<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Memorial Day weekend is nearly upon us, and with it comes the unofficial beginning of summer. For a small circle of East Coasters, this is synonymous with weekend trips to the tony but quaint Hamptons, on the far reaches of New York&amp;#039;s Long Island. Depending on where you hang your hat, that may be a little far off for a vacation, but Banana Republic wants to offer everyone a stake in the signature relaxed-ritzy style of the neighborhood. That&amp;#039;s why they&amp;#039;ve partnered with Michelle Smith of the label Milly to help create a limited-edition collection of summery apparel, Smith&amp;#039;s first foray into men&amp;#039;s-wear. &amp;quot;The response to our recent collaborations has been overwhelming,&amp;quot; says Banana Republic&amp;#039;s creative director Simon Kneen. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s been exciting to see our consumers react so positively to the new Banana Republic collections, even before they&amp;#039;re available to purchase.&amp;quot; On working with Kneen, Smith says, &amp;quot;When Simon and I first met, we immediately hit it off. Given our mutual love for the Hamptons \u2014 and, of course, for designing \u2014 we thought our perfect partnership would be to create something inspired by the neighborhood. We wanted to evoke the spirit of the summer there.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;With Simon&amp;#039;s expertise, it wasn&amp;#039;t difficult to translate the Milly aesthetic into men&amp;#039;s-wear pieces,&amp;quot; says Smith of her first venture dressing the gents. &amp;quot;It was actually a lot of fun. The Milly woman is modern and bold \u2014 smart, cool, confident, and sexy \u2014 someone you&amp;#039;d want to hang out with. And the Milly man, he isn&amp;#039;t afraid of color. He appreciates classics with a twist.&amp;quot; Kneen seconds this sentiment: &amp;quot;For men the summer is all about putting away your work-wear and taking a more casual approach.&amp;quot; Hear that, guys? Summer&amp;#039;s here \u2014 time to loosen up. Banana Republic Milly will be available starting May 30th at select Banana Republic stores and at bananarepublic.com "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/a22676/banana-republic-milly-menswear-052013/>