Eight outfits of note, as seen on some of the city’s most stylish men.

What makes somewhere a hotbed of style, the kind of place the rest of the world looks to for inspiration on how to dress? In MR PORTER’s opinion, it’s not just about the presence of fashion designers and runway shows – though these certainly reflect and refract their environment in interesting ways – but the inventiveness and expression you see, clothing-wise, when walking around a city’s streets. This couldn’t be more true of the situation in Seoul – a town where the unstoppable rise of K-Pop, and its stable of chameleon-like stars, has given rise to a way of dressing that is fast-paced and ever-changing. Nowhere are you more likely to see a man walking around with pink, blue or acid-green hair, and pulling it off with aplomb. And nowhere else do the residents manage to so successfully blend the outré, trend-driven streetwear look of brands such as Balenciaga, Off-White and Supreme with such a refined sense of palette and attention to detail. We could waffle on about this for ages, of course, having just returned from the South Korean capital and having installed various K-Pop items (in miniature, cardboard cut-out form) around our office, but sometimes (or rather, always), showing is a little bit better than telling. Here then, are some of the most stylish men we noticed at Seoul Fashion Week SS19, as captured by the inquisitive lens of South Korean street-style photographer Mr Chris Choi (@streetper).

Tattoos are still a little bit taboo in South Korea and owners of them (including MR PORTER’s own Mr Jeremy Langmead) are likely to be encouraged to cover them up in public places. Even without this punchy, military-inspired outfit (in which the jacket is emblazoned with the devil’s number, 666), this chap would be bound to make a statement, in the context. But despite the fact that there’s a lot going on – star-print jeans, why not? – he carries it off. Maybe that’s because it’s a studied thrift-store-esque aesthetic. Maybe it’s because, frankly, we’re a little bit intimidated by the moody glare.

This is another military-inspired, but executed with a more restrained approach to colour and detailing that we very much appreciate. There’s a graphic pleasure in the all-black accessories, which make the warm khaki of the jacket come out all the more.

The generic format of this look is not all that surprising, given Seoul’s obsession with streetwear. But we like how this gentleman has taken the typical skater’s uniform – sweatshirt, cap, Vans, wide-leg trousers – and turned it up a notch by opting for a pair of trousers in crinkly shell, and cropping them just above the ankle. Alongside the cap – five-panelled, also in a shell fabric – this keeps the whole thing feeling a little bit more sleek and technical than your average skate park fare.

As we have often opined, double denim is absolutely fine as long as you pick a jacket and jeans in a different shade or texture. One way to execute this piece of advice is to select different washes. Another is to splatter your jeans with paint. And this gentleman has done both, rounding off the look with some matching, appropriately be-sploshed boots and an undeniably on-trend fluoro beanie. And though we don’t necessarily recommend you try it at home, we do like it.

Pink, green, tan and terracotta? It shouldn’t work, but somehow it does, perhaps because the judiciously chosen scarf, trousers, beanie and jacket are all on the green-to-brown-to-red spectrum and the shirt, as a striking contrast, most certainly isn’t. Here’s to stretching the colour rules – if only it could always be done so effortlessly.

We include this look as both proof and a reminder of the fact that, though you might think everyone in Seoul slouches around in Triple S sneakers and giant Heron Preston space suits, just as many people opt for a neat, laid-back, smart casual like the gentleman above. We like this outfit because it’s unfussy but also fun – the pop of pink from the shirt and the grungy, checkerboard Vans are a nice contrast to the neatly cut blazer and black overcoat.

Pink is the colour, apparently. There is, in fact, so much pink hair flying about Seoul that, by the time we returned to the UK, MR PORTER was starting to think that all the non-bottle colours were looking distinctly odd. Don’t worry, we’re over it. Sort of. Anyway, as you can see above, this particular shade can have a rather startling effect when deployed in combination with other bright colours. The wearer, in this case, has wisely kept the rest of his palette monochrome, with the result that he looks like an off-duty pop-star rather than, as he is, an off-duty model. These distinctions are important.

Take a look at that quietly satisfied expression. It is the look of a man who has managed to get his hands on a pair of the in-demand new Yeezy Wave Runner, which dropped in September and has now fallen into the black hole of impossible-to-get that tends to be the ultimate fate of such pieces. Luckily, he has spent equal time and consideration acquiring the rest of his outfit, notable for its restraint in terms of colour but generosity in terms of volume. (For what it’s worth, large, long coats seem to be quite the thing in South Korea, where men veer on the tall and slim side. Perhaps this explains the region’s particular penchant, according to our figures, for the wares of Balenciaga?)

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