Not details. Eric Bergère, art director, journalist and stylist, born in 1960, in a portrait by Terence Donovan in 1988. Bergère styling is perfectly in line with those years: exaggerated and pompous. Obsessive about details: when he didn’t wear the tie, he wore the cache-col, inserted into the neck of the shirt buttoned up to the third button. With the tie he always wore the silky pocket-handkerchief, matched with the tie. The sideburns were still long, last traces of the 70s grooming; the hair instead were in very 80s style, smoothed back with hair gel. In almost 30 years shapes have changed, but in today’s collections we can see the checked moulinex on blazers and the houndstooth on trousers; rarely the paisley prints on ties. But the pocket hankie is still “missing”.

The model guru. Cameron Alborzian was born in 1967, from english mother and iranian father. Between the late eighties and the early nineties he was a top model, that many of you maybe remember for Madonna’s videoclip Express Yourself. Then Cameron took an interest in natural medicine and became yoga and reflexology instructor, graduating in New York. In 2003 he moved to India, in Coimbatore, where he increased and improved his knowledge. He contributes to Huffington Post and during the years he writes for several newspapers, from The New York Times to The Times of London. I think that if today he meets Ms. Ciccone, he wouldn’t be shaken. The greatness of Cameron is a mirage for the main part of us. Cameron Alborzian photographed by Mauro Balletti in 1994 for Harper’s Bazaar Uomo.

The colour of leather. It was 1971 when a cult-movie came out in cinemas: Shaft. Actually, the main part of this movie’s success is due to its fantastic soundtrack composed by Isaac Hayes (Theme from Shaft). But the protagonist, Richard Roundtree, sheathed in black leather clothes, brought to international fame the afro-american style, inaugurating a current that has lots of addicted still today. Roundtree was even described as “sexier than James Bond and tougher than Bullitt”. If you don’t belong to the large group of the imitators of this mood, the common sense suggests to avoid the total look made of black leather. Opt for black only if you’re able to downplay it. Otherwise, if it has to be leather, choose the shades of brown/beige and remember that there are garments made of suede. That’s finer and lighter than leather. The poster of the movie Shaft by Gordon Parks (1971).

Milan in the middle. Milan, that Milan written and interpreted by Lucio Dalla in 1979: “Milano you change many banks, Milan wide legs, Milan that laughs and has fun…”. 36 years have passed by. From May on, the city is in the public eye, it’s the middle of the world. Thinking about Milan, talking and writing about it: this always moves me. I won’t ever change it with any other. Rather, if I have to change my life, I’ll move to the seaside: a small town, surrounded by nature. But the best city remains Milan. For months it will be full of Chinese, Japanese, American, British, French, German people. Someone will even come from Australia, Korea, Russia. Eyes on. “…Milano what a strain…”. Is it going to be a success? I hope so. The legend has it that Italian men are the most elegant. I don’t agree with it, but let’s try to stoke this legend. And wish it could become the truth. The new skyscrapers of Gae Aulenti Square, in Milan.

The Norfolk jacket. Contemporary menswear often brings back to fashion an archetype of the past. This doesn’t mean that we can’t find anything new in shops neither that today’s clothes are imitations (this is a totally different matter). What designers – since ever – have done is to draw inspiration from a certain era, keeping its charm untouched, but updating the reference model according to the new rules of menswear, starting from fabric and colours. In this week’s picture we can see a Norfolk jacket, a kind of blazer that was very popular in the upper bourgeoisie in the last 20 years of the 19th century. It was worn especially for hunting, with the knee-length knickerbockers and riding boots. Let’s see how to wear the Norfolk jacket’s reinterpretation: not an accurate quote, but with a bit of dandyism. The actor Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes in a movie of the 40s.