Are there enough buttons on your suit?

Menswear is often all about the details. Take last season, for instance, when the biggest trend wasn’t some grand, overarching sartorial theme, but rather a nuanced change in trouser cuts — from flat-fronted mid-rise pants to high-waisted pleats — thanks in part to drapey collections from Loewe and Saint Laurent. While this subtle adjustment may seem insignificant to most, for menswear pundits it was a seismic shift.

This autumn, a trend with a similar attention to detail is taking over the runways and stores of the world’s top menswear brands. Where two-button suits reigned supreme for the majority of the past two decades, now three-button suit jackets are making a comeback, with brands ranging from Boss and Armani to GmbH and Jacquemus placing the style at the centre of their seasonal offerings.

“We’ve seen a resurgence in three-button blazers from many luxury brands for the autumn/winter season, as tailoring trends continue to embrace retro-style silhouettes; from close-cut suits from the 1960s to boxy, relaxed shapes of the 1990s,” says Daniel Todd, buying director at Mr Porter. “Notably, Celine Homme has introduced a directional take on the three-button blazer, in the brand’s signature slim-fit shape. More broadly, the three-button style has resonated with our global customer base in the past three months, with searches for three-button jackets up by 100 per cent.”

Three-and four-button suits were first popularised in the early 20th century before being adopted by the Mods in the 60s. Inspired by the stiff Edwardian cut, the Mod look was characterised by “bum-freezer” jackets that fitted frighteningly close to the body, with high armholes and shortened lapels that exuded a lean, edgy elegance.

“Higher fastening three-button suit jackets, or even four-button jackets, are pure Mod aesthetic,” says stylist and menswear expert Tom Stubbs. “It’s not the cut for me, but such suits did look good in the past. The Two Tone ska-revival movement of the ’70s and sharply-cut tonic suits are a great example, as are Paul Weller’s in the Jam and early suits worn by The Style Counsel.” The Beatles wore three-button suits in their early years, too: all matching and trussed, like marionettes in Maoist uniforms.

After losing popularity to the wide lapels of the 1970s and the exaggerated shoulders of the ’80s, the three-button jacket made a return in the ’90s. Designers like Neil Barrett and Miuccia Prada reintroduced the shape with a modern twist, championing a close (but not too close) cut, futuristic silhouettes in lightweight fabrications. See Brad Pitt’s fine-gauge grey three-button suit at the 1997 premiere of Seven Years in Tibet, or the tailored looks regularly worn by George Clooney and Matthew Perry on the red carpet during that time.

For the past two decades, two-button suits have been the dominant style, especially in the corporate world. These suits have been characterised by narrow lapels and a low V, with jackets designed to emphasise the waist and lightly padded shoulders for structure. The silhouette aimed to be classically masculine, but it was often misused: most jackets were cut too short, creating a stunted appearance, while overly tight midsections pulled across the stomach, resulting in an unflattering, sloppy finish.

Today’s three-button jackets have an easy rigour all of their own. Giorgio Armani has revisited his iconic, voluminous ’90s designs in cupro and silk, while Boss, in its AW25 collection, showcased fluid viscose styles that evoked the brand’s capacious heyday. Ferragamo and Versace also presented their own interpretations: sharp black wool for the former, muted yellow for the latter. The uncomplicated sharpness of the look at both brands marked a welcome return to refinement.

Swiss luxury label Bally’s collection also stood out, with creative director Simone Bellotti presenting an array of three- and four-button blazers offering a softer, more contemporary take on the shape. “I have always loved three- or four-button jackets as they’re less formal,” says Bellotti. “In my past roles at different brands l often designed this type of jacket, and since my first collection at Bally, I have continued to present them.”

Designer Paul Smith has long championed the three-button style. A key figure in contemporary British tailoring since founding his eponymous brand in 1970, Smith has consistently incorporated three-button jackets into his collections. “I’ve been designing three- and four-button jackets on and off for years and I am so pleased that they’re returning to favour,” says Smith. “The silhouette is actually quite classic; it nods to many ’90s designs, including the Paul Smith jacket that Noel Gallagher wore on the cover of Definitely, Maybe. The high break helps elongate the body, which many of our customers enjoy and find flattering.”

The neatness of a three-button cut also appeals to Stubbs. “Inevitably designers and tailors will try and update their offerings to make their work look fresh, and a three-button suit certainly delivers on neatness,” he says. “It’s a tidy, clipped, controlled look and such jackets can show you’re in shape (presuming, of course, that you are in shape).”

The real magic of a three-button jacket lies in its shorter lapel, which elongates the torso and creates the illusion of a longer, sleeker silhouette. Though especially flattering on taller frames, it works well for multiple body types. “I love the proportions of a three-button blazer,” agrees stylist Ben Schofield, whose clients include actors Callum Turner and Harris Dickinson. “You get the same minimal glimpse of shirt and tie as with a wide-lapel double-breasted jacket, but with the ease of a single-breasted blazer.” He adds: “It offers a more luxurious feel compared to the deeper cut of a traditional single-breast.”

For those eager to embrace the three-button trend, the vintage market is currently brimming with great options. I recently snagged a black crepe suit by Nicole Farhi at Broadway Market for just £40, and I discovered a fantastic midnight blue Cerruti (as on point as classic Armani, for those in the know) three-button suit at Good vintage shop in Covent Garden for £100. Additionally, apps like Vinted and Vestiaire Collective are teeming with three-button styles from luxury brands like Prada and Bottega Veneta. Aim for something in a dark, structured fabric like barathea or grain de poudré wool to give your jacket more shape and to prevent it from looking too vintage.

If preloved isn’t your preference, where best to look for a new style? “In my opinion, the best three-button suits and blazers right now come from Ferragamo,” says Schofield, who recently collaborated with creative director Maximilian Davis to remake one of his first suits for Ferragamo — a black three-button — for Callum Turner. “What he does brilliantly is balance the shape of the trousers with the slightly longer waist of the blazer, creating a look that feels modern and effortless.”

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