Is Male Cleavage the Next Big Thing? CNN Thinks So

According to CNN, there’s apparently a new fashion trend happening for men, and it’s all about showing off as much chest as humanly possible without technically being shirtless. At the center of it all is Alton Mason, who has basically turned unbuttoned dress shirts into an art form while walking around the Cannes Film Festival like he invented male cleavage.

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Mason has been making headlines at Cannes for rocking dress shirts that are open almost down to his stomach, paired with high-fashion looks from brands like Gucci, Diesel and Louis Vuitton. CNN described it like a science experiment in confidence. How many buttons should be undone? Apparently all of them. Necklace or no necklace? Mason says forget the accessories and let the chest do the talking.

Honestly, it feels like we’ve officially entered the era where dudes are competing with romance novel covers from the 1980s. The last time I remember this much dramatic male chest exposure, Fabio Lanzoni was on the front of every paperback book at the grocery store.

The wild part is these shirts aren’t just random designer pieces off the rack. Mason actually started designing them himself because he couldn’t find shirts that fit the way he wanted. According to CNN, he got frustrated trying to shop for clothes that worked with his slim frame and long arms, so he started creating custom shirts with oversized French collars, long cuffs and a cut designed specifically to be worn wide open. Basically, these shirts were engineered in a lab for maximum chest exposure.

Now he’s turning the whole thing into a business with a new fashion brand called Militint that’s expected to launch later this year. And for any guys reading this while nervously clutching a fully buttoned polo shirt, Mason says the shirts can technically be worn closed too. But let’s be honest, that’s probably not the point.