LAPO OF LUXURY... INTERNATIONAL MAN OF STYLE

"No logo and you don't advertise for anyone. I don't believe in imposed luxury. I believe in built luxury. Something you refine with your own taste. Mass luxury is not my luxury."

-Lapo Elkann

Meet the Man of Style

Lapo Elkann (born October 7, 1977) is a New York-born Italian industrialist, former marketing manager. He is currently the manager of brand promotion at Fiat Automobiles. He is a "global ambassador" of the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer. Son of Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen and the writer Alain Elkann, he is the brother of the Agnelli "crown prince"John Elkann. Elkann is a grandson of Marella Agnelli and Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli and a stepson of Russian count Serge de Pahlen. In addition to his brother, John, Elkann has a sister, Ginevra Elkann, and five half-siblings by his mother's second marriage: Maria, Pierre, Sophia, Anna, and Tatiana. He’s young, good-looking and extremely wealthy. He’s fluent in six languages and the very definition of cosmopolitan, having been born in New York, raised in Brazil, educated in England and France, and now once again living in Gotham. He’s the scion of Italy’s preeminent family (the Agnellis, not the Mafia), and is quintessentially Italian. Style and fashion are in his blood, thanks to his aunt Diane von Furstenberg. He’s linked with sleek cars and even sleeker women. Perennially named to the world’s best-dressed lists, he’s officially a Style Icon.

Now lets talk about his Personal Style.

personal style is eclectic. One day he will be precisely dressed in a blue double-breasted suit, spread-collar white shirt, solid tie and puffed pocket square, or a navy blazer and stripped pants with red socks and brown shoes. On the next, he’ll wear a bold-check suit with scarf, or he’ll spice up one of the impeccably cut suits he inherited from Gianni Agnelli by wearing sneakers with no socks. For daywear he quirkily favors tuxedo jackets in bold and unlikely checks. He’s commissioned a Mediterranean-blue suit from the prestigious Rome tailoring house of Caraceni, executed to his specifications, accented by grosgrain lapels with the proportions of a 1959 Cadillac’s tailfins and a built-in cummerbund waistband, which he’ll wear with velvet slippers. 

 

He talks to Pandora Lennard about his unique take on the definition of luxury. Here's an excerpt of that interview.

Pandora Lennard: When you are working on a project, what inspires you?

Lapo Elkan: I am very curious. I’ve been curious in good ways and bad ways, but I’ve always paid for it. I love movies, I love photos, travelling, people, all kinds of people. I’m not a snob – I like the waiters, the bartenders, I like the girl who does the coffee, the guy who washes the windows. I like humanity. People are 90 per cent of whatever you do. If you have the right people you win, andif you have the wrong people you lose. I learned this at a very young age, because I made mistakes with people at a young age. It made me learn very quickly.

Pandora Lennard: Is there still a market for luxury brands in the current economic climate?

Lapo Elkan: I think people confuse luxury. Luxury is a very complex and cheapened word. There’s luxury, and there is mass luxury. To me, mass luxury is Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Prada. It’s belts you have all over the world with a logo on them. A lot of people buy brands because it allows them to show that they are rich; that they’ve made it. It’s status, not real luxury. Real luxury to me is having a full fridge, but not having a butler. Real luxury is Anderson & Sheppard. Real luxury is being able to customise the interior of your Ferrari with denim or pinstriped cloth. Luxury is never having to hear the word “no”.

Lapo is a man who always gets it right. Whether on jeans or a well tailored suit, he is class personified!

PHARRELL...THE STYLE ICON OF THE CURRENT GENERATION

“Fashion has to reflect who you are, what you feel at the moment, and where you’re going. It doesn’t have to be bright, doesn’t have to be loud. Just has to be you.”

-  Pharrell Williams

Meet the Man of Style.

Pharrell Williams (born April 5, 1973) or more commonly known as Pharrel is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer,  fashion designer and style icon. He created a fashion line in 2005 with Nigo  (a Japanese record producer and creator of the clothing line  A Bathing Ape), later he co-founded the clothing brand Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear. He has a store in New York City. In 2011, Pharrell  launch his cream liqueur, Qream with a Q. Cream liqueur strikes a new chord as it targets the female demographic with a touch of indulgence which, according to Pharrell, was missing in today's female drinks. Qream with a Q comes in two varieties, Strawberry Crème and Peach Crème.

Now lets talk about his style. 

Pharrell will never fall into the mold of the prototypical rap star uniform, he is a lot more casual in the way he dresses on a day to day basis. Through this, he redefine the style scene of the current generation. Evidently from the re-emergenge of the trucker hat, vintage graphic tees down to camouflage cargo shorts.That doesn’t mean he cannot do formal though. He can effortlessly transform his stylish self into a polished modern dandy with an edge, through bow ties, crispy shirts and velvet blazers. 

Just recently, Pharrell revealed his thoughts on style exclusively to GQ.com. Here's an excerpt from the interview.

My style hero was Batman. Now it's Tony Starks. 

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Sometimes what is bad taste now, three years later could be the most incredible thing ever. You just never know.

I like it when Prince William goes dandy. He's got all the proper wardrobe when they do the hunting thing. They kill that! I was inspired by a lot of Purdey - the Space Beach Cape in the new BBC A/W collection was Purdey mixed with a bit of Malcolm McClaren.

How did I dress well on a budget? I dressed completely ridiculously. We had this habit of wearing two pairs of socks. One we would wear normally, the other we would pull right over the ball of your foot. It would make your shoe puffy, which would make your foot appear smaller. We were just weirdos, man. I don't know what dimension that rolled out of.

Alber Elbaz is just a genius. He'll be in a dinner jacket and he doesn't care what time of day it is: I love that about him. He just marches to the beat of his own drum.

I love boat shoes, but I've got to let them go now. Don't you think? Dr. Martens are making a very interesting comeback. Good colours and a different silhouette. A lot of [high-end] shoes come across as "designer". It's anti-designer time.

If you look at Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream, I've been inspired by archetypes. In the super hipster dance culture, there are things like these [picks up Ice Cream tracksuit trousers with popsicles on them]. Shay would never wear these - but they are so comfortable. I was making them so punks and hipsters could come and get some things too. Because we're not a punk or hipster brand. We did a lot of hipster things, but we moved on.

Nike is still killing it. I don't know what it is but there's something about the futuristic sneaker shape that kills it. I saw this kid wearing [purple and pink woven] Nike shoes downstairs and I was like, "What the hell is this?" Those were cold.

Marc Jacobs is the godfather. In no specific order, there's Karl [Lagerfeld], Junya Watanabe Rei from Comme Des Garcoms and Tommy Hilfiger is creeping up too - he has a nice couture line. Let's get Nigo in there as well! All of those guys are the kings of all kings. The fact I was able to meet those people and work with them was really cool.

Ralph Lauren Purple Label is incredible. That denim collection was crazy: they had overalls with a coal-mining type of look.  I'm for sure going to Ralph's restaurant in his Paris store.

Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons capture my imagination. Brian Donnelly [Kaws] is on the way. Lucien Pellat-Finet is a designer but he kills it.

I look at some clothes and say, "Never". But then I wake up one day and I'm wearing jeans that are tight as fuck. I remember having that conversation five years ago and saying, "Not me." Then two years years later all my jeans are super-slim. I felt crazy wearing bigger jeans. I give it two or three years but big jeans will come back. I don't know about people starting to wear them lower though - when things come back they come in a different incarnation which isn't the same cut.

I don't know about style mistakes. I like the world. I like the fact that some people dress great, some people dress fucked up. Here's how it works: everything everyone wore two or three years back are now no-nos. As the next year progresses, another year falls past. But you keep everything.

I love black tie. Getting dressed up, performing, wearing tuxes: I love that. When Shay cleans up, he's a sharp guy. [At this point Shay interjects: "Unfortunately, I don't. I went to the Met Ball in T-shirt and jeans."]

Steve McQueen is still my all-time favorite. Him and [Robert] Redford in Gatsby.

  

This guy really know what he's talking about. A true Icon of Style.

THE BASIC WHITE TEE

This tops the list of shirts. Wear a basic white T-shirt with a jeans, it is casuals. Add a nice coat, the corporate will invite you. And when you want to mix both formals and casuals, wear a zip-up jacket. The white T-shirt will serve you, anywhere, anytime.

Every man has a set of white t-shirts in his drawer. The most basic of essentials. There are so many different types of fits, fabrics, and necks to choose from. The baggiest of the baggy approach dresses and the deepest of v-necks approach navels. But done right there's nothing more classic.

A MAN MUST BE A WORK OF ART OR AT LEAST WEAR A WORK OF ART

A very wise Italian film director named Federico Fellini once said,"I discovered that what's really important for a creator isn't what we vaguely define as inspiration or even what it is we want to say, recall, regret, or rebel against. No, what's important is the way we say it. Art is all about craftsmanship. Others can interpret craftsmanship as style if they wish. Style is what unites memory or recollection, ideology, sentiment, nostalgia, presentiment, to the way we express all that. It's not what we say, but how we say it, matters."

Style in its finest sense is how we express our inner being outwardly. It's the total combination of the way you dress, talk, move your body, or do anything for that matter. Though it is commonly use to describe one's fashion or outer appearance, it is more of how we express ourselves. This includes all of our thoughts, emotions, interests, and values. Everything on the outside is merely a reflection of what's on the inside because "FASHION IS EXPRESSION," as simple as that. 

The vital truth I find with style is this simple rule. "Wear what you like." Buy what you like. Don't shop with a list in your head created by so-called style gurus, with a constant niggling of different over-priced foreign fashion brands. Don't restrict yourself to labels. Don't abide to titles. So what if I own something by Adidas and something by Prada? Most of the time we only have a single chance to draw people in and make one lasting impression. A man must always appear as a work of art or at least wear a work of art. Create that first impression magical & do it with style.

This is what style for me and this is my own style & fashion blog. It's all about how to get great fashion, on how to maximize one's wardrove and how to live life in style. The best part...doing it all while paying less and living life to the fullest. Style doesn't need to be expensive because there are other facets of our daily life that can allow us to live stylishly. It is a true mindset, one that is ever-prevalent once committed to. Style isn’t about trendy or what’s in; it’s about how you perceive your life and how you approach it, even on a tight budget. As the MonseurYves Saint Laurent want us to remember, "Fashion fade, style is eternal ."

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