Hot and Covered...THE WELL-DRESSED REBEL

Wear a Suit—Don't Look Like One

Luigi Martini, General Manager, Kiton in N.Y.C.

“I grew up between Santo Domingo, the United States, and Italy. I call my style ‘shock by shock.’ It’s one thing after another, and the only word you can come up with is Wow! In school, when I was little, I was supposed to wear my tie perfect every day. When I left school, I realized that I didn’t have to please anybody anymore. I started tying my tie with the narrow end longer, and everybody asked me if they could wear my style. That made me happy. I don’t believe that you have to get up every morning and look for a belt that matches your shoes. Life is short.”

• Luigi’s look is enthusiastic, not ironic. He’s wearing an expertly tailored Italian suit and a beautiful shirt and tie. The precision of these pieces allows him to step out a bit—okay, a lot.

Suit, shirt, tie, pocket square, and belt by Kiton. Sneakers by Superga. Watch by Rolex. Bracelets (on left hand) by Dodo.

Photo: Ben Watts

Wear It on Your Chest

Derrick Miller, Creative Director, Barker Black Ltd.

“My dad always said the one part of your outfit you should have fun with is your pocket square. This lime green one was in Barker Black’s very first collection, and I pretty much wear it every day. It’s a little outside my comfort zone in terms of how bright it is, but I like how it pushes the envelope. I have a lot of gray and navy in my wardrobe, and it pops against those colors. My brother and I go back and forth about how to fold a pocket square. My dad just jams it in there, over and over—it’s like a Jackson Pollock. It looks crazy when he’s doing it, but then all of a sudden it’s right. Sometimes it’ll hang four or five inches out of his pocket. I’m not quite there yet; I like to think I’m still a bit more reserved than that.”

• Your pocket square should complement your tie, not match it exactly: You don’t want to look like Jimmy and Howie on the Fox NFL pregame show.

Pocket square, tie, and shoes by Barker Black. Suit jacket by Thom Browne New York. Shirt, custom-made. Pants by Paul Stuart.

Photo: Ben Watts

Live It Up—Dress Down

Walker MacWilliam, Vice President, Men’s Design, Coach

“I don’t like fake distressed clothing; I like it to be my distressed. There’s nothing better than when clothes age: Jeans fit you better, chinos break down and soften. But it’s also how you age them. I’ve never owned an iron; I have zero dry-cleaning bills. I wash all my shirts and hang-dry everything. That’s my recipe for perfectly wrinkled clothes. Because there’s good wrinkled and bad wrinkled. I know good wrinkled and what fabrics are going to give it to me. I don’t want to look like I slept in my clothes.”

• The key to Walker’s aesthetic is no matter how beat-up and worn-in his clothes get, they’re still American classics: oxford-cloth shirts, chinos, canvas sneakers, a leather bomber.

Jacket, vintage. Shirt by Ralph Lauren Black Label. Tie by Prada. Tie bar by Herm?s. Khakis by RRL. Sneakers by Converse by John Varvatos. Glasses by Paul Smith Spectacles.

Photo: Ben Watts

Lose the Links

Wayne Maser, Photographer

“I wear Charvet French-cuff shirts all the time. But I travel a lot, and I kept losing my cuff links—they would just disappear. A couple of years ago, I was in a rush, and all I could find were these garbage ties. Now I go into bakeries all over the place, looking for the gold or silver ones they use. I’ve stopped buying cuff links entirely; I only use bakery ties—that’s what I like to call them. When you’re in a pinch, they’re a great emergency aid. Not good, great.”

• If you’re going to go for Wayne’s trick, just remember: Do it with confidence. You will get comments.

Shirt and pocket square by Charvet. Sports jacket by Richard Anderson, London. Glasses by Oliver Peoples.

Photo: Ben Watts