THE JOURNAL

The new collection from Saturdays NYC is available on MR PORTER now.
While it’s a nice idea that your wardrobe should be full of specific outfits for specific occasions, in reality, it’s far more useful to have a wide selection of versatile pieces that you can mix and match, depending on your mood, or where your life happens to take you in a given day. This is especially true if you travel a lot, or live in a busy city, which is something Messrs Morgan Collett and Colin Tunstall, cofounders of New-York based brand Saturdays NYC knows a thing or two about. Accordingly, when it came to creating the brand’s new capsule collection – available exclusively on MR PORTER from today – adaptability was at the front of their minds. “The inspiration came from my wedding last year in southern France,” says Mr Tunstall. “We rented a house in Biarritz and surfed, hung out in the town and and then went to the formal wedding ceremony where everyone put on a suit. Looking back on those images, we created this collection to fit the opportunities in our life where we need to go from casual to proper attire at night – and anything in-between.” Mr Collett elaborates, “It’s the idea of this traveling man, and a varying range of items that can all be worn together. There are a lot of different iterations, depending on what the guy’s actually doing. Putting that whole spectrum into this nice little package.”
The word “package” is not just a metaphor here. In fact, the entire collection can be packed into the duffel bag that accompanies it, meaning that the whole thing functions as a sort of automatic wardrobe builder for any man on the go. It’s also the first time that Saturdays, which has a heritage in surf and casualwear, has attempted tailoring. Not that it shows. “We’ve put a tremendous amount of focus on manufacturing, the sourcing of fabrics and really trying to elevate the quality of everything,” says Mr Collett of the capsule. Scroll down to discover three ways to wear it.
TO THE BEACH AND BEYOND
Saturdays started out as a surf brand, and as such has always produced an excellent range of board shorts. The new capsule collection for MR PORTER is no different in that respect, offering two variations on the brand’s classic mid-thigh cut. One pair, in peach and navy, is very much for the beach, but the other, in navy with a subtle embroidered pattern, is sober enough to pass as a pair of technical shorts for the city. Wear them on both surf and turf with the contrasting pale peach sweatshirt, which has a loopback cotton texture on the outside. “With the sweatshirt we reversed the fabric, so it’s really comfortable and casual,” says Mr Collett.
KEEP IT CASUAL
The Saturdays NYC collection is full of the kind of easy pieces that you can throw-on without much thought. Though that’s not to say that a lot of thought hasn’t gone into them. The above striped hoody is a case in point. “We worked with this amazing striped cotton fabric for the short sleeve and pullover hoody – it’s just a fantastic fabric,” says Mr Collett. Wear it to dress down the collection’s suit trousers, which work just as well on their own as with the matching jacket.
SURF INTO THE OFFICE
The navy cotton suit is the heart of the Saturdays NYC collection, and marks a veritable step forward for the brand. It’s also a novel, more adaptable take on your typical navy suit, coming in a stretchy, textured cotton fabric that will fare better than fine wool in changeable city conditions. “Our main goal was to make a suit where you could wear the trousers and the blazer separately, if you preferred,” says Mr Collett. “And it really came down to the fabric we chose. We found this amazing fabric that lays really nicely and has great texture. It’s also quite nice, even if you don’t press it, so you don’t have to worry about that pressure.” Wear it with this crisp Oxford shirt and look smart without the hassle.