| Looking through this menswear special I am struck by its professional mood. Gen Z is now entering the workplace, bringing with it a new sensibility. Take, for example, Jonah Freud, the 28-year-old entrepreneur and psychoanalysis scion behind the extremely fashionable library Reference Point, next to 180 Strand. When photographed for HTSI, he wore a suit and tie and not the customary streetwear it was once assumed a young person would adopt. Having grown up in the era of casualisation, a new cohort of professionals are opting to champion garments and accessories considered redundant office attire. 
© Sirui Ma There’s nothing dull about Freud’s look: far from being conservative or boring, the suit is looking radical again. Neither do Léon del Forno’s braces look old-fashioned; instead, the French lawyer (and this week’s Aesthete) has the mien of a man with flair. Likewise the Italian artist Giangiacomo Rossetti, who is interviewed by Jill Krasny. His paintings draw on masters such as Giacomo Balla and Veronese, but his personal style owes a large debt to Wes Anderson. None of these men was styled when they were shot for this issue; they all came “as they are”. As a trio of individuals working in different arenas, they make a good case for the new professionalism. How to wear a tie: HTSI’s definitive guide | | | | 
© Rodrigo Carmuega As Robert Armstrong, the FT’s style writer and US financial commentator, has long argued, getting dressed for work should not be onerous. His piece accompanies a shoot about different – some might say silly – ways to wear a tie. And while we’re not literally suggesting that you wrap six bits of neckwear around your collar, or flout one in your breast pocket, our story celebrates the accessory that will not die. Robert offers some practical pointers for those who want in on the action. He is an expert. Heed his words: “Skinny ties are dangerous.” “Shininess and shape are more important than colour.” And most importantly: “Have fun.” In the studio with Nigo – Japan’s premier polymath | | | | 
© Stanislaw Boniecki The Japanese designer Nigo has had a bigger influence on the evolving professional wardrobe than many would allow. The 55-year-old designer, DJ and record producer, born Tomoaki Nagao, founded streetwear giant A Bathing Ape, a second streetwear and lifestyle company Human Made, and has worked with A$AP Rocky, Tyler, The Creator and Pharrell Williams; he is also the creative director of Kenzo. A cultural polymath, with dozens of interests, he is the subject of an exhibition at London’s Design Museum later this year. For this issue, he invited us to his Tokyo studio where he indulges another obsession: clay. Nigo’s ceramics allow him to step off the treadmill and embrace a more intimate artistic mood. As he tells HTSI contributing editor Kanae Hasegawa: “In fashion, once I’ve created the design and given instructions… it leaves my hands, goes to the production line and identical items are mass-produced. But pottery is about shaping things directly with my own hands… No two pieces are the same.” (His own professional wardrobe, incidentally, is double denim, which he often pairs with a slogan T-shirt.) Why do bartenders wear white jackets? | | | | 
© Kurt Hutton/Getty Images Lastly, we head to the cocktail lounge and one of the most distinctive uniforms: the white waiter’s jacket, which has been around for more than 200 years. As seen at such august institutions as Harry’s Bar in Venice and the American Bar at The Savoy, the blazer is now being reinterpreted by a host of new bar founders. Alice Lascelles goes bar-hopping to find out why it still endures. | | | | THREE MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK | | |
