THE JOURNAL
Each year, designers, artists and creative types descend on Milan to browse the wares on display at Salone Del Mobile. This furniture exhibition, which was established in 1961 to promote Italian design, showcases new and classic pieces in a series of locations around the city. Never mind the furniture. We are interested in the fashion. We sent a photographer there to snap a few men who love good design in all forms and captured some splendid examples of spring transitional dressing. Scroll down for inspiration.
01. The case for navy
We try hard to colour outside the lines, but there is simply nothing better than navy. This gentleman proves it with his nearly perfect combination of navy chore jacket and slightly darker navy raincoat, loose-fit army-green trousers and New Balance sneakers wrought in shades of blue. The weather might be changeable (hence two jackets), but this man makes quite the case for maintaining a hold on dark blue.
02. Comfort is king
Go big or get out of Milan. So says this guy, who is wearing big trousers, a big sweatshirt and a big raincoat. Normally, we would recommend varying the volumes of various items of clothing so as not to appear encased like a sausage or swimming in fabric, but this man seems to have hit a happy medium. The colour palette is on point and tells you that thought has been put into this get-up. And doesn’t it look comfortable? Comfort is still very much king in our book.
03. Here comes the sun
This look speaks to the changeable nature of the weather in the northern hemisphere at this time of year. You may even wonder if this man is at a different event from the two above. Or in a different city. Here we have another chore coat in a sunny shade of yellow worn with artfully distressed denim (let’s assume these rips occurred in a studio, shall we?) and a white T-shirt. Oh so Italian tassel loafers pull the outfit together in a way that makes us yearn for la dolce vita.
04. Turn the volume up
Perhaps we should have saved that “go big or leave Milan” quip for this gentleman. Have you ever seen such voluminous jeans look so clean and put-together? This is probably down to the matching jacket and bright white sneakers, which fight the 1990s grunge silhouette to create a modern outfit. You may need some cajoling to wear jeans that are quite so billowing, but think of the freedom.
05. Sort of a suit
Let’s call this Balenciaga officecore lite. Pronounced sleeves on a pin-stripe double-breasted suit jacket, mismatched trousers with a wrinkly drape and neutral dad sneakers. It shouldn’t work, but this guy pulls it off with the addition of a crisp white T-shirt and aviators. It helps if you have a nonchalantly bored look on your face and mussed-up hair, but we’ll leave it to you to figure out how best to style this.
06. The art of sport
What’s this? Another chore coat? We are sensing a trend here (yes, we know these coats have been around for ever). This is an outfit of two halves. Below we have sporty navy adidas trousers and performance sneakers from Nike. On top, the chore coat and a watercoloured silk scarf. This is a ready-for-anything combination that looks polished despite its athletic components.
07. The coat with the most
This look is all coat and that is no bad thing, especially when the coat is as good as this one. All you need are some black trousers, chunky boots, the obligatory white T-shirt and a crossbody bag. The ultimate throw-on-and-go outfit.