Gen Z and Cusper Celebrities Are Embracing the Skirt Suit

Done wrong, the skirt suit can read anywhere from dated to dowdy. And, oh, are they often done wrong. But lately, Gen Z (and cusper) celebrities—from Mikey Madison and Lily-Rose Depp to Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner—are working to rehabilitate the skirt suit’s reputation.

Chase Sui Wonders has succeeded in making the skirt suit a youthful choice. The actor chose to wear matching separates on two occasions while promoting her new show, The Studio—one a white satin Sandy Liang with short, puffed sleeves; the other a vibrant blue Patou number with a striped button-up underneath. It’s no surprise that Wonders pulled the look off (she is Anna Sui’s niece after all, so you can be sure that fashion is in her DNA). Take a page out of her book: lively colors and patterns and miniskirt silhouettes help breathe life into the look.

Others are turning to the archives for some serious sex appeal. Both Jenner and Bieber have nabbed archival Thierry Mugler for some nipped-in waists and body-hugging silhouettes. (It helps, of course, that they share a stylist, Dani Michelle.) On a recent date night with husband Justin, Bieber embraced her inner businesswoman in a pinstriped set from fall 1998. Jenner, for her part, strolled around Paris in a red-hot set (peplum and all) from the fall 1988 collectsion, “Les Infernales.”

For some, though, there’s no need to reinvent the skirt suit. Last week, Daisy Edgar-Jones looked like she could lead a Working Girl reboot in a strong-shouldered, knee-length skirt suit from Calvin Klein Collection. And last year, Depp looked perfectly prim in a ladylike button-through houndstooth skirt and a matching jacket from Chanel. Perhaps, they might argue, the skirt suit didn’t need any rebranding at all.