“I just love the understated elegance of black tie,” says Berlin-based tailor and Savile Row-obsessive Mr Maximilian Mogg. “If I can get more people wearing eveningwear, I’ll be a happy man.” The context for this comment is the launch of his new, exclusive capsule collection for MR PORTER – a range of sophisticated, reservedly flamboyant dinner jackets, trousers and shirting that exemplifies the appeal of Mr Mogg’s 1970s-meets-1920s aesthetic. Shoulders are broad. Lapels are wide. An extended skirt (that is, the bottom part of the jacket) acts as a counterweight to this, creating a flattering, slightly wasp-waisted silhouette. The suits are classic: black and navy. But the shirts come in fun colours. Such as pink. Yes, yes, you think, pawing through it on the rack. This is good, this is different, this is fun. Good news for Mr Mogg, then, who we can only assume will soon be a happy man. That is, if anything’s going to make people take a fresh look at the tuxedo – in summer, no less – this is most definitely it.

For those unfamiliar with Mr Mogg’s mini-empire, a few words of explanation are probably due here. Because, as the founder and overseer of the brands Max Mogg (fully-canvassed made-to-measure suiting), Maximilian Mogg (the same, but also fully handmade, in Europe) and Theophil P Mogg (a true bespoke made-in-Berlin offering, launching at the end of 2019), Mr Mogg is something of a singularity in his hometown. Where other Berliners eke out their days strolling around town in leather harnesses, bike chains and whatever kind of fluorescent appurtenances are currently ranking in the world of ironic streetwear trends, Mr Mogg is a champion of good-old-fashioned, early 20th-century sartorial ingenuity. His business, which celebrates its fifth anniversary next year, grew out of his love for vintage Savile Row suits that as a young man he sourced from eBay, altered and re-sold to fellow enthusiasts. Of course, as is the way with such things, demand soon outgrew supply, so in 2015, he decided to start offering up his own designs, with details inspired by intricacies of old-world tailoring that, through many conversations with his fellow tailors, he had grown to know and love.

Today, the business runs from a charming atelier on Bleibtreustraße, and has an equally charming online presence. Features on masculine style are compiled by a small network of sartorially minded contributors as well as Mr Mogg himself, who is not only an eloquent writer, but a stylish draftsman. We don’t, of course, want to overuse the word “charming”, but it’s difficult to find another to describe the final pillar of Mr Mogg’s besuited world, that is, an original comic book featuring a character he invented, Mr Lush.

Inspired by a downtrodden (but rather well-dressed) gentleman Mr Mogg glimpsed on a jaunt in London’s Mayfair, the Mr Lush character, now drawn by artist Mr Everett Glenn, is, says Mr Mogg, an old money type. “So old, in fact, that he doesn’t have it any more,” he says. His capers can be discovered in full at Mr Mogg’s own website, but as a special treat, for the launch of this capsule, Mr Mogg has created a one-off adventure solely for readers of The Daily – you can read it below.

But back to the clothes: dedicated as he is to the aesthetic and practices of traditional bespoke, Mr Mogg’s MR PORTER capsule marks his first foray into the world of ready-made suiting. But he is keen, in this offering, to bring some of the class of the former to the latter. “I know that I personally found dinner suits some of the hardest pieces to find ready-made, other than in vintage Savile Row,” he says. “So we asked ourselves, what we would make if a customer came in asking for a black-tie ensemble for summer, and this capsule collection is basically the answer to that question.” Key to this response, of course, is the suits’ mohair fabric – it’s a fibre that, though substantial, is far more cool and breathable than regular wool.

Of course, we know a tuxedo in summer is not exactly everyone’s cup of tea. But, then again, wouldn’t it be fun? And, what’s more: don’t you want to make Mr Mogg happy?