If it ain’t broke, don’t repair it, and that’s the attitude we at GQ have about black-tie. Yes, we’re all for a modern rework of a dinner suit (for this, we usually head to Dior for one of Kim Jones’ silky takes or look to Donald Glover’s outing in a delicious chocolate brown Gucci velvet tux for inspiration), but more often than not, we’ve found that tradition works marvelously.

Simply put, we’re talking about classic black tie attire. The standard attire for a black-tie event consists of a simple black dinner suit (“Wool barathea is the order of today,” says Simon Cundey, director of Henry Poole & Co), with satin lapels (notch, peak, or shawl), side-striped trousers, a white dress shirt, a black bow-tie, and patent leather dress shoes.

And GQ’s Man of the Year for 2020, Marcus Rashford, has this figured out. While Sergio Ramos, Fred, and other twenty-something sportsmen (looking at you, Tom Daley) choose brightly colored and extravagantly patterned dinner suits, Rashford, who has appeared in multiple Burberry campaigns, knows best.

The 23-year-old Manchester United forward, dressed in a full Burberry outfit designed by chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci, gives a clinic in how to handle black-tie and proves that simplicity looks pretty good.

Rashford dons a pair of brilliantly polished patent leather Oxford brogues to complement his peak-lapelled mohair wool English-fit dinner jacket, matching pants, white slim-fit dress shirt, and black velvet bow-tie (hand-tied rather than pretied).

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Even if it will be quite some time before your next black-tie event (unless you have a party season Zoom planned), you should remember Rashford’s straightforward yet successful black-tie goal-scoring strategy.

Below you will see the winning style essentials of the Campaigner Of The Year.