As well as being a very knowledgeable soccer conversationalist, Umit Benan continues to be an extremely gifted designer. His studio on the southern fringes of the navigli hints at wider passions too: great furniture, a (sadly, folded) ping-pong table, and multiple skateboards.
Yet the center of Benan’s orbit remains his creation of uncompromisingly manufactured and painstakingly designed ultra-luxe clothing whose lineage is rooted in menswear but is also wearable by any gender. Following last season’s cigar-toned Cuban emphasis, Benan said he was upping the intensity of his color palette as evidenced by an ensemble of emerald cashmere shirt under a blue, black, and brown checked jacket north of some Bengal stripe cotton pajama pants alongside him.
Supreme pieces here included a workwear jacket in double cashmere either in sunflower yellow or olive green that you would hesitate to do any but the gentlest of work in. These hung alongside same-fabric raglan overcoats; both were garments whose apparent simplicity, combined with the precious fabric, served to manifest rich sophistication. Stopping at a mustard/camel cashmere hoodie, Benan said: “at the end of day, I don’t want to mess too much with design. The emphasis is on great stuff, stuff that’s so great you want to come back and buy it again.”
A loose-legged blue and white herringbone suit in silk/wool shown over another slouchy Bengal stripe underlayer was, in theory, a women’s look. It was also evidence of Benan’s ability to make clothes with a formal architecture appear almost slouchily deformalized. Pieces including a stiff British mohair covered-button jacket and a magnificent chocolate brown cashmere carried pomp without demanding ceremony. These are garments made for the niche of a niche in a niche—exclusive both in terms of price point and aesthetic. B+ was A+.
