Brioni Menswear Spring 2021

“So we were talking to Brad Pitt,” said Norbert Stumpfl, “and he was saying that he really likes workwear.” For that name-drop alone Pitt represents excellent value, but the actor’s now two-season campaign stint for Brioni has showcased Stumpfl’s alpha menswear on Hollywood’s prime alpha to great effect too. Until now, though, Pitt has been shot in tailoring. For this spring collection Stumpfl took the hint and inserted some workwear jackets; fitted, not-quite-trucker shirts; and pants into a collection that is usually pitched at men for whom workwear means a bespoke three-piece suit. Some of the results you can see in Looks 12 and 14; however, a photo, film, or even live fashion show cannot translate quite how these bad boys feel to wear. Most workwear is cut in high-density cotton drill, sometimes with a soupçon of added synthetic for extra resilience, but these were fashioned in overdyed and washed silk, woven to have more substance than your usual Versace party shirt but still caressingly light and soft on the body. This fabrication worked so well that Stumpfl also extended it to a long-lapel blazer, but it was the navy work jacket that cried out most insistently to be shoplifted from Brioni’s showroom.