Look of the Week

I am thrilled to be able to bring another amazing illustration from Louis-Nicolas Darbon. As well as being one of the most stylish men on my Instagram feed, he is also an incredibly talented artist. His international travels are the inspiration behind the work that he does. 

The look that Louis has so brilliantly illustrated is one that is styled by me and that would be perfect for the warm weather that we have been experiencing lately. Floral print is everywhere at the moment, and one of the best versions of the trend is on this printed polo from Marc Jacobs, which has been paired with light blue skinny chinos from Topman. Sandals and shades are essential summer items and these are two of the best currently available - gold Saint Laurent aviators from Matches Fashion, with these awesome black leather sandals by Givenchy at Mr Porter. 

A huge thanks to Louis-Nicolas for the illustration this week. You can follow Louis on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr and find out more about him on his website. 

Best Dressed of the Week - Mr Chris Pine

Keeping things simple and stylish, actor Chris Pine attended the Giorgio Armani S/S '15 show at Milan Fashion Week in this suit worn with white shirt and no tie. The blue suede loafers are a nice touch but the best thing about this look is the great hair and beard. It's very refreshing to see an actor comfortable in the ageing process. 

Images courtesy of Just Jared. 

Pick of the Week

With sales everywhere, its hard to know where to start. A great suit is an investment and Reiss is a great place to start. 

This Hercules suit is just one of the several that are currently on sale. The Hercules is a Prince of Wales checked three piece in a light grey which would look great at any time of the year. It can easily be worn as a work piece (probably without the waistcoat) and would work just as well at an event. 

Shop the pick of the week at Reiss. 

River Island's World Cup collection

Tapping into the trend for all things World Cup related, a new collection from River Island fuses the sports luxe look that the brand does so well, with classic football strip style. 

All of the essential football pieces are present in the collection - T shirts in stretch fabrics, short shorts and fresh sneakers in simple black and white. Here is a closer look at the collection:

To celebrate the new range, the worlds freestyle football champion, Andrew Henderson shows off some of his amazing moves in a video, which you can watch on YouTube. 

Shop the collection at River Island. 

Joseph S/S '15 at LC:M

Joseph presented their S/S '15 collection last week during London Collections: Men. 

The new offering is inspired by the "Brooklyn Gangs" images taken by photographer Bruce Davidson. The collection sees glove leather T shirts worn with the ever stylish Harrington style jackets, and shorts. 

A simple, spring colour palette of white, black, navy and green work well against the prints in the collection, which featured strong knitwear and outerwear. 

Shop at Joseph. 

huntergather S/S '15 at LC:M

Channelling David Bowie in the "Young American" days, the huntergather S/S '15 presentation at London Collections: Men was a bright and colourful affair. 

High waisted, pleated trousers were teamed with vibrant summer knits in pink, blue and yellow. Much of the collection featured appliqué cut out motifs, not dissimilar to the Matisse cut outs currently on display at the Tate Modern. 

With a French, trendy jazz club/ dance hall vibe, models sported curly perms and plastic sandals. An energetic, funky and vivid collection. 

Shop at huntergather.com

Duchamp S/S '15 at LC:M

The new collection from Duchamp is the first designed by the new creative director Gianna Colarossi. New designer means new look and for S/S '15 Duchamp's direction is the journey of the English gent through the summer season, with three stories: English Gentry, Contemporary Riviera and Summer Eveningwear. 

Each theme had its own distinct styling - English gentry was contemporary business with an eccentric summer twist. Suits in muted grey tones from Italian lightweight wool were accentuated with egg yolk yellow and electric blue ties and pocket squares. 

The contemporary riviera collection is the go to for outdoor summer social events. Seersucker notch lapel blazers in silk twill and panama cottons are combined with linen trousers and kaleidoscopic paisley scarves. 

For evening wear, Duchamp's range of jackets are made form lightweight velvets and printed 50 ounce silks, with printed silk shirts that create an effortlessly cool and smart look. 

Shop at Duchamp. 

Look of the Week

In a week of fashion shows and presentations, it is only apt that the look of the week pays homage to how to dress at LC:M. This weeks illustration comes courtesy of the brilliant Marc Aspinall of The Tree House Press. His work is concept driven and the results are always charming and sophisticated. He is inspired by the 1960s and the golden age of illustration. 

The look that Marc has illustrated, styled by me is a selection of great British brands. The beautiful black wool and mohair tuxedo is from Kilgour and the white shirt is from Hackett, who put on another great LC:M show this week. Accessories come via Burberry cufflinks and leather loafers from Mr Hare. All of the products from this look are available at Mr Porter. 

A huge thanks to Marc for his wonderful illustration. You can find out more about him and his work on his website as well as following on Twitter and Dribble. 

Best Dressed at LC:M - David Gandy & Oliver Cheshire

LC:M saw a host of great dressed rakish gents head to the streets and to the front row. I have somehow managed to pick just two of my best dressed looks, and they are both from British models. David Gandy looks excellent in this smart look for the One for the Boys Fashion Ball. I love the shawl collar waistcoat and the checked Marks & Spencer jacket. 

Oliver Cheshire also had a very stylish week - wearing a great assortment of looks from light washed denim, bomber jackets and suiting with this Reiss suit, Zara shirt and great pair of Jimmy Choo shoes being my favourite look of the week. 

June column - British Style Bloggers

My June column for British Style Bloggers is now online. 

For this post, I thought about all of the stylish men that I know and styles that I admire and could not help but notice that each man belonged to what can loosely be defined as a style tribe. These tribes all have different natures, are attracted to different styles and labels and have characteristic features that make them tribe members. The tribes are defined as urban dandies, the achingly cool, sartorialists, indie boys and English gents. 

I am immensely grateful to Clare Nield of Clare and The Bear for her help. I emailed Clare with my random ramblings and ideas for the illustrations for the article. Somehow she knew what I wanted and created some really brilliant artwork to go along with the post. Clare is the first illustrator that I worked with and her style was perfect for this post. You can find out more about Clare on her website and see the article in full at the below link:

The Rakish Gent on menswear style tribes

Pick of the Week

Matches Fashion have a fantastic summer sale now on. There are loads of pieces that I would love but top of my lust list is this bomber from Christopher Raeburn. 

It's a great piece - really versatile and one of those jackets that can be dressed up or down. The designer himself was pictured wearing it at an event, post his great S/S '15 LC:M show. Shop the Christopher Raeburn black mesh sleeve bomber jacket at Matches Fashion. 

Superdy S/S '15 at LC:M

Superdry kicked off this seasons LC:M shows and presentations with a party that took place on Saturday night. Hosted in conjunction with the British Fashion Council, the event was also a showcase for the brands S/S '15 collection. 

The high street brand showed a variety of styles - there were plenty of chino shorts in different shades, T shirts, polos and jersey hoodies that the brand are so well known for, all in their trademark Cali cool style. There was more on offer too though - outerwear, leather and denim. 

The brand seem to be growing from strength to strength. This was a large collection in volume and the services of models of the moment Edward Wilding and Harvey Newton Haydon have been employed on the catwalk and in the campaign. 

The event was also attended by some very high profile names. David Gandy and Robert Konjic both sat front row, as did Mark Ronson who took to the decks later in the evening. 

Check out the catwalk show in full by watching the below video:

Shop at Superdry.