I get deeply, viscerally excited by ordinary things executed extraordinary well. A perfect martini. A steak cooked to precisely 128 degrees. A pair of jeans cut so carefully they look just as good with a slinky, cocooning sweater as they do a cropped, skintight tee. To me, nailing the basics is one of life’s small triumphs.
Toteme’s inaugural menswear launch is that kind of triumph. After spending a decade or so perfecting its line of Swedish cool girl upgrades, the brand enlisted Alexander Häggblad (erstwhile head of menswear at Hedi Slimane’s Celine) to translate its design language for the boys, too—and I’m deeply, viscerally excited by the results.
The debut collection arrives jam-packed with real simple, real good clothing: a boxy, buttery leather jacket, a hardy, heavyweight peacoat, shrunken shirting, and yes, just-right jeans. There’s also a knife-sharp double-breasted suit, the croc-embossed loafers you should wear it with, and two fresh riffs on the signature scarf jacket that put the brand on the map (the all-new scarf cardigan is on its way to me as you read this).
There’s a lot more I could say about the assortment, but I’d rather let it speak for itself. If I’ve learned anything from charting Toteme’s stratospheric rise over the last ten-ish years, it’s that simple sometimes really is better. Have at it.
