunny reminded us that a full dorsal view is the menswear celebrity’s secret weapon.
A version of this story originally appeared in the 2023 Men of the Year issue of GQ with the title “The Biggest Fits of 2023”
