Are we seeing the end of the suit, symbol of seriousness and authority? According to UK research firm Kantar, sales of men’s suits have plunged by 60% in 8 years. In 2011, 3.3 million suits were sold worldwide versus only 1.36 million today.

As a result, the tie is also being strangled, with a drop from 3 million sales in 2012 to 1.42 million in 2019. This real social phenomenon began in the early 2000s with the “Friday wear” trend. The emergence of start-ups and cool management in Silicon Valley seems to have killed off the jacket-tie-pants trio, not to mention the waistcoat, no longer gracing men’s wardrobes.

Proving that the movement is for real, the new CEO of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, sent a note last spring to the bank’s 36,000 employees saying that it was softening up its dress code. The goal: to comply with expectations of new generations, the famous Millennials, it wanted to recruit. A real cultural revolution reflected by fashion brands in their own way. Some, such as Commune de Paris, now only offer casual-chic sportswear; others, like Saint Laurent, bring a rock'n'roll edge to the suit or, like Louis Vuitton, deconstruct it to reinvent it. Maybe it’s a bit early to dismiss the suit...