Mr Pierre Mahéo, the maverick who designs cool modern takes on menswear staples, delves into the details of his exclusive MR PORTER capsule.

Normally the according of “cult” status to films, music, designers, artists and the like can take a while. They need to simmer in the pop-cultural consciousness for a period to build the kind of devoted, quietly loyal audience that “cult” denotes. The mainstream, meanwhile, needs years, if not decades, to finally appreciate them – there’s nothing more “cult” than being largely underappreciated in your own time (Blade Runner and Citizen Kane were box-office flops; Twin Peaks was cancelled after just two seasons).

Then again, some things are built to be “cult” from the outset – a case in point being Frenchman Mr Pierre Mahéo’s impeccably understated clothing brand Officine Generale. It’s been three years since its launch – merely the flicker of an eyelid in the fast-paced world of style – yet OG’s meticulously well-thought-out approach to casual tailoring and core wardrobe pieces has already won it a considerable following among those who know their clothes. “The best new thing I saw at Pitti,” wrote Mr Michael Williams on his influential menswear blog A Continuous Lean after seeing the autumn/ winter 2013 collection. More recent converts to the cause include Mr Scott Schuman, aka The Sartorialist, who admitted last February (on Instagram) that while he sees a lot of fashion at the shows, Officine Generale is actually one of the brands he likes to wear. Why? Because, in his own words, “These clothes have just the right amount of fashion and just the right touch of style.”

There’s a subtext here: Officine Generale offers timeless pieces, such as the Oxford shirt, sand-coloured chinos and the two-button blazer, in high-end fabrics, at a surprisingly attractive price point. The collections, typically mixing sharp tailoring with elements of heritage workwear (such as the hook fastenings Mr Mahéo often applies to his trousers), are also incredibly versatile, designed to be mixed and matched, dressed up and down. But the reason this all actually works is a simple one: Mr Mahéo really cares about each individual garment, from the look to the way it fits, to the provenance and hand feel of the fabric, to the size and placement of the pockets.

In person, he likes geeking out over the technical. For example, how “55% cotton, 45% linen” provides the “perfect weight” for a summer shirt. Or how, in the exclusive capsule collection he’s designed for MR PORTER, he’s gone for a “250g cashmere” for the blazer – “with no lining, so it’s super-lightweight”. His shirts, he says, are made with 2.3m of fabric, rather than 1.7m – this is what happens, apparently, when you insist on using narrow-loomed Japanese selvedge cotton. His lightweight summer suits, he says, can be worn even when “it’s 35 degrees outside”.

In short, these are not pieces that Mr Mahéo designs and then sends out into the ether, they are the result of a rather precise process of research and refinement. In fact, he will not issue a new Officine Generale product without trying it out himself. “The only way to be sure that it’s going to be right is to wear it,” he says. “Sometimes a pocket is too shallow, sometimes you don’t have one inside and, when you travel, you’re like, ‘Wow, this should have a pocket!’” When it comes to production, Mr Mahéo’s there in the factory too. “Because sometimes, when you see a first sample, it’s good, sometimes it’s awful,” he says. “And when it’s awful, you need a little bit of imagination. Who better than me to say, well, what would Pierre do?”

The exclusive Officine Generale capsule collection for MR PORTER is derived from the brand’s spring 2015 collection and has been designed, with typical thoughtfulness, as a wardrobe for a spring escape. “It’s the time of year that you really want to leave the city,” says Mr Mahéo, “so I was looking at packing.” Consequently, the pieces are lightweight (developing the theme of the spring collection), adaptable and coloured to reflect a coastal palette. “I was born by the seaside,” says Mr Mahéo, who spent his youth in Brittany, on the northwest coast of France, “so I’ve always liked more washed colours, the indigos. I remember my father wearing faded chinos in olive and khaki tones. They are amazing colours to wear.” Highlights include the aforementioned “summer cashmere” blazer – “You still want to travel pretty sharp, you can’t really leave it at home” – and the classic denim jacket reinvented in white Japanese selvedge cotton and soft navy leather. But, of course, Mr Mahéo is able to enthuse about all the details. The hand feel of the tees is “amazing”. The fabric of the khaki chinos will “fade and age beautifully”. He waxes lyrical about “the idea of the worker chino”, with its hook fastening and patch pocket on the back.

Every piece, you’ll notice, is the kind of thing you’ll wear season after season – Mr Mahéo takes care to keep his aesthetic as fashion-proof as possible. “All the quality things I’m putting behind the product… I’m saying it’s a product to last,” he says. He’s aware that such thinking goes somewhat against the grain in his current home of Paris, known for making the sartorial statements that set the style agenda for the next six months. But, he’s happy to retain, and somewhat court, his outsider status. Which is very cult. “That’s why I don’t do sweatshirts with my name on them, or a slogan, like most of the brands are running at the moment,” he says, archly. “I’m not in that world.”