Ford v Ferrari: Did Matt Damon and Christian Bale’s Race-Car Movie Inform the London Men’s Shows? 

When Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was released in July last year, his fans—and the vast majority of critics—went wild. The movie brought the director and his work back into the cultural fold (not that he ever really left, of course), and it also brought back a retro-fashion relic, courtesy of Brad Pitt’s stunt-double character, Cliff Booth. The groovy Hawaiian shirt, a piece of clothing that Tarantino has oft utilized on camera, became popular again.

Now, as the fall 2020 men’s shows are getting rolling, a different Oscars contender is suddenly outpacing the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood effect on fashion. In London, race-car-driver-inspired jackets and pit-crew suits have popped up on the runway and the streets and in designer showrooms too. The trend may be linked to the narrative behind Ford v Ferrari, the film starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale.

The Ford v Ferrari story surrounds the growing tensions between Ford Motor Company and Enzo Ferrari’s namesake company back in the early 1960s. It was the dawn of the sports car, and Ford (which typically produced sturdy, practical vehicles for American families) wanted to carve out a place for itself in this new automotive marketplace. This meant that Ford not only needed to make entirely new car models but also make its mark in the world of international car racing. Carroll Shelby, played by Damon, was tasked with heading up race operations at Ford while his close friend Ken Miles, played by Bale, reinvented the company’s classic GT40 model for the track and raced the car at the 1966 Le Mans. Bale is nominated for a best-actor SAG Award (air date: January 19), and he received a nomination in the same category at last weekend’s Golden Globes.

Even before the London shows began, SSS World Corp’s Justin O’Shea held his show in the middle of the California desert on Route 66, a.k.a. the Mother Road. Will Grand Prix–inspired gear go wide? Time will tell, but no doubt about it, there’s a stylish need for speed among the dudes at the shows right now.