By Samuel Ashworth
Joseph Zada walked the East of Eden premiere this week in a Louis Vuitton black velvet double-breasted jacket — impeccable from the waist up — and then, presumably because the stylist was called away mid-fitting, jeans. Velvet above, denim below: the sartorial mullet. Black tie in the front, student film festival in the back.
Look, I understand the impulse. Velvet is having its autumn. It photographs like wealth and feels like a secret. But velvet is a fabric of conviction — it does not do half-measures. Pair it with jeans and you have told the room you wanted the courage of black tie without the commitment. The jacket deserved better. The jeans, frankly, deserved the jacket to stay home.
Here is the only rule that matters: when you go velvet, go velvet all the way down. The correct finish to a black velvet dinner jacket is the black velvet Albert slipper — the shoe that was invented for evenings exactly like these — with your monogram embroidered in gold. Because if you are going to commit, commit like you mean it.
Design Your Pair in the studio and walk in like the man the jacket thought you were.
