Mr Alexandre Mattiussi cooks up his spring 2015 collection, now available at MR PORTER .

What was the best thing to happen to menswear in early 2011? Anyone? OK, you get one point if you said, “The launch of MR PORTER, my go-to style destination”. But we’ll also give you another if you said, “Ami”. The Paris-based brand, brainchild of Givenchy and Marc Jacobs alumnus Mr Alexandre Mattiussi, became an instant favourite among MR PORTER’s Buyers and Editors – and not just because we’re both Aquarians. No, much more relevant is the fact that Mr Mattiussi’s proposition of “real clothes for a real man” fills a genuine gap in the male wardrobe – its smart-casual products striking a fine middle ground between practicality and edgy Parisian cool (as well as, crucially, offering premium quality at a comparatively accessible price point).

As spring 2015 looms into view, with a certain feeling of déjà vu, we’ve already got our eyes eagerly trained on some of the simple, sophisticated new pieces from Ami’s latest collection: a playful tribute to the ruffled tailoring and youthful energy of a high-school recess deck.

MR PORTER was with Mr Mattiussi last June for the 24 critical hours before the collection’s debut, in a show that took over the gymnasium of Paris’ prestigious Lycée Carnot. The resulting film Ami: The Day Before captures Mr Mattiussi’s musings and final preparations (he calls it “a bit of a cooking process”) as he makes the last tweaks for the show – something of an after-school special.