A Bathing Ape hoodie, Stüssy T-shirt, raw EDWIN selvedge jeans – never washed, you have to get those personalised fades; pin rolled, you have to show off the sneakers; sagged, well, because – and Air Jordan 3 retros. Maybe True Blues, pristine clean. And probably a fitted baseball cap. Circa 2008, this was my uniform, a hip-hop head, sneaker collector and all-round hypebeast.

In the following decade, the clothes evolved along with my desire to smarten up. Button-down Oxford shirts, graphic-less T-shirts, chinos and chore jackets, often by Carhartt, entered the wardrobe. Now I’ve turned 40, my style has continued to pivot. Not necessarily the items, more the materials, the colours, the quality, the fit. Mohair cardigans and chinos crafted in Japan, for example, inspired by vintage Americana and Ivy League style (see Beams Plus). An age thing, perhaps.

If you, too, have grown up and are considering how to dress smarter – perhaps looking to introduce elements of tailoring into your wardrobe – cult brands like Noah and Aimé Leon Dore are an easy choice. To wear their clothes is to say to the world that yes, you are mature and refined, but you also know what’s up.

Both labels themselves came up in this era of streetwear. Noah was founded in 2015 by Brendon Babenzien, Supreme’s former creative director. Aimé Leon Dore, meanwhile, was started in 2014 by Teddy Santis, whose designs are influenced by his upbringing in 1990s New York and frequently nod to rap and basketball culture.

The real challenge is to look beyond these brands and think about how your style can still evolve organically, in a way that is authentically you. Can you dress like an adult without completely shedding your roots? Think of it another way: your grounding in streetwear might actually be an advantage when it comes to navigating a more mature wardrobe. You already have the tools – here’s how to use them.

“I think it helps to have a nice rotation of other silhouettes, which for me are pretty much all black leather shoes,” Stanley says. “I wear Our Legacy Camion boots and Uniform Parade shoes most often – these work because they manage to be both comfortable and grown-up.”

Sneakers are still very much part of Willson’s style, but they now sit alongside a selection of clogs and moccasins. “Start with what a shoe is meant to do and how it sits within the outfit as a whole,” he says. “A well-made loafer, Derby shoe or boot doesn’t have to feel formal if the rest of the clothes support it. It’s not about rejecting the sneakers or shoes that got you there, it’s just expanding the vocabulary.”