Bulletin Board 72
An elegant start to Pitti week, the best sartorial moments in Milan and the perfect summer tee.
DISPATCH FROM FLORENCE
Because one party at Pitti is not enough we decided to partner with the Belmond Villa San Michele to throw a Monday night garden party to welcome a select group of Pitti goers.
The San Michele has long been a favorite of ours. My first stay was years ago and we even shot a part of our Wm Brown #18 feature and cover there with Max Poglia and Frank Conforti. Nestled high above Florence in Fiesole the San Michele offers a bird’s eye view of the Duomo and the Arno valley. It is often a breezy oasis from the stale heat of Florence in the summer.
They have just reopened after 18 months of being closed for a refresh with new interior designs by Luigi Fragola. The staff remains the same with the F&B run by my old friend and cocktail professore Alfio who I first met in Sicily at the Grand Hotel Tomeo some 10 years ago (see our drink video here!). The garden and pool are a summer highlight and I just love the poolside restaurant with its wood-fired pizza oven and one of the best vongole in Tuscany. The wines stay local and are chilled to perfection. I have also been known to have a Campari spritz or two taking sun at the pool.
The room decoration is simple, elegant and stays close to its Italian roots in terms of marble details, heavy linen drapes and Florentine art. The building was originally a Renaissance monastery built in the 15th century. It feels more like a grand home in the hills of Florence rather than a hotel. It is also a UNESCO protected site which means it must always stay true to its architectural origins, which is a good thing.
The party had a slightly different approach from the first sit-down dinner we had there in 2021. We decided on an informal garden party with a grand buffet and more informal open seating. There was a band of course and Frank and I started things off with an improv duet of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”. The guests (around 60 or so) were decked out as usual and brought their style A-game. The bar passed Negronis and martinis as well as a selection of Tuscan wine. Some food highlights were a passed tomato risotto topped with burrata, mounds of charcuterie and cheese, focaccia, salad, sautéed greens and the most delicious Fiorentina steak I have ever had in Florence. Afterward, big bottles of amaro were brought out and the band played on.
Before I knew it it was midnight (the party started at 6pm), and it had winded down to a hardcore holdout of party goers and the few of us that were lucky enough to be spending the night. Without skipping a beat Alfio came up to me and said, “How about I bring out some plates of pasta with oil, garlic and chili flakes for a midnight snack?”
“Wow what a great idea,” I said, and before I knew it, plates of pasta for all of us were delivered to a long garden table with bottles of water and chilled white wine. Spectaculare!!!
DISPATCH FROM MILAN
I headed to Milan during Men’s Fashion Week for two reasons, Ralph Lauren and Dunhill. The Milan shows are right after Pitti and I am usually heading off somewhere with Yolanda, not to mention that I am exhausted! But nonetheless, I do manage to muscle my way to Milan for at least one day and night.
The biggest challenge for me is my hotel stay, as hotel rooms book up quickly or have been on reserve for the hardcore show goers for some time and I am always last minute. Thankfully, my Bulgari PR guardian angel Angie was able to secure the most perfect room for me at the Bulgari Milano for the night. I love the Bulgari hotel group and have been privileged to stay in their hotels from Rome to Paris and a few places in between. Their Milan location is perfectly situated for what I need to navigate around town, and the bar—like all Bulgari Hotel bars across the globe—has killer bartenders!
Upon arrival in Milan I dropped my bags, unpacked, had a couple meetings at the bar and ate a delicious salad of mozzarella and tomatoes. I said a quick hello to Angie and she introduced me to one of my style heroes: Paul Smith, who she was meeting for a coffee. That was cool! Milan was not! It was hot as balls and I changed into linen shorts and a Polo linen jungle short-sleeve shirt and headed to my first meeting with Simon Holloway at Dunhill.
The presentation was a delight. Very exciting in terms of his styling and emphasis on fabric, color and texture. I love his mood boards and for this season there were images of Roger Moore in double-breasted jackets and Lucian Freud in his studio (it was the way he tied his scarf that Simon liked). He was also taking inspiration from a vintage Dunhill desk lighter engraved with the hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades from a deck of playing cards. These shapes found their way onto slippers and dressing gowns in the most stylish way. There was an eight-button DB jacket made with British wool, bright blue knits, oversized linen shirts, luxurious suede in neutral colors, smart dinner jackets and safaris. I honestly would take it all but that brown eight-button DB made from Fox Brothers cloth was the winner for me. Simon has taken Dunhill back to its British roots in the most thoughtful and elegant way.
Now, on to the Ralph Lauren show. It was, in a word, EPIC. Both Polo and Purple Label were on the runway and as always they did not disappoint. Navy blue, white, polkadots and stripes. Japanese boro-style patched indigo dinner jackets and kimonos worn over black tie—genius. John Wrazej has once again knocked it out of the park.
The styling was just so inspiring. Heavy linen field coats worn as suiting with neckties, white linen waist coats, jackets and ties worn with shorts and fishermen sandals—all so good. I wanted to pull off every look that passed me on the runway, even Polo’s more streetwear approach to layering madras. I have always aspired to be a mannequin in a Ralph Lauren shop but even more so now!
THE ENDORSEMENT
A few months back, while writing a piece about double-breasted jackets for the summer edition of WM Brown, I texted Matt Hranek to talk T-shirts. I was thinking of pairing one with a DB and wanted Matt’s thoughts.
“How about Sunspel?” he replied.
“What’s Sunspel?” I asked.
“You don’t know Sunspel?”
Guilty as charged. Never heard of Sunspel.
I wear a lot of T-shirts, but I don’t wear a lot of nice T-shirts. Not the kind I can pair with a blazer or a suit and look stylish and grown up (but not quite like Don Johnson).
Enter the dress tee. Enter Sunspel.
Founded in 1860 in Long Eaton, England (not far from Nottingham Forest), the company got its start making underwear with Sea Island cotton. The finest money could buy.
Nowadays, it offers an entire line of casual-yet-stylish sportswear, but T-shirts are its thing. One style, a spectrum of colors, eight core shades, 40 more that rotate seasonally.
Fit and feel is what I would describe as its formula. I’ll start with the length. When I’m wearing jeans, the tee hits right at my belt line. If I’m wearing suit pants, it’s just long enough to tuck in. Shirt sleeves are on the shorter side, but not so short that I’m like, “Check out my guns!”
Body, slim but not tight. And oh, yeah–the collar profile. Unlike a white undershirt (see: James Dean, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen in Badlands), a suit demands a collar that is on the slimmer side. Sunspel aces this.
The ultimate result—as is the case with any piece of well-tailored clothing—is that it makes me look far fitter than I actually am. Which, of course, makes me feel pretty damn good.
Without getting too technical, the secret to Sunspel’s allure is in its construction.
“We use only extra long staple Supima cotton from California, which gives us exceptional control over quality from the very beginning,” says Sunspel’s owner, Nicholas Brooke. “Because we can trace the cotton back to the individual farm, we know exactly where it comes from and how it has been grown. Great fabrics start with great raw materials and there is no substitute for that.”
The cotton goes through a finishing process known as gassing. This gently removes the tiny fibers that sit proud of the yarn, creating a cleaner, smoother surface. “The result is a fabric that feels remarkably soft against the skin and retains a refined, matte appearance rather than developing an artificial sheen,” says Brooke.
Finally, Sunspel uses twofold yarns, where two yarns are twisted together before knitting. This creates a fabric that is stronger, more stable and more durable while remaining light and breathable.
This past month, I’ve worn my Sunspel with jeans, shorts and with my new DB. This afternoon, I’m actually heading to the shop in SoHo. I’ve waited too long to find a Tshirt that fits me—I’m not going to wait any longer to buy another. —Adam Rapoport
Grand Timeo (not Tomeo) is amazing. One of my best-ever hotel stays! Best sunset Negroni spot on the planet.
Lovely read!
I am missing out by not attending one of these legendary Pitti parties ! ….. perhaps January 😉