There’s an oft-repeated observation that Brad Pitt is a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body, an assessment that the man himself seems to have embodied throughout a long career of seeking out subversive, offbeat roles.
Pitt’s personal style, too, reflects the internal quirkiness obscured by his conventionally angelic looks, and his wardrobe choices for the Bullet Train press tour are putting this quality front and center. Pitt has come a long, adorable way since he famously wore blue jeans, white shirt, and white stetson to seduce Geena Davis in Thelma & Louise.
Brad Pitt in "Thelma and Louise."
AlamyAll of Pitt’s looks for the Bullet Train press tour are the work of Haans Nicholas Mott, a designer at the helm of an exclusive design house who also has a background in architecture and founded the New York-based label Anecho. The Daily Beast reached out to Mott for comment, but did not receive a response.
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“Architecture gives you a set of problem-solving skills,” Mott told T Magazine in 2011. “Once I started sewing, I got very into cutting patterns, developing stitches and constructing things. If the process become boring, I’ll quit.”
“Clothing is personally occupy-able, and moves through inhabited spaces,” Mott also told Le Paradox. “Action within action: Clothing is action. Style is mantra. Space is temple. Inhabitation is power.” Fun!
However Pitt managed to find this guy is a mystery, but the collaboration is working well: on Tuesday, Pitt walked the red carpet in Berlin in a brown knee-length skirt, brown jacket and soft pink shirt, all linen. CNN, People, GQ and Yahoo praised the look, as did most of Twitter.
Younger stars like Harry Styles and Jaden Smith are frequently lauded for their gender-bending looks, but it’s rare to see an affirmed, bona-fide Hollywood superstar in his 50s take such a bold fashion risk. And in fact, the look isn’t even that bold: the earthy, muted colors are very much in line with Pitt’s chill bohemianism, a character trait that’s often remarked upon by pleasantly surprised profile writers.
When a red carpet reporter asked why he went with a skirt this week, Pitt simply responded “The breeze. The breeze.” And, as the New York Post noted, Pitt is hardly new to the skirt game: in 2004, while promoting Troy, the actor told British Vogue that he thought “men will be wearing skirts by next summer. That’s my prediction and proclamation. The film answers to both genders. We were going for realism and Greeks wore skirts all the time then.”
In 2006, years before megastars like Bad Bunny were rocking skirts in high-end fashion campaigns, Pitt was posing for Mark Selinger in Rolling Stone in an array of little dresses: pink sequin, gray sheath, funky 70s print. He has been out here and about that miniskirt life, people.
For the London Bullet Train premiere, the star looked at ease in a slouchy, green linen suit, again crafted by Mott. There’s a consistency in Mott’s approach to Pitt’s tailoring that’s worth parsing through. While other stars of the actor’s caliber, like Tom Cruise, still stick to close-fitting tuxedos, Pitt’s relaxed and unstudied sartorial vibe connotes a breezy air of confidence that perhaps a “normal” suit doesn’t quite convey.
Just get a load of the pink button down and dress pants he rocked the other day: never before has anyone looked so gorgeously rumpled.
And as for dress shoes on this press tour? Forget about it. Pitt paired his skirt with chunky black combat boots, and has otherwise opted for classic Adidas Superstars and what looks like pure white slip-on Vans.
At the end of the day, there’s no way this guy isn’t going to look good: chocolate brown corduroy suit? Nailed it. Cantaloupe separates? You bet. Thanks again, Brad, for your service.
