Shopping for men's clothes this season is a bit like selecting a treat in an expensive confectionery: you do not rush in and devour everything in sight but methodically select choice morsels.
While luxury is a current buzzword too easily bandied about, it is an essential part of what is in store for menswear this autumn. In this sorrowful economic climate, that seems almost puzzling: a $5,000 hand-spun cashmere sweater is hardly a necessity.
But retailers are increasingly clinging to a 'less-is-more' philosophy: if you buy anything this season, make it one or two gems that will see you through this winter and into next if you have chosen well.
As a fashion fundamental, however, luxury should not be confused with formality. These are expensive clothes, but they are not harsh. Fluidity and ease are a given this season.
Broadly, retailers have sought out crisp European tailoring with an American sportswear sensibility. That translates into easy-to-wear men's clothes whose inherent casualness is balanced by upscale fabrics: think double-face cashmere and plush mohair sliced into workaday sweaters, or tender suede styled into a weekend T-shirt.
The tone of the new season's collections is a touch more extravagant than the minimalist dressing that has defined men's fashion in the late 1990s.
