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A-list winter looks: Eight must-have menswear items viewed through a cinematic lens
From Donnie Darko 'rabbit' hats and slick bomber jackets inspired by Top Gun to shart suits that could grace the back of any Hitchcock hero, Alexander Fury reveals Autumn/winter 2014's slickest styles...
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Your support makes all the difference.1. Donnie Darko
By Thom Browne
The bunnies that populated Browne's catwalk back in January weren't quite the portents of doom witnessed in the 2001 movie. Rather, Browne's theme was the hunter and the hunted – those rabbits came alongside stags, elephants and badgers, while the hunters were inflated to Elmer Fudd proportions via supersized suits stiffened with nylon filtration mesh. The millinery menagerie came courtesy of Stephen Jones, each hat matched to the tweed of the suit below. Natty. But made-to-order only, obviously.
'Rabbit' hat, to order, Thom Browne, 100 Hudson Street New York, 001 212 633 1197
2. The Searchers
Wear Jimmy Choo
Cowboy boots. On blokes. It's dodgy territory for anyone other than John Wayne. Nevertheless, this winter a heeled cowboy-ish boot is a menswear must-have. Avoid tooled leather and/or a pointed toe. Rather, it's one or two details – a heightened heel, or the spur-alike belt detail gracing these by Jimmy Choo.
Boots, £595, Jimmy Choo, jimmychoo.com
3. Braveheart
At Topman Design
There's nothing particularly 13th-century Highlands about this fringe-seamed jacket by the Topman Design team. However, even a whisper of tartan will, for many, hark back to Mel Gibson's tousle-locked turn as director and star of the 1995 William Wallace biopic. That may be some 20 years hence, but it feels relevant for today – in a broad cultural sphere, the nation (and much of the world) were gripped by the independence debate, while in narrower, more style-focused stakes, tartan crosshatched its way across many a garment in January's menswear shows.
Jacket, £220, Topman Design, topman.com
4. 54
By Calvin Klein
Some of these cinematic tie-ins are, quite frankly, tenuous. But Calvin Klein and 54 makes perfect sense. The man was actually there, after all – not in the film, but in the legendary club it was based on. The man may have left the label, but it very much continues in his hedonistic wake. The fact their latest fragrance is called 'Liquid Gold Euphoria' implies all sorts of innuendo, continuing in the grand house tradition of scents provocatively monikered stuff like 'Obsession', and those slinky "Nothing gets between me and my Calvins" jeans ads. Come to think of it, why exactly has no one made a film of Klein's life? That would be a block-buster worth seeing.
Euphoria Liquid Gold, £44 for 50ml, by Calvin Klein, debenhams.com
5. Top Gun
At Acne
Menswear is dominated by classics – most of the time, if you buy something properly made from proper fabric, it won't slide out of style for a good few years. Take the flight suits, flying jackets and fatigues sported by a young Tom Cruise in Tony Scott's Top Gun. Strip them of all the annoying badges and insignia – which looked pretty bad even back then – and you're left with timeless, classic masculine attire that looks as relevant almost three decades later. Acne, the Swedish label renowned for luxed-up takes on wardrobe staples, offer a slick nylon bomber that's sure to stand the test of time.
Jacket, £440, Acne, acnestudios.com
6. ET
By Raf Simons/Sterling Ruby
OK, this isn't especially ET – in that it isn't something Steven Spielberg's wrinkle-creased extra-terrestrial would sport, nor Elliott. But there's definitely something of that Eighties blockbuster about this seemingly randomly-printed sweatshirt created in a one-season collaboration with Californian artist Sterling Ruby. Maybe it's the odd, alien faces on the chest, or those dialling fingers at the bottom. Or maybe it's just the fact it looks a little like a homemade jumper from about 1982 when the film was released.
Sweatshirt, £275, Raf Simons/Sterling Ruby, selfridges.com
7. Strangers On A Train
From River Island
Wouter Baartmans and Amber Siegel are a young design duo making a name for themselves with sharp tailoring that could grace the back of any Hitchcock hero. Their Baartmans & Siegel label is heftily-priced (and doing a roaring trade among men with predilections for cashmere and buttery leather), but for the non-movie-mogul moneyed among us, the twosome have collaborated on a range for River Island. Expect bonded wools, reversible details and even a slither of suede.
Blazer, £120, Baartmans & Siegel for River Island Design Forum, riverisland.com
8. American Psycho
Via Lab Series
There are few images of male preening more pronounced in either literature or film than Patrick Bateman's painstaking and truly psychopathically precise morning toilette. Although you got the feeling that half of it was used for effect – or, perhaps, just to clutter up the bathroom cabinet nicely. The same is true, sort of, of Lab Series, products which cleanse, tone and moisturise with a thoroughness that would gratify even Bateman, but also look slick as sink-side eye candy.
Lab Series, from £17, boots.com
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