The most cinematic city in the US arguably isn’t Los Angeles, even if that’s where the movie industry is supposedly centred (although increasingly isn’t). It’s New York. And if LA has made it its business to pretend to be somewhere else, New York is always inexcusably, iconically itself.

“We wanted an energy that’s hard to find anywhere else,” says Benedict Browne, Style Director at MR PORTER. Which is why, to shoot our AW26 campaign, we decamped to the streets of New York. “With a huge proportion of our customers based in the US, NYC felt like a natural choice. We were chasing an old-school, 1990s vibe, drawing inspiration from the worlds of DKNY, Calvin Klein and Polo Ralph Lauren.”

From the visual perspective, there were also distinctive designs and features that are unique to this city. “Helvetica signage, green lamp-posts, subway station, wide streets, crosswalks and landmarks to modern buildings and the skyscrapers,” says Rae Fernandez, MR PORTER’s Art Director. “We essentially just wanted to capture that feeling throughout.”

You want a piece of New York? New York will return the favour. Fernandez reports “classic NY moments: road rage, people yelling at each other, randoms trying to model for us and many bystanders watching and asking, ‘What you filming?’” In short, every Scorsese fantasy played out for real.

“We saw a guy in a car nearly hit someone,” Jemima Farrow, Junior Fashion Assistant, confirms. “And when the guy who’d nearly been hit approached the car, he shouted, ‘Hit me!’ Very entertaining. There was never a dull moment on the streets of Manhattan.”

“New York is like a self-producing backdrop,” says Hattie Gabble, a producer based in the city who was thankfully on hand to help the team navigate it. “No matter where you are in the city, you are never far away from an iconic reference from a film or TV show. There will always be something dynamic or unexpected – for better or worse – that brings the shoot to life. From a unit base accidentally hosting an NYPD officer’s retirement party, to trying to relocate an entire flock of pigeons into a shot. Things can escalate very quickly on set and in unusual ways.”

Then there’s the weather to factor in. The nature of fashion shoots means that nature itself is not always on your side, with the filming of our autumn and winter campaign taking place at the peak of summer. So, spare a thought for the models. Being paid to wear designer clothing may seem glamorous, but the reality of wearing it in entirely the wrong season sometimes isn’t – in this case, heavy outerwear in 30ºC heat.

Browne reports conditions to be “challenging. But I wasn’t the one wearing cashmere knits layered under heavy wool coats, so I couldn’t complain too much.”

A shout out, then, to Jon Paul Phillips, the model and star of the campaign, who wore both the clothes and a smile throughout. Fernandez called him “a joy to be around”.

Here, the phrase “talent” applies. “JP is a total legend and a modern icon of male modelling,” Browne agrees. “A consummate professional, he didn’t seem phased in the slightest.” Fernadez says the 46-year-old model went one further, using this as an opportunity to pick up the latest slang (some of it NSFW) from the younger members of the crew.

“Working in New York City, in the height of summer stickiness, for me, was ironically kind of a breeze,” Phillips reports. “Because of the team, which goes without saying. And I lived in New York for many years, so I have innate knowledge of the streets and the city. It’s built on a grid system, so I cycled everywhere while I was there. I’m actually more comfortable on the road than on the sidewalk, oddly.”

“On the production side, you really have to keep up with whatever the city throws at you, from heatwaves to Nor’easter storms or 5ft-high snowdrifts,” Gable says. “The good thing is that the city continues to function regardless.”

Highlights of the shoot? “JP wearing A.PRESSE and Dries Van Noten, which are two brands I don’t think I’ve seen anyone dress him in – and pull them off in a similar, easy way as he does Polo Ralph Lauren, for whom he is regularly cast in their campaigns and runways,” Browne says.

“Being an ambassador for Ralph Lauren, I’m always very honoured to wear their clothes,” Phillips says. “The A.PRESSE silk bomber jacket is an incredible piece, shot in the Financial District. Perfect for the type of fabric, that reflective nature, I guess, in a building where money meets motion.”

Standouts for Fernadez include Our Legacy and Dries Van Noten. “I love that long overcoat by Jil Sander,” he says. “But it is nice to see classic looks like Brunello Cucinelli and Ralph Lauren shot within the city. The Brunello shots in front of the Chelsea Hotel are incredible…”

“It’s very specific to Cucinelli, if that’s your thing,” Phillips says of the latter. “I personally love it. You feel powerful. You feel confident – exactly how a man should feel in a suit. It should be an extension of who he is.”

The MR PORTER Team, however, weren’t the only guests in town. The shoot happened to coincide with another event you might have been dimly aware of: the Fifa World Cup, held in the US, Canada and Mexico.

(The final game, which took place a few weeks later, was played at the MetLife Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and Jets. Renamed the New York New Jersey Stadium for the duration of the tournament, it is – and we can be honest now the World Cup is over – just across the Hudson River in East Rutherford, New Jersey.)

“One of the wonderful things about New York’s multicultural nature is that almost every team had its own pocket of support, whether that’s a particular neighbourhood, bar or restaurant,” Gable says. “The whole city felt very involved and it also goes to show how increasingly popular soccer is in the US.”

“We arrived at the hotel just as Mexico vs England was in end-to-end action, so I dropped my bags and bolted straight to a nearby bar,” Browne says. “Heavily outnumbered – yet unafraid, I might add! – when England won, I was told I was bringing ‘bad vibes’. So much for World Cup fever uniting nations...”