Degrees of separation. Rod Stewart’s shoes in this picture of 1965 with Long John Baldry (singer and guitarist of The British Blues) correspond with the short white socks of Marlon Brando in a portrait that has made history, with him crouched on a chair at Actors Studio. Yes, because if the “error” (or “horror”) comes from a remote past, and besides made by a celebrity, is cool; if it’s made by you, you are a chav. But fashion designers try to surprise us in many ways, with eccentric ideas on the borderline of good taste, so why does a guy today deserve to be called a person of bad taste? White socks are in fashion, for example. We must ask ourselves which is (and if there is) a degree of separation from good and bad. There are different kinds of fashion: conventional doesn’t admit mistakes, while fashion created on purpose, following our personality without worries and obligations, does. The history of Miuccia Prada menswear collections teaches us that oversights and imperfections are (or can be) a sign of personality that makes the difference. My advice: follow your instinct and, if you’re sure you can dare, do it. And if you dare, do it completely.

Ski Style. Looking at Stenmark, Thoeni and Hinterseer in this picture, we immediately notice that twentyeth-century style that today seems to belong to a prehistoric era. This is not nostalgia, I don’t regret those trousers that when you fell got soaked, the snow in the boots, the wind jackets that didn’t repair from cold at all. Thumbs up for the union of fashion and technology. All the more so – fifty years later – we can find that kind of elegance in some sport collection very performing but at the same time very refined (well, it’s not easy to ennoble nylon and elastic fabrics). Z Zegna is an example of that: the sport line designed by Alessandro Sartori for Ermenegildo Zegna is a modern expression of elegance and good taste translated into comfort. After all the sport trend in fashion is very strong, and if on one side we have sophisticated clothes, on the other we can find stronger proposals for that fashion customers that loves ostentatiuons and extreme luxury. And that, in a skiing outfit, walks only on the city streets.

Two of us. Father and son, brothers, friends, life partners, husband and husband, it doesn’t make a difference. First of all, two men. Two man that could be anyone, that could be two of us. How many times have we read about “she” stealing from his wardrobe? Well, in this case is much easier, and mainly the “theft” isn’t one-directional: it’s an exchange. Then it’s normal if age, build and personality don’t correspond; suppose that one is a real dandy and the other is “rock”. One classic-formal and the other a denim-addicted. But the basic garments are the same for all: the white shirt, the polo shirt, the pullover. For once, the gender has nothing to do with it. The exchange is only from man to man. Masculine, masculine noun. Indeed.

Fashion of Art. From 2010 the philosophy of “fashion of Art” started to spread. The most popular brands diversified their communication strategies incorporating other worlds, making them compatible with fashion. One of the first coexistences of art and design is the glass and steel  slide designed by Carsten Holler for Prada Milan headquarter. Among the most recent there are Dolce & Gabbana’s haute-couture (in Naples) and Alta Sartoria Uomo (in Palermo) fashion shows: they chose two art cities, not “fashion” cities, like Milan or Paris. But let’s consider the “tradition of fashion” and fashion in the strict sense and ask ourselves what will remain of this decade 2010/20.  The phenomenon of the millenials will go down in history; the innovation is not the proposal of a harmonious masculine/feminine and feminine/masculine ideal that has already existed from Jim Morrison on, and that was resumed by Hedi Slimane in 2000: the innovation is in the extraordinary ostentation that, translated in numbers, has taken Gucci back to the top of the most sold brands. Hats off to Alessandro Michele. In the end, in memories will remain the multitude of accessories that has supported and supports fashion’s budgets. Little-great pieces of contemporary art, from eyewear to shoes and bags.

Unforgettable. Giacomo Ferrara, 27 years old, before Suburra – The Series had already acted in the namesake movie directed by Stefano Sollima as supporting actor. Then we’ve seen him in Il permesso by Amendola and in Il Contagio with Vinicio Marchioni. But with The Series he has established himself as one of the greatest talents of italian cinema. Ferrara’s power in playing the part of Spadino is really great, a character that is bad but not so bad, with a noticeable “problem” for a criminal from a ruthless gypsy family that fights to obtain its part of territory in a very corrupted capital: he’s homosexual. Ferrara’s Spadino is one of those characters that lingers in everyone’s memory: he’s unforgettable. Unforgettable just like – I don’t overstate – De Niro in Taxi Driver. So much that he deserved an article on Financial Times.