The year is 2132. You’re at the Lunar Games, along with visitors from all over the galaxy. Now you may be wondering, how did we get here? You may also be wondering, if we’re in 2132, what happened in the 2020 Presidential Election? To find out the answer to that, you’ll just have to vote.

As for how we got to this place and time, we can all thank “Earth-based” designer Thom Browne for the journey to the 2132 Olympic-like games as part of his Spring/Summer 2021 presentation.

A playful getaway, the American designer imagines the future set in an intergalactic stadium, modeled after the Roman Colosseum, as people (or possibly aliens) from all planets gather to celebrate the Lunar Games. While we here on Earth weren’t able to partake in the major spectacle of the Olympic Games this year, Browne reimagines the beloved sporting phenomenon over a hundred years into the future.

Sports commentators Jordan Firstman and Grace Mahary set the scene in Browne’s SS21 presentation video, introducing the sports superstars who double as models (though some are actual Olympians, on Earth!).

A playful presentation, the SS21 collection itself is imaginative and sculptural while remaining straightforward and minimalistic. Every piece, aside from each model’s reflective aviators, is in pale shade, almost all white, the hints of color only revealed as the light hits the models. The calm colors let the pieces speak for themselves, the graphic textures telling a story of their own.

Gender is nothing more than a social construct in the world of Thom Browne, the menswear collection naturally consisting of calf-length skirts and handbags, similar intricate touches and details on garments that can be worn by whoever wants to wear them. Each look is clean and buttoned up, a blazer or coat of varying materiality with slight structural variations completing the look. The collection is playful and versatile, sportswear that looks as though it can be comfortable worn with ease despite the structured tones.

The application of certain fabrics to garments you wouldn’t typically use them for seems to fit an overarching theme of Browne’s work, that you can appreciate traditionally while still bringing it forward in a modern context. Tradition doesn’t always have to be followed precisely, and it shouldn’t get in anyone’s way of being able to wear exactly what they want.

Sporty, imaginative, and simply fun, Thom Browne’s SS21 collection took us to another planet and once again left us wanting to live in the mind of Thom Browne.