Icons: Francesco Cominelli

To be honest, I'm getting a bit bored of fashion

Obviously I'm not bored of fashion, heck it's the industry I want to work in! But most of the present day styles are just re-hashes of past trends from decades that were actually... unique. Just think to yourself, what fashions could define the noughties or the teenies? It sometimes feels that we're starting to lack the originality that makes style stylish. To me, someone could spend their entire life thinking they're fashionable when all they are doing is being a slave to Topman. 

It's the sacred few who choose to battle against the trendy tides, who constantly reinvent the conformed and whose outfits exude confidence, they are the ones who are truly stylish. This is the definition of the late Francesco Cominelli.  

A fashion vixen, Francesco was able to work beyond individual perimeters. Often combining exotic prints with soft sculptural frames, it's that panache  that enabled Francesco to wear such outré clothing together. Talented in his ability to channel styles from military to tribal, Cominelli wore his clothes and was not ensnared by vanity; every inch of himself was devoted to the clothing. The elaborateness of his art was worn by him, the clothes never wore him. 

"Francesco has a way of wearing clothes in such a way that they become completely unidentifiable on him. You wouldn't know whether he's wearing Kenzo or Zegna or a market find; that's a gift of Francesco's styling abilities. He has fun layering and mixing patterns, textures, and colors, and it's refreshingly young and sartorially playful at the same time." - Tommy Ton.

Sharp tailoring drew from his Italian routes. He pulled focus on many street style blogs for his impeccable choices, his flair to ascertain the unique from the meh by pairing up-market brands with vintage thrifts . His knack for mixing patterns, colours and textures in unforeseen ways, ways that could even be considered major faux-pas. He defied the fickleness of fashion with his acute awareness of materials and design. Overall, Francesco was a daring man willing to go against the guidelines and tailor his own style. Who else would wear a short-sleeved blazer with a cable-knit jumper than a man who couldn't care less. 

On October 07 2011, Cominelli was found dead in his apartment. It can be difficult to write an eulogy for a man you've only met through Google Images, But Cominelli was clearly a man capable of enlivening the rather lacklustre men's fashion world. The confluence of his styling has left an everlasting legacy. We can only hope that more people like him arise, and perhaps the teenies will be a decade to be remembered. 

R.I.P Francesco Cominelli