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" Just back from a vacation in St. Tropez, a very tan Simon Kneen was at New York&amp;#039;s Lion restaurant last night to preview what he&amp;#039;s designed for Banana Republic this Holiday season. And while these supremely trad suits, chunky sweaters and ski-inspired scarves won&amp;#039;t be available for a few months, you&amp;#039;ll see similarly buttoned-up offerings from the collaboration that Banana Republic just announced with Mad Men, which goes on sale in August. In anticipation of both those lines \u2014 and looking abroad at our friends in Milan \u2014 we polled Kneen on the state of (affordable) men&amp;#039;s fashion in America, plus how you can look better in any season. I&amp;#039;m fresh back from vacation, so I&amp;#039;m really feeling the Milan collections and next Spring. There&amp;#039;s this South American thing happening: saturated colors, beautiful prints, some of that tribal influence. Also, we&amp;#039;re still at the point where white feels fresh for summer. Then, of course, we work in Banana Republic&amp;#039;s safari heritage (where we can). It&amp;#039;s nice that&amp;#039;s happening abroad. We have to consider the long trend. In the coming months, we&amp;#039;re looking at a new man: He&amp;#039;s our hero, he&amp;#039;s outdoorsy, he&amp;#039;s into adventure. And fall. And wool. And maybe he goes skiing and goes back to his to hot tub for a glass of wine. Almost James Bond-esque. You know, when we were designing, they weren&amp;#039;t even married. But there&amp;#039;s something Kate-and-Will about it. The woman&amp;#039;s very polished, and men want to be more outdoors, hunting, and so on. The number one thing is fit. That&amp;#039;s most important. Fortunately, guys are learning. There&amp;#039;s this idea: You don&amp;#039;t want to necessarily out-dress your boss, but you want to show you&amp;#039;re capable, and that you care enough about yourself. Just enough. A summer suit? Necessity. To go out on the weekend, or whatever. A lighter wool, something that will last more than a season. Definitely quality. When you&amp;#039;re looking for one, be careful. You&amp;#039;ll probably want to alter it as you muscle up or melt down. And you&amp;#039;ll need to be able to do that a few times. So long as I can banish the words &amp;quot;relaxed&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;comfortable,&amp;quot; I&amp;#039;ll be happy. Relaxed is a thing now \u2014 a cut in itself \u2014 but we&amp;#039;re trying to really eliminate those words from our stores. To me, it&amp;#039;s symbolic of elastic waistband. Comfortable? What is that? The Market Pick: While Banana Republic made a strong showing with burgundy sweaters and scarves for Holiday, the real burgundy we&amp;#039;re eager for is the wine. This year, for the first time, the brand is collaborating with Clos du Bois winery on a red and a white varietal. The labels feature sketches from Kneen himself, which is a good call for the man who&amp;#039;s sick of sending his aunt the same bottle of wine \u2014 or Banana Republic scarf \u2014 every year at Christmas. PLUS: What&amp;#039;s Now at Banana Republic and What&amp;#039;s Next &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/a10207/simon-kneen-banana-republic-062211/>