Why this six-piece capsule collection is a rhapsody in blues.

We’ve all sat in meetings where we’ve been asked to think creatively – to come up with some “blue sky ideas”. Brioni have taken that approach literally in devising this exclusive collection for MR PORTER.

The Italian brand’s moodboard for this project reads like the back of a Crayola box: Denim, Pacific, Sky, Azure, Capri, Kingfisher. And the result is a blues fest: an inky suede bomber jacket; a white and cornflower-blue check cotton shirt; a turquoise wool and silk crew-neck sweater; some straight-cut grey-blue Prince of Wales-check wool trousers; a midnight-blue napa leather belt and deep navy suede tasseled loafers.

The inspiration behind the collection is the work of Mr Julius Shulman, an architectural photographer working in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 1960s. “The colour blue has so many different subtle tones, from blue-green turquoise to the ice-blue greys, all of which are present in the skyline of Los Angeles and in the reflections of the swimming pools of Shulman’s photography,” explains Brioni’s creative director, Mr Brendan Mullane.

Worn together as one full top-to-toe look – as intended – this six-piece collection represents the ultimate in laid-back luxury. “It is aimed at the other side of a sartorial, sophisticated gentleman – the side that is out of the office and is boarding his jet or resting above the Hollywood hills with the view over the city, or is in his private weekend getaway,” explains Mr Mullane. (We’ve all got jets, right?) “He still feels the need to keep his elegant refined look – just in a more relaxed, understated way.”

Brioni is ahead of the curve here. True, blue is a style perennial but looking ahead to the spring it is an especially key colour for several designers. All the more reason to buy into it now. It’s an azure thing.