Menswear past, present and future

For a masterclass in the art of blending old with new – literally and figuratively – look to Daniel Lee’s ‘New Bottega’, where the house of Bottega Veneta’s decades-old intrecciato weaving technique is being fused with a contemporary outlook, as shown with this padded gilet that you’ll no doubt wear for countless winters to come. Let this approach inspire your styling, marrying old, new and borrowed: that aforementioned gilet, alongside the artisanal, beaded landscapes of Valentino’s work shirt and an all-American, decade-defying pair of Dickies trousers that were designed for hard graft (we defy you to wear those out). The combination of future heirlooms and everlasting workwear is irresistible.

Channel your inner collector, too. Some hoard stamps, others coins, but we all have our own fashion archives of styles we’ve treasured for countless years. Keep that collection in mind going forward, seeking out rare vintage finds and rarefied designs, such as the artsy coats many designers exhibited this season. Undercover’s Cindy Sherman collaboration is every bit as impactful as a gelatin-silver print (and far more convenient to carry), while By Walid’s frayed floral canvas of a coat is a literal one-off. To keep it from being too lofty, layer a Hawaiian shirt underneath – we bet you still have yours from last summer.

As for building on that archival mindset, you can go one of two ways. First, there are actual archive pieces – note the pre-loved jacket sourced by The Vintage Showroom, and the AW18 Craig Green worker jacket and trousers above that form part of our RESELLFRIDGES initiative. These are earth-conscious options and also offer a way to set your style apart by wearing hard-to-find or truly unique garments. Then, there are new designs destined to still be covetable in decades’ time. Helmut Lang’s pioneering minimalism feels as fresh now as it did in the 90s – in fact, we’re hosting a pop-up of archive Lang that you can explore here – so the label’s AW20 workwear-inspired jacket and trousers are investments that will no doubt pay dividends.

The beauty of these pre-loved styles is that you get to enjoy the short-term buzz of hitting of-the-minute trends and the satisfaction of having something new-to-you to wear, while knowing there are also long-term gains to be won. Not just in terms of a well-curated wardrobe full of pieces you really care about, but also in helping to preserve the planet’s resources by shopping more consciously. That’s something to treasure, for sure.