Loro Piana has explored the horizons in crafting ‘true luxury’ — distilled, functional products made of the world’s rarest materials that fixate not on the exterior but on who eventually adorns it. Its Fall Winter 2022 menswear collection evolves the definitions of luxury by imbuing the outdoors in its fabrications.
Clothes embody powerful functions. We have become used tothem working for us — reflecting our personality and moodand giving us an air of authority and confidence. Sometimes, clothes can find their way to express a particular affliction and have the power to comment on a contemporary topic, eventually becoming more than just a piece of garment. Clothes become fashion when it becomes a moment of invention and a distillation of desire. Most would be tempted by the contemporary — sparkly nuances that challenge the ways we think and create characters’ compositions that enter us through performative impulses.
The most powerful clothes, however, are always the ones that are arrested in function with a simple focus on craft and quality. It fixates not on the exterior but on who eventually adorns it: concerning themselves with even the most subtle details, such as the way it feels on the skin, how it never creases, and the way it accentuates and transforms within a moment’s notice. That is true luxury, and one of the Houses that has explored its horizons is Loro Piana — a historical but contemporary brand with a fleet of the world’s most exclusive fabrics.
The Northern Italian House started with wool. Pietro Loro Piana founded the current company Ing. Loro Piana & C. in 1924 andestablished themselves as a supplier of premium wool and cashmeretextiles for the then-growing Haute Couture industry. Even though fashion has moved at incredible speeds, the House has remained focused on its founding values for sourcing the world’s finest and rarest materials. Unique cashmere from baby goats in northern Chinaand Mongolia, vicuña wool from the Andes, extra-fine Merino wool from Australia and New Zealand, and lotus flower fibre from Myanmar are prime examples.
While scanning the far corners of the world for these luxuries, Loro Piana established a sense of formality in its DNA. Products that have been ushered in since have always been simple but rich in detail. It is an existential meditation on discipline, rigour, and the eternal quest for perfection that results in modern clothes retired from trends — seeking true luxury in their workmanship.
While the language for the House has been sustained for decades, recent collections from Loro Piana have evolved their definitions of luxury by imbuing outdoor functionality across its offerings. While nurturing that familiar sense of ease, its latest Fall Winter 2022 menswear collection receives a retrofit that encourages a slight tinge of adventure.
In it, the collection envisions its finematerials as fabrications that can sustain even the harshest ofelements, developing a series of products that are intended forthe outdoors. For instance, its ulster coat in Baby Cashmere and a cashmere Storm System windbreaker or parka mediate between both worlds. The rest of the collection consists of staples with essential edits suited for different occasions and times, meant to be interpreted according to the will and instincts of its wearer.
It is a wardrobe that is both adaptable and concise — single and double-breasted coats and long parkas; zip-up hooded blousons and calfskin bombers; single and double-breasted suits are either worn formally with a necktie or informally with a polo neck jumper. This includes its thick ribbed pullovers, softly collared polo shirts, corduroy pants, and denim pants that bring a leisurely spirit to the everyday.
Designed in Italy and produced by artisanal craftsmen,these modern renditions of Loro Piana marry an unconventionalapproach to quiet luxury. With a sustainable and serious direction,they exemplify slow-paced fashion. Loro Piana interrupts the notion of the industry’s immense speed, breaking that sound barrier with a sonic boom that provides enough clarity for us to take a seat back and admire the qualities of something truly worthy of attention. And while the House nestles between the realms of timelessness and craft, it reminds us that a slower approach is always the way forward.
Once you’re done with this story, click here to catch up with our October 2022 issue.
RELATED ARTICLES
Chart Life’s Adventures With Dual Time Watches
