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Beckham's favourite coat, high-octane trainers and the most luxurious material: autumn's men's style news

David Beckham in Kent & Curwen's greatcoat
David Beckham in Kent & Curwen's greatcoat

Great stuff

When it came to choosing a piece from the autumn/winter collection of the brand he co-owns, David Beckham made a swerve towards a militaristic fawn greatcoat, citing it as his favourite. It’s an item with particular resonance for Kent & Curwen, the house that Beckham – along with creative director Daniel Kearns – has re-awakened after years of slumber. Co-founder Eric Kent fought in the First World War, and after founding the brand in the 1930s went on to make clothes for British Army regiments, alongside the Oxford and Cambridge boating uniforms and outfits for the Hollywood Cricket Club. Today’s version employs Fox Brothers fabrics – the mill being one of the oldest and most esteemed in the UK – and is inspired by wools dating from WW1 in its archives. The sweeping silhouette, polished brass buttons and stately epaulettes would have looked just as handsome on the heroes of yesteryear as it does on Mr Beckham today. This winter’s investment buy. 

Wool greatcoat, £1,200, kentandcurwen.com
Wool greatcoat, £1,200, kentandcurwen.com

The brand plays on

The trend for all things 1990s continues: Ralph Lauren commemorates its uniform for the 1992 Olympics by re-issuing sporty pieces to mark 25 years of the Polo Stadium collection. The range, while inspired by gentlemanly sporting attire of the 1920s and ’30s, looks to the style mores of the 1990s – baggy proportions, giant logos – in a series of sweaters and polo shirts. Game on. 

From £45, ralphlauren.co.uk 
Collection from £45, ralphlauren.co.uk

Write Stuff

Montblanc’s Swiss classicism meets the modernism of Marc Newson once again with the introduction of a new pen, the Montblanc M Ultra Black. This latest iteration – Newson first teamed up with Montblanc in 2015 – is a sleek, futuristic affair with a flat ‘plateau’ on the end, and a hint of the London designer’s signature orange around the forepart. Upgrade your table top immediately. From £350, selfridges.com

From £350, selfridges.com
Montblanc M Ultra Black, from £350, selfridges.com

Hot Kicks

Leave it to the exuberant duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana to take the white sneaker and render it afresh with all sorts of adornment. The pair have applied their wildly opulent take-no-prisoners style to a series of trainers for autumn/winter, decorated in bullion, bristling with felt crowns or a flock-wallpaper effect, the overarching theme being ‘royalty’. Which is entirely fitting for Italy’s reigning fashion princes. 

From £575, dolcegabbana.com
From £575, dolcegabbana.com

The power of three

You might have thought that we’d reached ‘peak man bag’ with pouchettes and clutches; think again. Gucci has for this season created a trio of interlinked bags for the man for whom one humble satchel is just not enough. The Totem set features a cross-body messenger with the brand’s logo motif, a document portfolio with multicoloured layers and a small leather briefcase. Wearing them all at once might risk looking a tad Zoolander; more stylish, perhaps, to pick and choose to suit the mood. 

From £2,160, mrporter.com
Gucci trio of bags, £2,160, mrporter.com

Dial It Down

Fendi’s men’s offering has become known for eye-popping colour and vibrant, tongue-in-cheek slogans, but for its latest watch the Roman house has decided to turn down the Pantone shades and focus on a dark, masculine look for the Selleria Man. With a patterned carbon-fibre dial and retro numerals, it looks chunky and substantial, yet the sporty strap gives it a lightweight feel.

Selleria Man watch, £2,325, fendi.com
Selleria Man watch, £2,325, fendi.com

The Material: Alpaca

Myriad luxury brands have employed alpaca wool thanks to its ultra-soft, downy texture, although processing its super-fine fibres is a laborious operation. Thankfully, Italian house Canali has the necessary patience and expertise, which is why its new overcoat is made in the material that’s renowned for its warmth, naturally rejects dust and doesn’t shed. Deliberately oversized with drop shoulders, the deconstructed coats look louche and at-ease, despite the precious fabrics. 

From £1,310, canali.com
From £1,310, canali.com

Best of British

Two traditional institutions combine forces this season as that most revered of department stores, Harrods, teams up with fashion force Burberry for an exclusive capsule range. The collection focuses on solid, dependable outerwear – an appropriately British theme – with the house’s iconic trench coats given an update to include shearling collars, plus duffle coats, heavy duty parkas and sporty bombers. Just add a bracing autumn walk. From £1,995, harrods.com

From £1,995, harrods.com
From £1,995, harrods.com

Ahead of the (back) pack

The noise around Louis Vuitton’s a/w 17 men’s collection may have been focused on the company’s collaboration with skater brand Supreme, but some of the quieter pieces are worthy of attention, too. This Christopher rucksack combines two classic Vuitton tropes – grained leather hand-crafted at the factory in Asnières-sur-Seine, where the Vuitton family is based, and the iconic monogram. The easy streetedge shape is inspired by New York, while the excellence of the materials and the details are all Paris. £2,620, louisvuitton.com

Christopher rucksack, £2,620, louisvuitton.com
Christopher rucksack, £2,620, louisvuitton.com

Smart move

Armani might be the essence of classic Italian style, but this month it joins with Canadian singer Shawn Mendes to launch its 21st-century-tech smart watch. The Emporio Armani Connected is compatible with iOS and Android, comes with fitness-tracking abilities, can access your music library and boasts a Google Assistant. Plus the black stainless-steel touchscreen version with luminous dial (right) looks totally 007. £389, armani.com

Emporio Armani Connected watch, £389, armani.com
Emporio Armani Connected watch, £389, armani.com

Go Faster Pinstripes

Savile Row tailors are not known for embracing change, scorning window displays and refusing to open at weekends until as recently as the 1990s. But today brands are modernising as never before, with one of the street’s most revered names, Henry Poole, entering into a venture with Adidas. Fox Brothers has made the flannel for 50 bespoke suits in Adidas’s signature ‘bluebird blue’ (as seen on the Bavarian flag, loved by founder Adi Dassler) with the sports brand’s ‘three stripes’ as a discreet triple pinstripe. Whatever would former patrons Napoleon, the Duke of Windsor and Emperor Haile Selassie have said?

From £3,957, henrypoole.com
From £3,957, henrypoole.com

Easel does it

Designers experiment with their artistic side this season, with painterly touches across the catwalks. Miuccia Prada played with the idea of watercolours to decorate shirting with alpine vistas and vignettes printed on angora sweaters (below); Marni has paired up with artist Sally Smart in a series of T-shirts and shirts depicting her fragmented imagery; and Moncler focuses on cartoon graphics and quirky watercolour scenes of beach life.

Prada's painterly effects
Prada's painterly effects