Ten years ago flowers and stripes design were trendy as they are today. Photo by Viviane Sassen, Top Model Will Chalker. Fashion by Lacoste, Frankie Morello and Romeo Gigli.

The classiest ones are the Parisians (fashion was born in France after all), followed by the English. Parisians are naturally elegant, it’s perceivable from a distance… a part from the odd habit of wearing socks with little hearts or Mickey Mouse’s face printed on them. English men fall into these two categories: the classic-conservative and the trendy, The trendy ones are often confused about fashion and they end up overdoing it. Italians have a good reputation abroad, they say we are the most elegant. It’s not true, it’s only due to the fact we’ve got the greatest designers , the best tailors, the most beautiful fabrics, besides italian textile industies are top manufacturing companies.That’s all. What about Americans? They are not on the list. On the right John Steven in 1957, one of the most influential figures within the British menswear industry of the 60s and inventor of Carnaby Street, picture from the volume “Sharp Suits” by Eric Musgrave – Edizioni Pavillion.
 

Some fashion codes should be applied also to men’s bags which have become status symbols just like clothing but even though they are practical accessories, they don’t suit everyone. The ritual gestural expressiveness related to bags (that were initially created only for women) has always been laughed at by mischievous people. It would be enough to follow a few simple rules in order to avoid looking ridiculous. First of all it would be good to abstain from carrying clutches and handbags: they surely are trendy but can also be misleading and other than that I can assure you it’s a passing trend, not worth the cost. If a briefcase it’s too much “Wall Street” and makes you feel obsolete, perhaps you would prefer a distressed leather shoulder bag or a Saffiano briefcase, very handy for carrying your laptop and IPad. If you need something bigger and softer there are some beautiful duffel bags on the market just as capacious as weekend bags. I recommend choosing the right leather, especially if the outfit is fashionable like the one in the picture, it would be good to soften the ensemble with the use of fine yet manly and rough materials like natural croc or suede. Picture by Andrea Gandini for Io Donna, suit and glasses by Gucci, sweater by Hermes, shirt by Burberry bag by Tod’s.

Spesso si dice un nome una garanzia. In questo caso parliamo di un cognome: Kalkbrenner. Paul (nella foto a destra), classe 1977, e Fritz, classe 1981, sono i fratelli Kalkbrenner noti per il loro sound elettronico e allo stesso tempo melodico, difficile da immaginare, ma piacevole da ascoltare. I due ragazzotti berlinesi sono riusciti a creare uno stile inconfondibilmente elegante che negli ultimi anni, a partire dal 2008, ha raggiunto ogni angolo del globo grazie al successo del film “Berlin calling”, di cui Paul è il protagonista nei panni del dj Ickarus. Il film narra la storia di un disk jokey che attraversa un periodo difficile dopo aver riscosso un successo su scala internazionale. Paul tra l’altro produce l’intera colonna sonora di questa pellicola rivelatasi un cult nel suo genere, pubblicandone l’album nell’anno stesso di uscita del film. Spesso quando si parla di techno o electro si pensa ad un sound impegnativo e difficilmente ascoltabile durante qualsiasi ora della giornata. Ma i due disc jokey/producer si sono rivelati abili musicisti nell’affiancare a questo genere ottime melodie, nelle quali s’intravedono le albe spesso mirate dai clubber di tutto rispetto. In questo caso si potrebbe dire che i due siano geneticamente predisposti alla musica, poiché pur costituendo due identità artisticamente separate, risultano simili e inconfondibili nello stile, come se le loro tracce audio fossero state incise nel loro DNA ancor prima di essere prodotte in sala di registrazione. Testo di Alessandro Doria

They use to say “a name, a guarantee”, in this case we have a surname: Kalkbrenner. The Kalkbrenner brothers Paul and Fritz, born respectively in 1977 and 1981, are famous for their electronic yet melodic sound that it’s hard to imagine but also delightfully listeanable indeed. The style of this two guys from Berlin became highly recognizable for its elegance all around the world through the past couple of years, since the movie “Berlin Calling” came out with Paul playing the leading role of a dj named Ickarus. The movie it’s about a dj going through a troubled time after becoming pupular on an international scale. Paul has been also producing the unique cult movie soundrack which has been released the same year as the film. When people talk about techno or electonic music we think of heavy sounds, music barely listeanable during the day but the two dj/producers have proven to be extremely talented musicians, adding outstanding melodies to electronic sounds and creating a particular genre of music which make us think of premium clubbers across the world dancing until sunrise. Perhaps we could say this two are genetically predisposed to music as their style it’s similar and peculiar although they have two different artistic identities, as if their songs must have been first recorded on their DNA and only then at the studio. Text by Alessandro Doria

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Giubbino in pelle effetto washed con interno e dettagli in denim e tshirt in cotone con stampa, tutto HTC Hollywood Trading Company. Cinque tasche in denim con lavaggio effetto used, J Brand