The central dichotomy of Jonathan Simkhai’s new menswear line is East Coast/West Coast, but the lookbook’s styling suggests a kind of middle-of-the-road or ‘Weastcoast’ look, mixing tailoring and streetwear. Suits are worn with tank tops, and tailored tweed jackets are paired with a fine merino polo and made-in-LA jeans. A lot of attention has been paid to tactility because the designer has noticed that his customer pays more attention to the hand of the fabrics and “less to the nuance and design.” It seems that the young Hollywood types who come to Simkhai are looking for two kinds of comfort: the feeling of fabric on the skin and a general sense of ease. “They want to wear something chic, but not necessarily a tight suit,” says the designer. In his attempt to “find new ways to do evening for men, [which feels] smoother,” Simkhai proposed larger and looser suit shapes, based on a vintage find from the 80s, a kind of new-money look.
