Wes Anderson Wears the Same Suit Every Summer (And You Should, Too)

Wes Anderson likes to stay firmly in his wheelhouse. Critics are calling his latest, Asteroid City, which premiered at Cannes yesterday, “the epitome of a Wes Anderson movie”—expect mannered dialogue, symmetrical set design, and plenty of pastels. Your mileage may vary, in other words, depending on how you felt about his last 10 efforts. 

When it comes to his wardrobe, though, his commitment to doing what works is hard to find fault with. For instance: If the weather is anywhere above 60 degrees, you are practically guaranteed to see Wes Anderson in a seersucker suit. He wore one to be profiled by New York Magazine in 2007. He wore one to promote Moonrise Kingdom in 2012. He wore one, cuffs rolled high, to ride a Citibike in 2015. He wore one to the Rome film festival in 2019, and then again to a Prada fashion show later that same year. And, most notably, he keeps wearing them at Cannes—first in 2021, on the fashion-happy red carpet for The French Dispatch, and now this year, too, for Asteroid City. 

Anderson’s fondness for seersucker isn’t terribly hard to understand. He looks damn good in the stuff. It’s the summertime equivalent of the corduroy suits he favors in the fall and winter: preppy and professorial, hardy enough for long days on set, dressy enough for long nights at fancy parties. Seersucker is supremely lightweight and breathable, which is why it’s been a favorite of Southern lawyers and Kentucky Derby attendees for generations, and it’s easy to dress up or down at your pleasure. In Cannes yesterday, Anderson split the difference by pairing his classic blue-and-white number with a tieless white linen shirt, splashy yellow socks, and a pair of stealth-wealth Loro Piana loafers. 

Best of all? Seersucker is wildly affordable. J.Crew’s snappy version, eerily similar to Anderson’s own, clocks in at just $376—an absurd steal if you consider all the ways you can and should wear it this summer (and every summer hereafter): with a shirt and tie at your buddy’s wedding; with a knit polo and shades at your in-laws’ garden party; with a tank and sandals on a seaside date night. And you should probably wear it to see Asteroid City when it hits theaters next month, just to thank Anderson for introducing you to your new, unbeatable warm weather uniform.