Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead

THE 2014 Canali suit

What is important for us is that it shouldn’t look too different from what it was last year or five years ago. But in reality, it is, because of constant innovation. Innovation towards making a suit which is lighter, softer and more comfortable. Men like to be comfortable, at the same time they want to look impeccable. What is new is the sense of lightness and the challenge is to achieve that using very light canvas materials. To have feather-light garments which also make for a clean and perfect shape and silhouette.

What should not change over the years is the elegance and perfection of the silhouette. The silhouette should always look contemporary. Looking more contemporary today means smaller point-to-point shoulders. Narrow shoulders and short jacket that is closer to the body and more trimmed but at the same time does not oppress. Whether he’s a promising young businessman in his late 20s with a nicely-shaped body or a more mature gentleman with a not-so-slim body, he can still look good in this style.

man in a Canali suit

He’s a man who in his taste and what he likes is deeply and healthily rooted in traditional values but is really looking at the future. He likes the qualities of the past but doesn’t stand still. He wants to evolve, be modern and always updated.

Ranbir Kapoor

What’s in, what’s out

It depends from market to market but the picture today is — In: Single-breasted two buttons

Out: Three buttons.

In: Trimmer jackets

Out: Jackets which are too long and square.

In: Slim trousers with a lower waist

Out: Baggy trousers.

Navy blue is becoming the colour this year. Navy blue has always been part of a classic wardrobe but this year we have seen it become a mandatory dress code for every man.

COMMON MISTAKES

Dressing is a matter of personal taste but objectively, the most common mistakes are the mix and match of accessories. Things should be much easier for men but in reality it’s not so. To put together the same patterns in suits, shirts and ties or using colours which are too contrasting or two-toned is a no-no. Suits belong to the area of elegance and to think elegance is a matter of balance. Of not being extreme or finding something that is not too obvious or provocative. There always must be a twist in the details. Maybe a pin on the lapel or the handkerchiefs or a colour in the tie, which is a bit bolder than usual but still keeping within boundaries. If too loud, you’re no longer elegant in a suit but something else.

Barack Obama

THE suit-able look

In choosing a suit, for us two things are very important — the fit and the quality. Our suggestion to the men is to give priority to this. To look good and feel comfortable in your suit, stand in front of the mirror and say, ‘Okay this is me, not what somebody else wants me to be but what I am.’ Then go for a quality which is long-lasting, rather than something that is maybe attractive for the time being but won’t last for more than one season. A good suit is one that lasts for a very long time and will never go out of fashion.

Men today like to experiment more. We noticed an acceleration in this trend around six years ago thanks to the revolution in women’s fashion that happened a few years prior to that. It took us some years but men started to think they wanted to look younger, modern and more like the son than the father. Vanity is more and more a part of men’s behaviour and it is natural now for men to look and feel good. The idea is to start by building a wardrobe but personal taste is the key. Buy what you feel comfortable in and not wear what somebody else says you should.

For a Canali debut

The idea is to try it on. We tend to have in our experience a very loyal following — people who have converted to Canali and become fans after wearing Canali, appreciating it day after day. They like the quality, the style and the compliments they get when they’re wearing a Canali. If you’re a first-time banker and have to dress in a certain way, we have a fantastic choice of professional suits in a wide choice of fits and fabrics. Business suits in classic silhouettes and sober tones would be a perfect choice to start with.

Our customers are usually entrepreneurs, top managers, doctors, lawyers and the dress code for these professionals is usually more muted and toned down. People who work in a creative field favour the more contemporary lines which have a wide range of looks, more innovative fabrics and bolder and daring in colours and patterns. This Spring we included some bright colours and it was quite successful.

Suit styles for the...

a) tall vs short: The human eye reads proportions and despite the trends a tall man would look better in a three-button suit and wider trousers because it will offer balance to his full figure. A shorter man will look better in a two-button suit with a lower button stance and trimmer trousers.

b) plump vs skinny: A fat body should avoid bolder patterns and checks and use plain fabrics in darker colours that will make him look slimmer. For a skinny person, plain fabrics are better to create a regular look.

c) dark vs fair: Dark-skinned people are luckier because they can wear a wider choice of colours in contrasting patterns. There was a nice debate last month about President Obama wearing an unusual colour suit during a conference, a light beige colour, what in America is called a tan suit. In reality he looked absolutely fabulous in that colour, really elegant! Fair-skinned people usually look better in darker colours, especially blue.

can’t-go-wrong suit

I think a travel suit or a travel blazer today is an essential part of a man’s wardrobe. Suits treated and finished in such a way that they are crease-resistant is the fabric for the modern man. Today’s men are always on the move and they want to wear a suit, which they can pack and repack, sit in the aeroplane for a couple of hours and even after all that, look crisp and creaseless.

Take care of the suit

Very simple. Most important rule is to not use the same suit more than once a week. Natural materials have an incredible feature of regaining shape so best is to let it hang on a hanger. Brush the suit often to get rid of dust so that the fabric keeps the colour and shape. Dry clean as less as possible. In reality a canvas suit like Canali does not fear dry cleaning but not all dry cleaners are very professional and especially in the pressing process might not do the same good job as suit-makers do. For example, in our factories, every suit undergoes around 50 pressing operations which gives shape to the suit. The key is to give a natural rounded shape to the lapel and not squeeze or crush it.

A suit must look gentle, delicate and clean.

A quick chat with Paolo Canali on the Calcutta debut of the family and their store on the ground floor of quest mall

Your first impression of Calcutta?

This is my very first time in Calcutta and unfortunately for just a few hours so the drive from the airport was really the only chance to catch a glimpse of the city. I noticed a lot of construction going on, nice residential buildings, quite an active place.... All in all a nice sense of energy. You always come to appreciate something like this when you’re coming from an old continent where things don’t happen so frequently and so fast. I’ve been in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai but never managed to do much sightseeing. In Italy, a church every kilometre marks a different territory with different people and languages. I hope to discover such things here in India too.

What are your observations on the men’s sense of dressing in India?

During my visits to India for almost 10 years, I’ve got to meet some of the Indian men who are patrons of Canali. They are very knowledgeable about their clothing. Not casual buyers but more and more demanding which is what we like — the challenge to try something new and better. Good taste comes from heritage and education. I’m new to Calcutta but I’m told that Calcutta is a city of heritage, education, culture and good taste. To look at the street is interesting from a sociological aspect because more and more, our inputs come from the streets. Maybe some details and influences will also come into our fashion.

Are you aware of the traditional dhoti-kurta Bengali men wear?

Yes, in pictures. I personally like traditions and the fact that there are traditional clothing items worn with a sense of pride is nice. You don’t want the world to look alike. With globalisation, the risk is to lose the rich local traditions and this applies to clothing and to food. A reason why we introduced our interpretation of the bandhgala — the Nawab Jacket.

Your plans for the Calcutta store?

We came to Calcutta because the market potential now felt quite positive. We feel that the Calcutta store might have exceeded our expectations so we have high hopes. It is also the first store in India and third in the world where we implemented the new shop concept. It was a test, Calcutta is a special product and we’re happy with the result. Our architect came to Calcutta during the construction. For us to open a store in Calcutta had been in the plans for a long time but we were waiting for a good shopping mall to open in the right location and be an exact match for Canali’s image and atmosphere.

(As told to Mohua Das)