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Sunday, September 7, 2014

Newport International Runway Group Tokyo Fashion on Menswear around the World

(FACEBOOK and PINTEREST) - IT'S RARE THAT Giuseppe Santamaria will stop a well-dressed man on the street to take his picture. Instead, the photographer and art director—a Sydney, Australia-based Canadian expat—tends to capture subjects as they stroll on by, often when they're freshly dressed and en route to work. Mr. Santamaria, 28, who cites photographers like '60s-era Magnum lensman Ernst Haas as inspiration, said, "It's about freezing that moment, seizing what that guy's life is like." As a result, authentic energy infuses the images he shoots for his four-year-old street-style blog, Men in This Town, which he has turned into a book of the same name, available Sept. 2.

Mr. Santamaria traces his menswear fascination to his Toronto childhood and a dapper Italian father partial to polos, short shorts and wicker shoes. "I thought his was an older way of dressing," he said. "But now I wear the same shoes and shirts. It's this influence I never realized I had."

Today, Mr. Santamaria's appreciation for menswear is global. His new book documents five cities he's deemed menswear capitals—New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Milan and London. His hometown didn't make the cut. He explained, diplomatically: "Toronto is one of those cities trying to find itself." Here, five images from "Men in This Town" and Mr. Santamaria's take on the unique sartorial charms of each locale.


ARTFUL TAILORING IN MILAN

"Milanese men are born with taste, and not much changes," Mr. Santamaria said. Still, he sees a difference between the generations. Younger men wear sportier clothes, he explained, while more-tailored looks seem to be reserved for older men. "There's almost a rite of passage," he added. "You have to earn the right to pull off that suit." Having clocked a little time on planet Earth can make a man more photogenic, added Mr. Santamaria: "[I like] that you can see the experience and tradition in their faces." Many of Mr. Santamaria's Milanese photos focus on these older gentlemen like fashion showroom owner Alessandro Squarzi. Mr. Squarzi's élan comes via spezzato—artfully mismatched jackets and trousers. Try it with a plaid blazer, vest and khaki pants.

TOYKO'S SENSE OF PRECISION

The Japanese city is hands-down Mr. Santamaria's favorite to shoot. "[Tokyo residents] pay so much attention to what they wear," he said. "They execute a look to the very last detail." And that's true whether a guy is working an old-school dandy flourish or parsing the finer points of high-quality raw denim. Regarding the latter, few people do cool Americana better than the Japanese, who worship selvage denim, chambray shirts and limited-edition sneakers. "It's the most amazing place I've been to," he said. "You feel like you're engulfed in this other universe."


MARRYING PAST AND FUTURE IN LONDON

Mr. Santamaria pronounced men in London as high-fashion-obsessed: "When you see something on the runway, you see it on the streets a few weeks later." But it's not all about the fashion-forward. London style mixes the new with the old. It's a look perfectly captured by Dan Rookwood, the U.S. editor for e-commerce site Mr Porter, whom Mr. Santamaria interviewed for his book. "He has this heritage look about him but is always on top of whatever is new," said the photographer. "It's not about wearing vintage, it's about wearing modern clothing but sort of following the traditions of his dad's wardrobe." Note the slimmed-down, contemporary cut of Mr. Rookwood's camel coat and his soft-frame briefcase. For a similar effect, try AMI's camel coat, a classic Dunhill pinstripe suit and the dandy-like flourish of a floral silk tie.

NEW YORK'S LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

"New York is the most fun when it comes to fashion," said Mr. Santamaria. "You have everything, from big-box to luxury stores. This is where fashion is most accessible, and there's so much opportunity to do things with your clothes." And not just clothes. About the picture here, he commented in his book, "Nowhere but New York does a mode of transportation become a fashion statement." To underline the city's sense of fashion freedom, "Men in This Town" features an interview with womenswear designers Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra, well known for their twinned uniforms of plaid shirts, suspenders and lumberjack beards. "They've been doing it since the '90s," Mr. Santamaria said. "They anticipated the hipster movement. They're pioneers." Key elements of Gotham style: a subtly refined version of that sportswear classic, a fisherman's knit, and a basic backpack recast in striped wool and leather. The final touch is footwear that earned its street cred decades ago, Converse's Chuck Taylors.


SYDNEY'S LIGHTER TAKE ON TRADITION

Perhaps because he lives there, Mr. Santamaria is a vocal proponent of Sydney's burgeoning menswear scene. "Especially in the last five years or so, it's started to boom," he said. Men dress appropriately for the mostly warm climate, but that doesn't mean flip-flops and shorts. "You're starting to see looks done in a Neapolitan way, but it's lighter and more free," Mr. Santamaria said. "It's a mix between sartorial and beachy." Certainly a sharp-shouldered jacket worn with a T-shirt and dashingly looped bohemian scarf strikes the right balance. As does an unlined Boglioli jacket and smartly casual, moccasin-like boots.


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