If there's one lesson Milan Fashion Week has taught us, it's that good tailoring is everything. And for this reason, a trio of former ELLE Italia stylists got together and created Blazé Milano, a label dedicated to precision-cut, custom-made blazers.
A member of a growing group of brands devoted to producing one thing very well (Mansur Gavriel, Le Kilt), Delfina Pinardi and Corrada Rodriguez D'Acri, both 35, and Sole Torlonia, 30, have focussed their line around four classic styles: a double - and single-breasted option for day, and a colonial-style cut and a smoking jacket for night. Each comes with four stealth pockets so you can go bag-free.
'The blazer is a universal symbol of elegance, ' says Pinardi. 'It carries the allure of the past - icons such as Lauren Hutton and Jane Birkin - but is timeless and adaptable. '
What the collection lacks in size, it makes up for in versatility with pieces that can be worn year-round, year after year. In other words, they're chic, hard-working items for 'confident, hard-working women', says Torlonia.
And yet they're effortless too, an idea that is anathema to the whole idea of a suit jacket. This is the anti-blazer. Inspired by a range of references, from the emblem jackets worn by the Cambridge University rowing club to Coco Chanel, Pinardi, D'Acri and Torlonia wanted to take the stress out of looking polished, but not so it looks try-hard.
Hence a name that riffs on the French term 'blasé'. That attitude permeates the clothes, including Torlonia's favourite, a jacket she calls See You Then. 'I love the denim version because you can throw it in your suitcase and it never creases; it's just so easy to wear,' she says.
That's our kind of fashion.
