Some Interesting Articles On Fashion
It is my pleasure to welcome Sarena Sambo as my intern. She will be overseeing the newsletter for the next few months, and I’m glad to have her on board.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Sarena Sambo.
The State of Men’s Fashion in Early 2026
By Sarena Sambo
If early fashion moments are any indication, this year’s menswear feels like a conversation between past and future.
Walk any major carpet this season and you’ll notice a theme: sharply tailored suits still reign supreme, but they’re far from uniform.
Most of the red carpet looks we've seen so far this year leaned into sculpted silhouettes, precise cuts, and luxurious fabrics that make a statement without shouting.
In other words: timeless elegance sharpened by contemporary edge.
Just from this year’s Golden Globes you might have seen a blend of velvet jackets, especially in deep midnight tones, popped up throughout the night.
Glen Powell arrived in a midnight-blue velvet tuxedo by Brunello Cucinelli, pairing the plush fabric with classic bow tie and sunglasses, demonstrating how refined texture can elevate a traditional silhouette.
This year, men weren’t afraid to lean into small but expressive accessories—brooches, jewelry, and even sunglasses—using subtle details to bring personality and edge to otherwise classic contemporary look.
Nothing screamed for attention, but it gave each look personality. Colman Domingo’s silver brooches were a perfect example — they didn’t distract, but they made you notice him more. These little choices are where style starts to feel like storytelling.
Taken together, these early red-carpet moments point to a year where menswear is becoming more deliberate.
The focus on structure, texture, and detail suggests that classic tailoring is no longer being treated as a uniform, but as a base for individuality.
Designers and stylists are working within familiar shapes while using fabric, proportion, and subtle styling to create distinction.
Traditional silhouettes are being quietly reworked with modern touches, from softer construction to more expressive materials.
Tailoring is also becoming more flexible, appearing not only on formal carpets but in everyday styling, paired with knitwear, relaxed trousers, or understated sneakers.
While black remains a staple, deeper shades of blue, green, and burgundy are beginning to expand the palette.
What stands out most is how controlling the shift feels. Rather than pushing toward extremes, men’s fashion in 2026 is moving toward refinement—where confidence comes.
The result is a style of direction that feels rooted in tradition, but open to personality, making the suit not just formal wear, but a platform for self-expression.
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A SINGULAR TAKE ON FASHION |
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year …
By Nicholas Whittle
It’s Pitti time.
It’s Pitti time!
IT’S PITTI TIME!!
You’re reading this Newsletter, so it’s safe to assume that you know what I’m talking about.
Over the next several days, thousands of inches of text, a myriad photos and hours of video will be written and uploaded, devoured or ignored, about the world’s
most important – and most overhyped – menswear trade fair.
In case you’ve been in a coma or stranded on a desert island for God knows how long, and you honestly haven’t got a Scooby to what I refer, here’s a (very) brief primer.
Inaugurated in 1972, Pitti Uomo is the world’s most important menswear trade fair, held twice annually in Florence, typically in January and June.
Pitti attracts international buyers, fashion journalists, influencers, and industry professionals who come to preview upcoming collections from established and emerging menswear brands.
Everyone from the most prestigious Huddersfield cloth mills to hungry new designers scrambling for a foothold on the greasy pole.
Beyond business, Pitti Uomo has also become a cultural phenomenon known for its “Peacocking” street style
scene, where attendees showcase elaborate, maybe trend-setting outfits.
Come January and June, the Renaissance city transforms into a living mood board - part commerce, part theatre, entirely unmissable.
If you’re expecting some sort of review, then I have to disappoint.
As I write this, Pitti 109 is about to enter its second day, so I want to look at it from a different
perspective.
Nowhere else each year brings together such a concentrated collection of classic and contemporary menswear, and for that alone Pitti is required viewing.
Absolutely de rigueur. At its finest, Pitti offers something increasingly rare – and this is why you should look at as much of the coverage as you can, even the most self-promoting ‘Gram slop – a masterclass in sprezzatura.
And on the flip side, Pitti is also a guide to the contrived, the ill-conceived, and the downright unwearable.
Sprezzatura?
Back to the primer. Sprezzatura, that particularly Italian concept of studied carelessness or effortless nonchalance.
It’s the art of making difficult things appear easy, particularly in style and behavior, while deliberately concealing the effort involved.
Sprezzatura defines classic menswear. When cut, cloth, and comportment align, the effect is transformative - as if you've simply plucked something from the wardrobe and happened upon perfection, turning you into the best dressed, most affably relaxed man in the room. That’s sprezzatura.
Appropriately for an event in Florence, Pitti has sprezzatura in Spades.
Yet, Janus-like, Pitti’s blessing is also its curse. The peacocking has metastasized into performance art, the Instagram opportunities into an end unto themselves.
Veteran attendees will tell you that the fashion tourism now threatens to overwhelm the substance.
It might provide colour and reels of photos, but it’s mostly caricature, a carnival of comédie bouffe fuelled by ruinously expensive Negronis and interminable photoshoots in front of that wall on that viaduct overlooking the Arno, a pilgrimage site for the terminally online.
I’ve no secret sauce. I’m not going to try and tell you how to achieve sprezzatura in the clothes you choose, the way you dress or the manner in which you behave.
They all feed together. Experience, imagination and a curiosity for life and those around you all help enormously, but in the end it’s up to you how you blend all these things into your signature style and self-expression.
Instead, the path to sartorial enlightenment is best illuminated by its opposite.
So, let’s crank up the afterburners for a few of my favorite Pitti pointers on what you shouldn’t do:
- If debating the merits of leaving one buckle undone on your maroon monkstraps is a matter of life and death – you’re missing the point;
- If your choice in headwear is only normally seen in barbershop quartets or at US political rallies – you’re missing the point;
- Pleasant they may be, but if you think it’s all about Cohibas and Negronis – you’re missing the point;
- Should you insist on sporting a moustache, don’t wax it like you’re about to jump into your Spitfire and bag a few Jerries – you’re missing the point;
- When your beard looks like your toupee has migrated south from your hairline – you’re missing the point;
- If you’re only interested in blagging your next piece of free merch to shill on social media – you’ve become part of the problem … and you’re missing the point; and finally
- If the camera lens commands more attention than how your clothes actually feel, you’re performing for the wrong audience – and you’re definitely missing the point.
From what I’ve seen of this year’s January edition, I’m quietly impressed. There’s cause for optimism.
A luxurious sensibility pervades the materials of a more subdued palette, particularly evident in the longer overcoats that channel pre-war silhouettes. Substance, one hopes, reasserting itself over spectacle.
I get it. I’m asking a lot, expecting anyone nowadays to reach their own opinion instead of being spoon fed. Still, give it a go.
Approach Pitti with a critical eye and an open mind. Ignore the carnival at the margins.
Focus on the craft, the innovation, the marriage of tradition and contemporary vision. If you emerge with two or three genuinely inspiring ideas, consider it time well spent.
After all, sprezzatura cannot be purchased, only cultivated. And that requires discernment - a quality no amount of social media exposure can manufacture.
Pitti Uomo 109 runs 13-16 January 2026, Fortezza da Basso, Florence
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