Purist, contemporary. Man about town is one of the few magazines that don’t make too much of styling, following instead the inputs of the designers. In the picture 8above), for example, we notice a sweater by Cerruti 1881 (f/w 2013) designed by Aldo Maria Camillo. Since the debut (in june 2012) Camillo has showed a particular taste for geometric shapes and fluid fabrics. The s/s 2014 collection reconfirms him as one of the most refined and interesting designers of the moment: the show presents extraordinary sleeveless coats, with big necks that can be transformed in hoods and a play of multitasking button-fastening; and it alternates with stylistic coherence light sweaters to be worn outside of the trousers and formal, simple and clean suits. Cerruti 1881’s menswear is purist, but embellished by innovative ideas that represent contemporary fashion. And doesn’t recall in any way other collections, past or present.

Functioning chic. “You have to suffer to be beautiful”. True? False? The truth lies in the middle. This slogan was coined by the USA clothing company Clipper Craft in 1960. It was surely incisive, but menswear, then, was so far to adopt fabrics and treatments apt to make classic wear practical and comfortable. Today this is possible, but we must distinguish between comfort and sloppiness: with sweatshirt and oversized jackets – unless you are under 18 – you’ll look like homeless. In hyper-traditional clothing, the sartorial one, it’s difficult (but not impossible) to find a match point between elegance and practicality. As an alternative, there’s a world too much hastily described as “casual” that, on the contrary, is chic and functioning at the same time. Look at the outfits I suggest you. They’re only one thousandth of what you can find in stores and represent a synthesis between classic, newness and comfort. Advertising of the USA clothing company Clipper Craft (1960).

Geometries. “Colors for a large wall” (in the picture) is an artwork by Ellsworth Kelly. I saw it for the first time at the MoMa in NY: a huge painting with perfectly symmetrical white and coloured checks, placed in the middle of a wide white wall. The American artist is one of the first figures of the Hard Edge Painting, developped during his years in Paris, between 1948 and 1954. Colour geometries have been used in fashion by the early Kenzo and Castelbajac, and today by brands loved by young people. Those fabrics, printed with stripes and checks, are included in the s/s collections, but softened by pastel colours or cooled by grey and blue shades and fibres that look technical. They are an important trend in classicwear too, but with some imperceptible but clear fashion sign, as in the case of the Brioni s/s collection by Brendan Mullane. Detail of “Colors for a Large Wall” by Ellsworth Kelly (1951)

(Revisited) Icons. Is there a way to update an iconic style? It’s difficult, because the icon has a precise symbolic meaning, which is “untouchable”. The English poet Thom Gunn (1929-2004) chose to move to San Francisco to come out. In those years, the Sixties, even in the States this matter was a taboo (it doesn’t mean that now it’s a bed of roses…). In the picture on the right we see Gunn in a biker-casual outfit: checked shirt, gun belt and jeans. An iconic attire, in fact, adopted by many Hollywood stars, from Steve McQueen to Jude Law (when he’s far from the red carpet, of course). It reminds us the costumes of Brokeback Mountain, just to stay on the topic. Well, this week I throw down the guantlet: I try to “debunk” that old-fashioned image with a base close to the original, but with a modern styling. Look at the pictures, and tell me if I’m wrong. The English poet Thom Gunn

The new leather. Leather, napa leather, suede. Treated, hammered. Black, coloured and white, “off white” in fashion language. In other words, leather is one of the main trends of this season, the real protagonist of s/s collections. But the most interesting note is its metamorphosis in fashion culture: leather lose a big part of its sporty appeal and, above all, a big part of that erotic unconscious celebrated by thousands of fashion shoots, from Newton to Testino, and as many drawings by the most famous illustrators in the world, like Thierry Perez or Touko Laaksonen, known as Tom of Finland. So leather soften his feature, goes far from sexual allusions that relegated it to a strong and bold sphere, and come in our wardrobes in new shapes and volumes. The “new leather” is one of the most clear signs of a fashion that never stops. Above, drawing by Thierry Perez for Gianni Versace.