Proper Magazine

Tennis has always been stylish. The sport’s traditionally strict dress codes have left stars restricted on how to differentiate themselves from the crowd – but the game’s most daring and memorable athletes have always managed to find a way. Andre Agassi wore an outrageously baggy Nike ensemble when he won at Wimbledon in 1992. McEnroe seemingly refused to ever change out of his Tacchini Star Track Top for his four-year reign of terror in the ’80s.

Let’s be honest, most hiking shoes spend more time walking to the coffee shop than they do scaling windswept ridgelines. Well, they do for me. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, so tell your boring mate who takes walking up big hills really seriously to wind his neck in. Sorry, that was a pretty aggressive start wasn’t it? It’s too hot isn’t it? Sorry. Sorry. Let’s focus on the shoes, shall we? The original sentiment I tried to express has some foundation.

Whenever Nanamica releases a new lookbook, it’s big news here in the Proper office – we promptly drop everything, and crowd round a dirty monitor screen like seagulls sizing up a toddler’s ice cream. Like most jacket-centric brands, Nanamica’s Autumn-Winter lookbooks are always superior to their Spring-Summer counterparts, and fortunately for these seagulls, that’s exactly what has been fired into our inbox today.

Anyone who’s been to Paris Fashion Week knows it can be a lot. But this time, arguably the most chaotic event on the French capital’s calendar also coincided with the hottest weather Paris has endured. Ever. Where you’d usually see denim jeans, you saw shorts. Where you’d normally find shirting, lightweight jackets and even the odd smattering of leather, people instead opted for tank tops.

Ok, so I’ve looked at these a few times over the last month and veered between confused amusement and seriously wondering if they’re the actual future. I’ve decided it’s probably the latter. Ironically, they look like the type of footwear you might initially feel self-conscious wearing, thus getting out of your comfort zone. But given the shape, fit and construction, they’re here for anything but discomfort.

It’s been a week of serious rest and recovery following last week’s punishing Parisian trip. More than 30 miles of walking, largely in temperatures of 40°C and above, all in the name of clothing and footwear. We’re always grateful for the opportunity to spend a few days in Paris, even if the record-breaking temperatures made it especially hard work.

There’s a tangible magic to some football shirts. Some may dismiss them as a composition made largely of polyester, or if they’re really old, cotton, but in our eyes, to do so is to ignore a vastness of cultural, emotional and historical relevance that sits at the centre of popular culture.

Some shops sell clothes. Others leave a mark. For two decades, Oi Polloi was one of those rare places that managed to do both. And after an enforced absence, it’s back. Back in 2002, when Manchester’s Northern Quarter was still more grit than flat whites, Oi Polloi opened its doors on Tib Street and quietly changed the way a lot of people thought about menswear.

Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t, but we’ve recently expanded our operations over the pond. Meaning we’ll soon be rubbing shoulders with the type of folk who say “sidewalk” instead of “pavement” and “sneakers” instead of “trainers“. We had originally intended to manage our new North American operations entirely by ourselves.

Despite efforts to overthrow its reign of terror, gorpcore still holds a strong position in the Mancunian fashion scene. It’s hard to walk down the street without seeing the infamous Arc’teryx bird and a pair of Oakley sunglasses. However, an area of this trend’s progression, which I find particularly interesting, is the popularisation of feminine silhouettes and details, which allow for technical womenswear to stand out in an area of fashion that has always been very male-dominated.