For the past five or six years—but especially during the last two—menswear writers around the globe have been either balefully lamenting or gleefully exclaiming, depending on their personal tastes, the demise of the suit.
And indeed, for a time, it looked like the suit might have been on the way out, with brands including Brooks Brothers in the US and Kilgour and Gieves & Hawkes in the UK declaring bankruptcy or entering liquidation in the wake of lockdowns and empty offices.
Around the globe, yes, but in Italy, not so much. According to an admittedly unscientific survey of a few stylish Italian friends, far fewer column inches have been penned there on the subject. Italian tailoring has fared better than elsewhere, perhaps because it's a different kind of animal: softer and less formal than its Parisian and English counterparts, more lightly constructed and relaxed in attitude than its American cousins. So the Italian sensibility is better primed to adapt more naturally to what is required right now. But possibly, too, because Italian men tend to wear tailored clothing differently—more casually, with an extra shirt button (or two) undone, with jackets unfastened, with loafers. Not just for work. For whenever they want to feel, and look, their best. You'll often see older Italian men meeting up in town squares wearing tailoring that has clearly been worn for many years and still looks great.
So what can the stylish man, and indeed the style industry, learn
