AN ARMOUR NAMED TRENCH

The proper name is trench coat, a water-resistant piece of clothing that can replace your coat. The first one was realized by Burberry in 1901, commissioned by the English War’s Ministry. Since then, it seems like the trench became very popular among people involved in the justice system (or at least in the collective immagination), from the movie “Casablanca” till Antonio Di Pietro, unconvincing model for an italian GQ editorial of some time ago. The list can go on and on, from Bogart to the Honorable, Colombo and Sheridan, Alain Delon in “Tony Arzenda”, Michael Cane in “Dressed to Kill”, Donald Sutherland in “The eye of the needle”.The trench do have a warlike appearance: considerable lapel, military insignias, the waist belt, the double breasted buttoning and the over the knee lenght, always. All of this features together can give you a feeling of self-protection and an assertive allure. Only one flaw: it keeps you too warm in the spring and not worm enought in the winter. But here’s a trick: all you need is a removable padded or woolen internal lining, that you can put on and off according to the weather. On top, actor Filippo Timi is wearing a trench coat shot by Stefano Babic. Instagram picture from Max magazine (2008).

Sport and fashion have a lot in common: nowadays is not hard to find athletes being dressed by designers and see fabrics that are generally being used for sportswear being used for everyday wear. Prada in the 90s has been the first experimenting with technical fibers and fabrics in outerwear and even in shirts that became stretched. It was Armani with Dolce & Gabbana and again Prada to design the uniforms for many sport disciplines. Dirk Bikkembergs since 2000 has dropped fashion design devoting himself to a “sport-couture” line. The bond between this two different worlds, a part from technical considerations, has surely helped eradicating the theory that labelled mens fashion as a gay thing for years.”The fact of having been dressing athletes for years, has helped getting men interested in the trend, smoothing the rough edges of that discriminating feeling” (cit. Stefano Gabbana).This week’s picture in a perfect example of how such an almost-fetish object as leather shorts, additionally black, can suddently become doable if used in a real context. Ex striker Nicola Ventola wearing Thierry Mugler’s napa leather shorts. Picture by Julian Hargreaves for “Uomo” 2002.

YEARS OF LEAD

The 70s aesthetic has always been dear to me, and is not even just because of anagraphic reasons. I like it because it has been an expression of freedom. That generation had a strong desire to break up with the past and a need to think outside the boxes that was showing through their look. In the meantime the typical italian man, stereotyped as being manly with pomade in his hair, was disappointed. However, it has been a charming style revolution and we still do appreciate it, since cyclically it comes back into fashion. The first brand to ebrace that 70s look has been Louis Vuitton, which in 2000 chose a face for its new campign that could have been spotted out in a student demonstration. The model was Bill Gentle, who’s now a photographer living in the USA. Bill is also the sobject of this week’s picture, from an old 2002 “Uomo” editorial. The styling was all about the years of lead: when handmaded parkas and pullovers were considered “left wing” outfits. Picture taken with Instagram, original shot by Francesca Lotti for “L’Uomo” 2002. Eskimo coat by Fendi and pullover by Yohij Yamamoto.