HTSI editor’s letter: the pillars of modern menswear wisdom
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The spring men’s style issue of HTSI explores many pillars of the male wardrobe. Having spent much of the past two months splashing about sodden and soggy, I have developed a new appreciation for that most celebrated archetype of British menswear – the trench coat.
Julian Ganio and Bruno Staub shot our cover story, “Long may it rain”, during one of the worst storms the UK has witnessed in years, putting our trenches to the test in the most challenging weather conditions – sheet rain, gale-force winds and a bleak, forbidding light. The shoot captures the current mood precisely. In a world where so much seems uncertain, a good waterproof is at least one thing on which you can rely.
Another of my favourite pieces in this issue offers a reflection on the waist. Style writer Alexander Fury has undertaken a study of the current vogue for trousers hiked high above the belly button, or slung dangerously low. Historically, the high waist was a popular expression of status in an environment in which male clothing could be even more expressive and daring than its female counterpart. The same, however, could also be said of the more recent fashion for showing off one’s knicker elastic. It takes a certain kind of attitude to show your underwear in public – insouciant power, if you like. Alex looks at both extremes as presented in the new collections and tries to find a happy medium. (Take note of his trouser recommendation also: Ami, the French brand whose pairs are perfectly cut, he says, for those looking to answer the perennial question of where to buy a good alternative to jeans.)
Speaking of smart, Nick Foulkes examines the return of the ultra-glam, as bedazzled gold blazer buttons, jazzy watches and jet-set fashions become popular again. Let Roger Moore in Gstaad be your style mentor this season. Or perhaps a young future King Charles, preparing for a chukka in his jodhpurs aside the polo field.
Too formal? Louis Wise catches up with Patrick Cox, the shoe entrepreneur and inveterate party boy who scorched the catwalk – and the club scene – of the ’80s and ’90s before suffering a major burnout in the mid-2010s. The designer has since settled in Ibiza, espoused the psychedelic insights of taking toad (you need to read it), and developed a line of trippy sweatshirts, tees and leisurewear under a new brand. It’s a terrific interview – although, readers, I don’t recommend trying toad at home.
Lastly, the return of the King – Jeremy – who this year will open three new restaurants after a brutal (for us, anyway) two-year absence from the dining scene. Historically robust, self-critical and exacting, Jeremy has hardly changed in the interim and his gruff ambition for this latest enterprise is tempered by his professional instinct for what makes the best dining establishments succeed. First up, his reincarnation of Le Caprice (or Arlington, as it will now be known), following its closure by Richard Caring. The pictures, the tables and bar back mirror have all been reinstated. See you there very soon.
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