Mood board: On the streets there are always well dressed men over 40, no matter how much the world excites itself over the sudden appearance of actor Timothée Chalamet or a bevvy of instafamous teenagers at the latest fashion show. ‘Older men possess stronger personalities and are cooler than the younger men,’ a statement from Junya Watanabe read. ‘I designed this collection thinking for people of my generation or older.’ A good jean. A bold jacket. A heavy soled shoe. A confident, assured and lived-in look breezed through Watanabe’s A/W 2019 collection. The show opened to the gusty, brassy jazz of James Brown. The soundtrack had an upbeat, gentlemanly oomph.
Best in show: The theme of the show was ‘Silver Swagger’ – Watanabe’s expression for a hip, mature style made up of New Balance trainers, patchworked jeans and smart army surplus coats. Good shirts. They were all worn by a cast of older models with street-savvy panache and played to a wider mood as noticed by Ollie Arnold, style director at Mr Porter. More than ever, the dress codes of different generations are merging. ‘Nostalgia can play a big part and we’re finding that as trends are recycled they’re resonating with older men that may remember it the first time around. I think Watanabe’s show did this. It presented a perfect mix of traditional and modern menswear,’ Arnold said. Levis were cropped and lean with cargo detailing – a hallmark of Watanabe’s. Recognisable staples were cut up and rearranged. Denim jacket sleeves were added to tailored blazers. Double-breasted styles boasted quilted leather biker sleeves. A casual stripe shirt came with a technical hiking jacket back. This was tailoring but remixed; a patchwork of masculine wardrobing.
Team work: Prints and graphics applied to sweatshirts and T-shirts were lifted from American dad iconography. LA-based screenwriter Youthana Yuos supplied the motifs for a pig and chicken shirt. The L’Antica Pizzeria in Milan lent its logo, as did UCLA. Elsewhere, tweed caps continued the partnership with Béton Ciré. Standout was an ivy green down-jacket made in collaboration with Canada Goose.
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Let there be light: a closer look at Prada’s stripped-back S/S 2026 show set‘This is the first time the Fondazione is completely bare, with the light coming in,’ said Raf Simons backstage at Prada’s ‘light, fresh, colourful’ and ‘human’ S/S 2026 men’s show in Milan
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A Swedish scooter blends Teenage Engineering’s aesthetic with accessible electric mobilityThe EPA1 Scooter is the first product from mobility start-up Vässla, an assured and flexible design shaped in conjunction with TE to assist everyday urban mobility
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Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homesCanadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
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What the Wallpaper* editors are looking forward to at Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026As Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026 begins in Florence, the Wallpaper* style team select the moments they will be looking out for – from Jonathan Anderson’s anticipated Dior debut to outings from Wales Bonner, Kiko Kostadinov and Prada
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Donna Trope celebrates the power of the Polaroid in Paris‘Polaroids used to be my rejects, and now they are my holy grail,’ says the beauty photographer, as she shows rarely seen images in a Paris exhibition
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Horace’s new men’s scent is the linen shirt of the fragrance closetVetiver Primavera, the new fragrance from men’s grooming brand Horace, is casual but elegant, says Wallpaper’s Mary Cleary – a citrussy scent for summer
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‘Don’t forget to get the bread!’ Serge Lutens writes an ode to a singular perfumePublished exclusively by Wallpaper*, Serge Lutens writes an ode to Jeux de Peau, a singular perfume of his creation inspired by a childhood memory of baking bread
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French skincare brand PERS doesn’t believe in overcomplicated routinesFrench skincare brand PERS – an acronym for ‘protect, enhance, repair, and stimulate’ – has recently arrived in the UK. The mastermind behind it, Dr Antoni Calmon, tells Wallpaper* about his protocol
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What did Christian Dior’s favourite ‘invisible’ flower smell like?Dior’s Francis Kurkdijan recreates the scent of a rare lily of the valley species in Le Muguet, the first olfactory chapter of new perfume collection Les Récoltes Majeures
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Inside Camperlab’s Harry Nuriev-designed Paris store, a dramatic exercise in contrastThe Crosby Studios founder tells Wallpaper* the story behind his new store design for Mallorcan shoe brand Camperlab, which centres on an interplay between ‘crushed concrete’ and gleaming industrial design
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This perfume bottle archive was nearly lost. Now, it offers a rare whiff of fragrance historyFifty blueprints from a forgotten French crystal manufacturer will be for sale as part of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair
