HOW AN ARC’TERYX COAT BECAME THE SPURSTOWE ARMS STATUS SYMBOL
Where are all those trendy east Londoner’s hiking to? Once a staple of twitchers spotting buzzards in blizzards, the Arc’teryx raincoat has recently enjoyed a surprising renaissance thanks to gorpcore (‘good ol’ raisins and peanuts’ core, to be exact). Demand in London has soared to the extent it’s just opened a Covent Garden mega-store, its biggest in Europe, which is complete with a repair bar and an indoor forest, natch. They are best paired with craft beers in the Spurstowe Arms’ smoking area.
THE FIRST (AND ONLY) RULE OF FIGHT CLUB FASHION
It has been 25 years since Brad Pitt’s washboard abs came to screens in ‘Fight Club’ — and for 25 years men have pined for the Fight Club physique. The workout, which helped Pitt get down to an impossibly lean five per cent body fat, remains many men’s Roman Empire. But overlook Tyler Durden with clothes on at your loss — a buttery, cherry-red leather jacket, Hawaiian shirt and pink lens shades? It’s not a hard no.
THE THREE MODELS WHO WALKED INTO THE SPOTLIGHT THIS FASHION MONTH
Dara Gueye
Age: 22
Nationality: Senegalese
Height: 6’ 1½’’
USP: Charming smile (which has easily held Bottega Veneta and Dior Men’s campaigns) and a sculpted chest flaunted on Valentino catwalks.
Yoesry Detre
Age: 20
Nationality: Belgian-Moroccan
Height: 6’ 2½’’
USP: Very lovely, curly locks, much appreciated by Moncler, Louis Vuitton and Isabel Marant.
Lux Gillespie
Age: 20
Nationality: British
Height: 6’ 1’’
USP: Androgynous-gothic chic and frequent face of Vivienne Westwood — also son of Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and stylist Katy England.
JUST DON’T CALL THEM MAN-BAGS
The sorry, old, man-bag genre, once condemned to nylon messenger bags you’d sooner find in JD Sports than Harrods, has finally been elevated. At the Super Bowl, players swung big Birkin kit bags as they made grand (camp) entrances — a trend pioneered by Taylor Swift’s beau Travis Kelce. Pharrell Williams, LV’s new menswear creative director, is rarely seen without his $1m yellow crocodile Speedy bag, while Jacob Elordi is partial to the padded Bottega Veneta cassette. The practical penny just might have dropped.
SAINT LAURENT START MAKING SENSE
Just when you thought fashion month was over, Saint Laurent throws in an extra menswear catwalk at the end of Fashion Week for good measure. The suits? All David Byrne in Stop Making Sense. Us? Big fans.
