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Alain Delon, with his photogenic frame and confident presence, embodied the quintessential French allure for decades.
Alain Delon’s style, both on and off the screen, was a potent mix of casual elegance and rugged masculinity, leaving an indelible mark on fashion and cinema.
The legend of Delon began in the 1960s with the release of Plein Soleil. The film’s poster, featuring a shirtless Delon, captured not just his striking looks but his perfectly sculpted physique. This image set the tone for the decade of “sea, sex and sun,” where Alain Delon’s Riviera style became iconic. Whether draped in nothing but a casually knotted towel or flaunting his bronzed, muscular body, Delon epitomized a relaxed yet seductive elegance that would inspire generations.
His portrayal in La Piscine (1969) further cemented his status as a style icon. Lounging by the pool in a tailored swim short alongside Romy Schneider, Alain Delon’s nonchalant glamour captivated audiences and influenced men’s fashion for years. This look even inspired a Dior advertisement in 2009, underscoring Delon’s enduring influence.
Alain Delon’s sartorial choices extended beyond beachwear. His wardrobe was the embodiment of comfortable elegance. Often compared to the chic Parisian woman, Delon’s style was a blend of classic pieces with a playboy twist. His signature look included slightly loosened ties, shirts unbuttoned at the third button and trench coats with collars turned up. The 1960s and 1970s were marked by Delon’s staple pieces: chino pants cropped at the ankle, broad-shouldered wool coats, relaxed black polos and slightly oversized suits. As American men’s style expert Derek Guy noted, “You’re never truly elegant if you’re not comfortable.”
One of Delon’s most iconic pieces was the oversized sheepskin jacket, dubbed the “Alain Delon Jacket” by the internet. This coat, a three-quarter-length “canadienne,” became a wardrobe staple for the actor starting in 1965. His son, Anthony Delon, launched a leather jacket brand in 1985, inspired by these cinematic garments. However, this venture led to tensions between father and son, particularly over the use of their shared initials “AD,” resulting in a lawsuit.
In the evening, Delon’s elegance took on a different form. He was known for wearing black tuxedos with a white silk scarf draped over his shoulders, often seen arm-in-arm with some of the most beautiful women of his time, including Mireille Darc, Romy Schneider and Nathalie Delon. French fashion expert Sophie Fontanel once remarked that the tuxedo was one of the garments Delon wore best throughout his life.
A final touch to Alain Delon’s iconic image was his relationship with cigarettes. Whether dangling from his lips in a cowboy-esque manner or held in a cigarette holder at glamorous soirées, smoking was an integral part of his persona until he quit abruptly in 1985 at the age of 50. Yet his connection to tobacco endured, as “Alain Delon” branded cigarettes became widely popular in Southeast Asia. From 1992 until 2018, British American Tobacco marketed these cigarettes under the slogan “Alain Delon, the taste of France,” particularly in Cambodia, a country struggling with child smoking rates.
With AFP
