We don't need to tell you that Jeff Goldblum is a style icon. It's been the case for decades now, and appreciation for the 70 year-old actor's increasingly extroverted fits has only grown over time, proving that men of a certain age needn't leave their peacocking ways in the past. In fact, his predilection for mad prints even culminated in a starring role on the Prada runway for its autumn/winter ’23 collection. That’s a level of cool that can keep iced beverages satisfyingly chilly.
But we’re not here today to talk about what he wears off the cinema screen. You see, over the man’s long career of wearing very nice clothes – from the baggy shirt and vest in Independence Day to his western inspired wardrobe in The Grand Budapest Hotel – it’s the all-black outfit in Jurassic Park, which turns 30 this week, that has left a lasting impression. (Granted, the shot of him lounging with an open shirt and chest exposed may have something to do with it…)
In Steven Spielberg's seminal 1993 film, Goldblum’s character, Dr Ian Malcolm, styled a leather blazer over a tucked-in shirt and high-waisted jeans, finishing it off with some dark-tinted shades. He looks like a proto-Neo from the Matrix (with hints of Grease’s Danny Zuko). The monochrome look is a gentle nod to a passage in Michael Crichton’s book of the same name, where Malcom tells Ellie Sattler that he prefers to dress in black and grey to avoid wasting time deciding on an outfit. Still, it’s hardly the uniform of a mathematician, nor does it seem the most practical choice to don when exploring an island filled with dinosaur clones.
But that stylistic choice is because Malcolm was more a “chaotician” than a mathematician. He’s even labelled as a “rock star” by park founder John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), who “suffers from a deplorable excessive personality… especially for a mathematician.” Malcom’s cavalier attitude is on par with the actor that plays him, so expect his sartorial choices to follow suit.
Expect more and more people to take cues from Malcolm over the next year. The return to all-black outfits was noted as one of the most common trends at Paris Fashion Week this January, with Bianca Saunders, Louis Vuitton and Hermes taking the lead. And the type of leather jacket that Malcom comfortably wore – not a biker or bomber silhouette, but a more structured take – was making waves at Fendi, Lemaire and Loewe.
Seems like an apt time to use the chaos theorist as style inspo for any adventures to far-flung tropical islands. And if anyone questions why you’re wearing something so impractical, just point to Goldblum. They'll get it.
