A deconstructed jacket is a staple in the men’s wardrobe, ideal for many occasions because it can be dressed up or down. It looks good with everything, and it’s supremely comfortable. The garment reaches its highest level of sophistication in products by Boglioli, famous above all for their K-jacket, which received screen consacration when it…
A Cathedral as enormous as Milan’s is bound to have a few mysteries hidden away somewhere. One of them can be found in the left-hand transept: a giant candlestick, known as the Candelabro Trivulzio. It is a triumph of fractal geometry: from a distance it seems just a bronze seven-armed candlestick, but as you move…
I couldn’t really say that I’m a fashionista, but there are certain occasions that call for a smart outfit, and so last weekend I was on the road in search of a place to buy a dark suit. Ermenegildo Zegna was what I wanted, and the place was The Place, a small mall just south…
One of Milan’s claims to fame is that it is the only city in which you can give the name of a painting to a taxi driver, and he’ll know exactly where to take you. The Last Supper caused a revolution in painting when it was first unveiled in 1499, and it has contined to…
In the night sky, there are stars at different stages of development: small young stars, growing stars, red giants, and then, as they grow older, white dwarfs, brown dwarfs and even black holes. Brands are like this: at any time, you can see brands at different stages of their history, glowing with different intensities but…
If one had to choose a characteristic of Italian art that sets the 15th century apart from previous periods, it could only be perspective. The depiction of three-dimensional forms on a two-dimensional surface as theorized by Brunelleschi and mathematician Luca Pacioli was as powerful then as the advent of virtual reality is today. Perspective made…
“Mmm, this is lovely”, I said, turning away from the view over Amsterdam. “Mmm, buonissima“, said my wife, “what is it?” “Kwarktaart“, replied my aunt. A white cake with a biscuity base, something like cheesecake but much lighter. “Kwarktaart? Strange name. Sounds like it’s made of sub-atomic particles”. “No, the main ingredient is kwark. Not…
What am I going to wear today? It depends on a lot of things, the stuff that I have in the wardrobe, the stuff that I’ve managed to iron, or the clothes that best suit the occasion, perhaps with influences from things like fashion, family, friends. For other people, style consultants, personal shoppers and so…
Just a glance at a fashion magazine is enough to show that the predominant image of the human condition is that of eternal beauty. But perhaps what people are really after is something more radical: immortality. Many writers have looked at the subject, such as Edgar Allen Poe (The Facts in the Case of M.…
November starts with the ponte dei morti, which, literally translated, means the bridge of the dead. A horror movie? A natural disaster? No, just a long weekend, from Thursday 1 November 2012 to Sunday 4 November. Tutti i Santi, 1 November, is a public holiday in Italy. For many people, Friday gets thrown in free…