Patrik Ervell, the king of chic sportswear
I'm a little obsessed with the sportswear trend at the moment, last seen way back in the '90s. But it's not about wearing your tatty old tracksuit; as if fashion is ever that simple! It's much more formal and minimal than that:
imagine a very smart old gent, wearing suit trousers, shirt, tie and an anorak. On the (admittedly London only) high street H&M's offshoot COS is perfect for this kind of thing, as is Uniqlo.
The king of chic sportswear is Patrik Ervell, a Swede who has settled in the US giving what he calls "classic American sportswear pushed in slightly more bizarre territory" a distinctly Scandinavian feel.
He spoke to Dazed & Confused late last year about his most recent
collection: "There was an overarching military feeling to it. There
weren't any overt military references in a trite way like
epaulettes, but there was an underlying thought behind it." This was
particularly captured in a jacket made from vintage parachutes: "I was
really inspired by the look of these surplus airforce parachutes from
the 1950s, [which I] sourced from a military contractor. It's kind of
perverse, I know, but they are incredibly beautiful things to look at."
This kind of style is perfect for the transition between spring and summer, and autumn. The simplicity of the clothes give a spring time freshness, while the classical shapes give an air of autumnal nostalgia. Layering is very easy with this look, and seems to be more and more important as the seasons blur into each other.