Everybody loves an anti-hero. It's one of those things that people whisper to each other at cinemas as the credits roll. Baddies tend to be sexier, less predictable and more human. They lack those noble qualities that make heroes so perfect and so, well, boring. Perhaps, we secretly relate to them, as we see our flaws reflected in theirs. Fashion designers too have always been susceptible to their charm, and the recent gloomy economic climate is making them more eager than ever to channel their own dark sides, and capture that puzzling allure that bad boys possess.
It probably all started when Clark Gable, playing the part of Peter Warne, a crooked, out-of-work reporter in It Happened One Night, took off his shirt, baring his naked chest. This gesture - very steamy for 1934 - is credited with sparking a sharp decline in sales of undershirts across America, as other men liberated themselves from the superfluous garment.
Another undergarment, the T-shirt didn't come to life as a fashion item until actors such as John Wayne, Marlon Brando and James Dean made America gasp by wearing them alone on the big screen. Then, women across the nation swooned when Brando ripped his off in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1951. When Brando reappeared two years later as the sulky, pouting gang leader in The Wild One, he made biker staples (black leather jacket, white T-shirt and jeans) synonymous with the youthful rebellion of the decade.
Not one to play by the rules on or off screen - he was expelled from high school for riding his motorbike through the corridors - Brando's brooding magnetism in The Wild One rocketed him to sex symbol status. Sixty years later, many still strive to replicate his tough-guy look, among them Gossip Girl heartthrob Ed Westwick, spotted earlier this year wearing a Brando tank top and jeans.
Westwick isn't the only one hoping to emulate movie-maverick charm. 1963's film M?lodie en Sous-Sol inspired Louis Vuitton to dedicate a collection to French actors Alain Delon and Jean Gabin, as the debonair outlaws who rob the Cannes Casino. The designer drew on the 'criminal chic' of these villains for his autumn 2008 men's collection, bringing it to life with impeccable tailoring and disguised details, such as double-faced coatings, secret volumes and reversible tricks, even looking to old bank notes for colour inspiration.
The stylish Delon has since had several products sold under his name, from wristwatches and clothing, to cigarettes and eyewear. When Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat wore Delon's shades and a trench in A Better Tomorrow - the 1986 gangster film that spurred his own, and director John Woo's careers - the look sparked such a fashion frenzy that Delon's sunglasses sold out in Asia, prompting him to write Woo a personal thank-you letter.