Having animals in a fashion show is always a gamble, but Boo the Weimaraner charmed everyone as she accompanied the second look at Dunhill, traversing a gravel path in a private garden abutting the Poldi Pezzoli Museum and panting only a little in the heat.
No detail is too small for Dunhill creative director Simon Holloway, who seemed to match a rust-colored outfit to one model’s hair color, had others in evening robes clutching silver lighters and leather cigar cases, and selected one newcomer for his striking resemblance to a young Viscount Linley.
“He’s even got the amazing Windsor blue eyes,” the designer marveled.
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To wit: Holloway’s mood board featured the “standard bearers of classic British menswear,” including the Duke of Windsor and King Charles III, alongside Bryan Ferry and Charlie Watts, icons of British rock.
This was a smooth and easy-to-like Dunhill show, featuring a live string quartet, lots of handsome driving jackets and trenches, and the best-looking cast in Milan, including two Vanderloos — Mark and Mark Jr.
The clothes felt current, and more approachable than usual, the repp ties wound very slightly askew and baseball caps adding a sporty, irreverent touch to dark lounge suits worn with sherbet-color waistcoats and bow ties.
“The formal undone, the classic made rakish,” the press notes detailed.
“Really, it’s a story of impeccable classic menswear worn in two completely different ways — one highly coded, almost a kind of diplomatic level of dress, and then the other one, just the pleasure of menswear worn in a more kind of carefree way,” Holloway said backstage, not one hair out of place.
Clément Chabernaud closed the show in a silk and wool smoking jacket, accompanied by two Russian Hunting Sighthounds, also known as Borzoi.
Holloway told the backstory.
“A couple of years ago, I went to one of those very posh members clubs in London, and the proprietor was standing at the top of the staircase wearing a beautiful evening suit with two hounds flanking him,” he related. “So this may be the fantasy of the runway, but it’s also a reflection of the reality that I see in Mayfair.”