From afar, nothing seemed unusual about Katie Holmes's outfit for an evening spent in Patou's Paris Men's Fashion Week front row on Jan. 26. She walked up to the waiting cameras with a blue button-up shirt peeking out from beneath a glossy brown trench coat, her hair curled in soft waves just over her outerwear's sharp shoulders. She accessorized with a blue top-handle bag and polka-dot heels layered with mocha mousse trousers underneath.
It was all quintessentially French girl: relaxed and polished with just a hint of juxtaposition. That is, until she unbelted her coat and revealed the sorcery her stylist, Brie Welch, had performed on her shirt beneath those layers.
Holmes turned and faced the cameras to reveal her Patou button-up shirt wasn't a typical top at all. She'd turned her shirt backwards, popping her collar to create a high neckline. It was a risky move, but it worked with her equally unconventional accessories: two large Patou brooches pinned directly over her heart.
Holmes isn't the first fashion pioneer to consider sending the front of her shirt to the back, a styling trick that's fairly divisive in the fashion crowd. As early as 2015, writers at The Guardian were attempting to turn their shirts 180-degrees just for the look. Then in 2024, runways like Copenhagen Fashion Week's Munthe flipped and reversed button ups to go on backward—sometimes even with a turned-around cardigan layered over the top.
Holmes has worn that Scandi brand on a few occasion, so it may be where she saw the look first. Of course, she and Welch aren't afraid of taking a risk here and there: They've debuted colorblock backless gowns for red carpets and even managed to elevated the humble Birkenstock sandal. All those looks landed just like her backwards shirt in Paris: like they were worn exactly as they were meant to be.
