“Elegance is not standing out but being remembered,” said Giorgio Armani. Now in his 90th year, and forever respected for his inveterate privacy, Armani has transcended and expanded the orbit of Italian fashion like no other. If we use sartorial menswear as a historical yardstick, the revolutionary exploits of Vincenzo Attolini in the early ‘30s and Giovanni Batista Giorgini in the ‘50s mark significant junctures in Italy’s unparalleled influence on fashion.
Unlike their American trailblazing counterpart, Ralph Lauren, the unequivocal unstructured jacket legacy that Armani and Attolini command transcends from the studious inquisitiveness that they devoted to their mentors, in the form of Nino Cerruti for Armani and Domenico Caraceni in Rome and Gennaro ‘Bebè’ Rubinacci in Naples for Attolini. And it all started with the latter in 1930, when Attolini became a pupil of Rome master tailor Caraceni, who, when his customers left him bespoke jackets for alterations, found himself examining the cuts and constructions of Savile Row tailors to dexterously create enhanced lightness in the models. This ethos captured the mind of a young Attolini, and his next educational stop was Naples, where he joined Gennaro of the then-named “London House”, now Rubinacci, as a head cutter. Credited with being the first to remove the stuffy horsehair and canvas in British tailoring, Gennaro pioneered the first jackets that were, as they say, “as light as the winds over Vesuvius”. However, it was the visionary thought and handiwork of Attolini that dissected Gennaro’s deconstructed philosophy, thus artistically turning the unstructured jacket into a Neapolitan tailoring trademark.
Speaking in the last decade to Luca Rubinacci, the creative director of the inimitable family fiefdom and a revered tastemaker like his old friend Mr. Kraft, when talking about his grandfather’s motivation in designing an unstructured jacket he said, “It was pioneered for the gentlemen who dress for the pleasure of dressing and not for duty.” It’s why, unsurprisingly, ‘the’ vanguard of the art of sprezzatura, the Duke of Windsor, turned to Gennaro Rubinacci. Eschewing a style of military precision, with the Duke’s elegant by nature, not by effort, persona and his plethora of unstructured renditions spanning bold checks and black tie jackets, it became the default for his own aptly named ‘dress soft’. It was almost unthinkable to defy dress convention, especially in the court of royalty in the ’30s, as a wider audience later learnt; however, his forward thinking about comfortability, with freedom of movement at the fore, but all masterfully adhering to the confines of classical menswear, set the precedent for like-minded dress potentates to follow suit in their own way.
As I write this, I learn of the passing of George Foreman, otherwise known as “Big George”, who was a two-time world heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medallist among a plethora of other meaningful and successful ventures. Despite his defeat to Muhammed Ali at the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), in what is still to this day considered the biggest sporting event of the century, the focus shifts to Mr. Fish, a flamboyant and master menswear tailor known for his superior-quality bespoke Peacock Revolution-orientated designs of the Swinging Sixties. He played a significant role in replacing the heavy and rigid constructions that Savile Row was known for. However, this passage does not solely aim to pay tribute to Foreman. While most people worldwide may remember Muhammad Ali’s Mr Fish-made robe, equally noteworthy is the Duke’s white and midnight blue cocktail cuff and symmetrically decorated dressing gown that he wore when strolling in the Italian Riviera in Rapallo.
In the renowned denizens of classic bespoke tailoring, the evolution of lighter-constructed suits had really begun. However, even in the upper echelons of bespoke tailoring, the momentum of the lightweight experiment was slightly checked in the 1970s—the decade when taste truly did seem to be forgotten. Not in any way to knock the upsurge of architectural shoulders bolstered with extra padding only framed symmetrically with the thick textured flared pants – my wardrobe cradles many good pieces tailored in that style – but it did delay the appetite and appreciation of the comfort and ease that a deconstructed jacket can bring.
However, despite the ’70s becoming synonymous with elaborate, tight-fitting attire, Armani revolutionised the mid-decade with well-cut, fluid silhouettes of unstructured jackets in his first collection for SS76, shown at the Giovanni Batista Giorgini-founded Pitti Uomo in 1975. These silhouettes not only challenged the rigidity of stiff suiting, which was further disrupted by the trend of cheaper fabrics, but also emphasised Armani’s flowing proportions without compromising their refined, tailored contours. The wearers suddenly marvelled at the new, dégagé elegance that Armani’s undeniable design virtuosity had engendered.
Forty-odd years have passed since Armani’s timeless unlined jacketing invention—a similar timeframe from when Attolini previously brought high-end unlined jackets into the consciousness. However, today, especially in the realm of elite prêt-à-porter menswear trading, it is Alexander Kraft Monte Carlo who, with their enviable flagship store in Monaco and impressive website, has delectably disrupted the sartorial parameters of high-end unstructured jackets.
Crafting the finest jacket without chest canvas, shoulder padding and lining requires immense dexterity and sleight of hand, which is why there aren’t many such models available in the market. AK MC is an anomaly, where the miscellany of unstructured jackets spans from a wool and cashmere double-faced, double-breasted dog-walking jacket to the beige herringbone alpaca/lambswool private plane jacket. The more casual dog-walking jacket is still expertly cut with high armholes, which is an example of the design’s ambidextrous attributes in the form of tailored freedom. The alpaca/lambswool fabric used for the beige herringbone jacket is so versatile that even the most exclusive fabrics pose no trouble in producing such an impressive unstructured collection. And, as is customary, especially when considering the growing AC MC offering, each unstructured design is deliberately aligned with other designs to curate a rather inventive, yet undeniably comfortable, AK MC outfit.
Similar Articles
