January 2015

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January 2015

Words by Mr Adam Welch

19 February 2015

Our global round-up of who wore it well last month.

If we had to rewrite this month’s On The Town as a tabloid headline, it would go something like “Russet All About? Celebs Wear Brown”. Of course, like all good tabloid headlines, you would have to take this with a pinch of salt. There’s no need to panic – brown is a warm, easy-to-wear colour that, as we push through the worst of the winter weather, makes a nice change from all the greys and blacks of December. It can be used sparingly as an accent (see Mr James Marsden) or, for more impact, sported in several different shades simultaneously for a rich, slightly 1970s feel (see Mr Ethan Hawke). In any case, there were plenty of other sartorial ideas out there this January. In fact, it was a packed and exciting month for style, encompassing the European men’s fashion weeks, the beginning of awards season, the Sundance Film Festival and the launch of a project dear to MR PORTER’s heart, the Kingsman collection, inspired by Mr Matthew Vaughn’s new spy film Kingsman: The Secret Service. All this allowed an almost unprecedented number of opportunities for parading outfits around the streets of cities worldwide. See how everyone made the best of it below.

Mr Mark Ronson

Mr Ronson arriving at Key 103 Radio Station, Manchester, 19 January Rex Features

Presumably you have all heard what “Uptown Funk” sounds like thanks to Mr Mark Ronson’s new single of the same name, featuring Mr Bruno Mars. Now see the look: it’s casual, but well and truly on the style-button, with its be-patched bomber jacket (very Raf Simons), roomy but tapered trousers (very Christophe Lemaire) and quirky print plimsolls (yes, definitely Saint Laurent). Normally, Mr Ronson goes for a more tailored and nostalgic look to match his crooner’s quiff, but we’re glad he took a day off from his signature style – this works, too.

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Mr James Marsden

Mr Marsden in Park City, Utah, 24 January Ray Tamarra/ Getty Images

The classically good-looking Mr James Marsden has here gone for a classically American look of field jacket, denim jeans and brown leather work boots. Which altogether is something of a no-brainer – of course, it looks good. But there’s more to it than that: the restricted colour palette of tan and indigo blue keeps everything coordinated in an unfussy way, while the accessories are worn with a cool simplicity (NB, the unknotted scarf, slung airily over the shoulders). It helps that Mr Marsden’s standing in front of a coordinating building in this shot, taken in Park City, Utah during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, but the subtext is clear: yes, he woke up like this.

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Mr Ethan Hawke

Mr Hawke outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, arriving to film the Late Show with David Letterman, New York City, 6 January WENN

Did you start 2015 with a case of the January blues? Don’t expect much empathy from Mr Ethan Hawke – he was clearly feeling more brown-y last month. This much is manifest in the _gelateria _of an outfit he’s sporting here, with its cappuccino coat, hazelnut trousers and chocolate Chelsea boots. Altogether, it’s a bold colour decision, but one that paid off – though brown-on-brown-on-brown can end up looking a little The Royal Tenenbaums, Mr Hawke has tempered the colour’s nostalgia by opting for a stretch wool coat that, with its minimal detailing, makes it very much of this decade. The lack of a tie also helps. One colour accent (not brown) wouldn’t go amiss here, but, then again, maybe that’s what he’s currently stuffing into his pocket.

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Mr Eric Rutherford

Mr Rutherford at W Magazine's celebration of the Best Performances Portfolio and the Golden Globes at Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles, 8 January Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images for W Magazine

As events and special projects director of The Hollywood Reporter, Mr Eric Rutherford is one of the world’s leading experts in turning up to things. And here he is, showing us how the pros do it (ie, in style), at W Magazine’s pre-Golden Globes party in Los Angeles this January. Sartorial competition was obviously fierce on this evening, with guests including Messrs Henry Cavill, Brad Pitt and Jamie Dornan. But, in his sharply cut (but not too slim) grey suit, Mr Rutherford looks like something of a movie star himself. We particularly like the way he’s matching tailoring with a pair of patent loafers (and no socks) – it gives the whole look a breezy, suave élan that is very much at home in California.

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Mr Devendra Banhart

Mr Banhart at the Haas Brothers Studio dinner for New York’s Collective Design, Los Angeles, 27 January Owen Kolasinski/ BFAnyc.com

Just think… Singer-songwriter Mr Devendra Banhart started his musical career busking on the streets of San Francisco. Now he’s the kind of person who’s invited to illustrious dos – here he is at a dinner party hosted by the Haas Brothers and stylish designer Mr Roman Alonso for New York’s Collective Design. Sigh… Where he used to hold out a cup, hoping it would be filled with change, now it’s a glass tumbler, which overfloweth with a nice gin and tonic (or maybe it’s a Perrier, it’s hard to tell). His wardrobe, too, seems to have risen in the world – we don’t know where he got his oatmeal sweater and brown (or should we say Mr “Ethan Hawke-coloured”) wool trouser combo, but we’re guessing it wasn’t on Haight-Ashbury. Whatever the case, it’s a brilliant outfit. Its earthy colours and simplicity are understated yet refined, while the delicately ruffled details – an inch of T-shirt showing below the waistband, cropped trousers, bright white socks – channel just enough of Mr Banhart’s noted Bohemian spirit to enrich, but not overpower, the no-doubt fancy appetisers being flung around the dinner table.

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Mr Colin Firth

Mr Firth attends the world premiere of Kingsman: The Secret Service at the Odeon Leicester Square, London, 14 January Dave J Hogan/ Getty Images

January 2015 marked a first in fashion and film: the launch of MR PORTER’s Kingsman collection, a full range of superior British-made clothing and accessories inspired by Mr Matthew Vaughn’s spy movie Kingsman: The Secret Service (see the full collection here). In this shot, Mr Colin Firth is wearing one of the key looks – a double-breasted suit. Serendipitous? No, highly arranged: this was taken at the premiere of Kingsman: The Secret Service, at which a replica of the Kingsman store was constructed for this photocall. But, you must admit, he looks the part, from the perfect sizing of his shirt collar (which tucks neatly behind the jacket’s lapels) to the neat white line of his pocket square. FYI, the guns are not available on MRPORTER.COM, but the umbrellas, made in England by Swaine Adeney Brigg, certainly are.

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Mr Alessandro Squarzi

Mr Squarzi at Milan Fashion Week, Milan, 18 January Julien Boudet/ BFAnyc.com

In the annals of MR PORTER’s The Journal, we’ve often referred to the concept of sprezzatura – the Italian art of dressing effortlessly (in fact, we wrote a whole feature on it – read it here). Mr Alessandro Squarzi, a Milanese fashion consultant and showroom owner, is someone who, rather than talking about it, lives it. Though he’s very much toeing the Messrs Banhart-Hawke party line here (lots of brown), he’s done it in his own way, offsetting the weightiness of his coat, cardigan and waistcoat with a pair of ivory (or rather, “winter white”) chinos. Note the multiple, slightly ruffled layers and white shirt, worn open at the collar – both are very sprezzatura. But more than that, the well-worn look of Mr Squarzi’s coat (the collar popped, of course) gives the impression of someone who truly loves his clothes, but not too much.

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Mr Miles Teller

Mr Teller at the InStyle and Warner Bros 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards Post-Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, 11 January David Livingston/ Getty Images

Thanks to his starring role in the percussion drama Whiplash and front-centre position in the latest Prada men’s campaign, Mr Miles Teller is the latest young slice to have been popped into the toaster-of-the-town. He seems to have spent January crisping up nicely, making an appearance at party after party, befriending Mr Robert Duvall and sporting a series of fantastic outfits. This is our favourite, partly because some of the other ones were, you guessed it, brown, and OTT requires a certain amount of variety, and partly because of the way it updates the dinner suit template. Mixing black and navy is tricky, but done well it strikes an attitude of crisp, architect-like coolness, which is emphasised here by the fact Mr Teller has decided not to wear a tie. The sheeny micro-texture on the tuxedo jacket stops it all from being too dull and flat, while the navy trousers add a deeper blue tone, making the black more of an isolated, contrasting accent. It’s very suave.

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