Josh O’Connor Tied His Own Ties on the ‘Disclosure Day’ Press Tour
Josh O’Connor has spent the past few weeks quietly assembling one of the strongest menswear runs to kick off summer. While crisscrossing the globe promoting Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, the English actor served up an armful of standout fits with the help of a new stylist, Jason Bolden.
The run began in Paris with a quaint Lemaire look, in the form of a knitted V-neck vest over a patterned button-up with sleek black trousers. But the real show-stealer was a Cartier Tank Américaine worn over his sleeve, a small but unmissable style swerve that, according to Bolden, was improvised on the fly. “That happened in real time,” says the stylist, whose roster also includes Michael B. Jordan and Sebastian Stan. “Josh was like, ‘This watch is so good.’ I said, ‘It’s a shame you can’t see it. It’s so nice.’” So then he put the watch on top of the shirt, which is the sort of move that could easily become a menswear faux pas; here, it worked. The yellow-gold played nicely against the rich chocolate shirting. More importantly, it signaled that O’Connor and Bolden weren’t easing into anything.
The next day brought a cobalt blue Dior logo T-shirt, breezy white trousers, and black loafers, followed by a custom Dior look for the official Parisian premiere—an all-black ensemble anchored by a cashmere cable-knit jacket that landed somewhere between a fisherman sweater and an evening tailcoat. “That’s Jonathan Anderson at his best,” says Bolden. “Josh felt really cozy in it, which is something you don’t hear people say when they walk the red carpet.”
O’Connor’s partnership with Bolden is relatively new; up until recently, he worked for years with Harry Lambert, the stylist best known for shaping Harry Styles’s kooky wardrobe. Consider this a new sartorial chapter. “He’s just such a great artist that he loves to let other artists just explore and do their thing,” says Bolden, who first connected with th actor earlier this year at Anderson’s debut couture show for Dior, where O’Connor serves as a house ambassador. Being the face of Dior menswear certainly has its perks: Bolden shared ideas pulled from runway collections, and Anderson and company delivered custom looks.
When the Disclosure Day tour landed in London, O’Connor donned two very different suits in quick succession. First came an elegant black double-breasted number with just enough sheen to catch the daylight. The following day, he stepped out in a generously cut, softened suit from The Row, paired with a classic striped button-up. Exaggerated lapels, turned-back cuffs, and Jacques Marie Mage frames added some Hollywood flair. Then it was across the Atlantic to New York, where yet another Dior suit awaited—this time, a white blazer and a cornflower blue tie paired with black trousers. Bolden remains loyal to the double-breasted silhouette. “I just always think it’s a bit more flattering,” he says. However, the Dior double-breasted blazer streak came to a halt when O’Connor opted for a margarine-yellow Dior shirt for his appearance on The Tonight Show.
