CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

There was a time when the commute was simple. Home to office. Office to home. Same train, same traffic, same coffee, five days a week.

Those days, rather thankfully, are largely behind us.

As we head into autumn and return to work, school and new routines, the daily commute has become something altogether more fluid. Hybrid working is now firmly established across the UK, with 28% of working adults in Great Britain working in a hybrid model, according to the Office for National Statistics. The result is a working day that no longer necessarily has a beginning and an end defined by the office door.

Instead, the modern commute is a series of interconnected moments.

It might start with the school run before heading into the office, followed by a coffee meeting between appointments. Perhaps there’s a lunchtime gym session, an afternoon working from a café and, come 6pm, a game of padel with friends. The boundaries between work, wellbeing, socialising and everyday life have become considerably more blurred.

And we’re dressing accordingly.

The modern man needs his wardrobe — and increasingly his footwear — to keep up with a day that refuses to stay in one place. A pair of shoes that works for the train but looks equally at home in the office. Comfortable enough for a lunchtime workout, smart enough for a coffee meeting and sufficiently versatile to make the transition from desk to dinner without requiring a change of footwear.

It’s a very different proposition from the traditional nine-to-five uniform.

Among younger generations in particular, daily routines are becoming increasingly intentional, with flexibility, wellbeing and productivity all playing a greater role in how we structure our time. The question is no longer simply, “What am I doing at work?” but “What does the rest of my day look like?”

This is where HEYDUDE’s approach to footwear fits neatly into The New Commute.

Designed for people who are constantly on the move, HEYDUDE creates lightweight, versatile footwear intended to work across the different chapters of the day. From the journey into the office to working remotely from a café, and from an afternoon appointment to meeting friends after work, the emphasis is on keeping pace with modern routines rather than being designed around a single destination.

Because perhaps the biggest change to the commute isn’t how we get to work. It’s what happens once we’re there — and everywhere we go afterwards.

The office is now just one stop among many.

The coffee shop is a meeting room. The gym is a lunchtime appointment. The park can be an office. The padel court is the after-work social. And the journey between them all has become part of the day rather than simply the bit we endure to get from A to B.

The new commute isn’t really a commute at all.

It’s everything in between.

For almost two decades, Albam has quietly helped shape the language of contemporary menswear. Founded on the idea that clothes should be functional, considered and built to be worn rather than simply admired, the brand has become an important reference point for a generation of men’s clothing that values longevity over novelty.

That heritage continues with this Autumn, a collection rooted in the familiar vocabulary that Albam has refined over the years: relaxed proportions, practical silhouettes and fabrics selected as much for how they age and feel as for how they look.

For the new season, British photographer John Spinks travelled from London to the Região do Norte in Portugal, documenting the journey on 35mm film. Moving through the region’s roads, landscapes and architecture, he eventually arrived at the factories that have been producing Albam clothing for close to two decades. His photographs turn attention towards the people and processes behind the finished garments, capturing the quiet craftsmanship that has remained central to the brand since its beginnings.

The story then moves back to Britain, to St Leonards-on-Sea, where furniture designer and woodworker John Alfredo Harris wears the Autumn collection between his workshop and home. It is an appropriate setting for clothes designed around making, doing and everyday life: garments that move naturally between work and leisure without demanding either.

Together, the two chapters connect the beginning and end of the process — from the factories and people responsible for making the clothes to those who give them a life beyond the label.

The Autumn 26 collection distils many of the qualities that have made Albam such an enduring presence in contemporary menswear. Loose Oxford shirts, brushed flannels, knitwear and fleece sit alongside a Forge jacket and trouser set constructed in washed cotton twill. The silhouettes are familiar without feeling dated, the fits deliberately relaxed and the materials chosen for their tactility, durability and ability to develop with wear.

There is nothing particularly loud about Albam, and that has always been part of its appeal. Its influence lies in the way it has helped establish a more thoughtful approach to modern menswear — one where utility can be refined, quality can be understated and good design does not need to announce itself.

AW26 continues that conversation. Clothes made with purpose, photographed with honesty and ultimately designed for the most important part of their story: being worn.

The return to the office brings with it all the usual wardrobe considerations: polished shoes, pressed shirts, a decent haircut and, of course, the morning application of fragrance. But while most of us understand the basics of office dress codes, the rules surrounding scent are rather less clearly defined.

How much fragrance is too much? Where should you apply it? And is there such a thing as a fragrance that is better suited to the workplace?

With shared workspaces, meeting rooms and increasingly busy offices bringing us back into close proximity with colleagues, fragrance etiquette is worth considering. After all, perfume is personal, but its impact isn’t necessarily confined to the person wearing it.

The golden rule is perhaps best summed up by Christopher Dunn, Brand Manager at British fine fragrance house Czech & Speake: “A fragrance buyer once said to me that they work on the basis that one should wear enough fragrance for the person you are talking with to notice, not the entire office or department, and I think that is very good advice.”

It is a particularly useful distinction. Fragrance should be discovered rather than announced. If colleagues can smell you from several desks away, you’ve probably crossed the line from subtle signature to olfactory occupation.

Application plays its part, too. Pulse points such as the wrists and neck remain traditional choices, while a light application to the chest can allow the fragrance to develop more discreetly throughout the day. The key is restraint. Unlike a night out, where a more pronounced fragrance can have its place, the office is a shared environment, and not everyone will necessarily appreciate the same scent.

That makes the character of the fragrance important. Fresh citrus, aromatic, woody and clean compositions can often feel particularly appropriate for professional settings, offering a sense of polish without dominating the room. Heavier oud, intense amber, rich gourmand or heavily projecting compositions aren’t necessarily off limits, but they demand a lighter hand.

There is also something to be said for understanding the environment. An expansive private office gives you rather more freedom than a tightly packed open-plan workspace, while air-conditioned meeting rooms and confined spaces can make an otherwise moderate fragrance seem considerably more powerful.

For Dunn, the simplest test is also perhaps the most effective: “If you notice a fragrance before you see the person wearing it, then they are probably wearing too much or the fragrance is too strong.”

Czech & Speake provides an interesting case study in how fragrance can become part of a personal signature without necessarily being overwhelming. The British fragrance house has built a reputation around distinctive, sophisticated blends, with its iconic No.88 becoming particularly associated with the late Ozzy Osbourne, who reportedly wore the fragrance for more than three decades.

Beyond personal fragrance, the house has also extended some of its signature scents into home fragrance and, more recently, hand and body washes, demonstrating how a particular scent profile can become part of a wider sensory identity.

Ultimately, good office fragrance etiquette isn’t about following a rigid rulebook. It is about awareness. Fragrance should complement your presence rather than precede it, and the best scent for the workplace is arguably the one that makes someone sitting next to you think, “That smells good,” rather than wondering who has emptied half a bottle of aftershave into the lift.

The office may have changed considerably in recent years, but one rule remains timeless: leave enough of a scent to be remembered, without leaving the entire department needing to remember it.

The North Face and Aimé Leon Dore return for a second season, blending alpine performance, 90s nostalgia and New York attitude across a 30-piece Fall/Winter 2026 collection.

What happens when one of the world’s most recognisable outdoor brands meets one of New York’s coolest purveyors of modern menswear?

For a second season, The North Face and Aimé Leon Dore are bringing the mountains to the city, combining The North Face’s technical expertise with Aimé Leon Dore’s distinctly New York perspective.

The result is a 30-piece capsule that revisits some of The North Face’s most recognisable styles while introducing a handful of new silhouettes, all with a healthy dose of 90s outdoor nostalgia.

And, importantly, this isn’t performance clothing pretending to be fashion. It still has a job to do.

Alpine heritage, New York attitude

The appeal of the collaboration lies in the contrast.

The North Face has spent decades developing kit for genuinely demanding environments. Aimé Leon Dore has built its reputation around a romanticised vision of New York, blending sport, street culture and considered menswear.

Together, the two create something that feels equally at home on a mountain trail or a city street.

The collection revisits The North Face icons including the Nuptse, Mountain Jacket and Denali, while introducing new pieces such as a Fleece Rugby and Ballistic Tech Vest, the latter drawing inspiration from the utility gear of the 1990s.

It’s nostalgia without the costume drama.

Technical by design

For the first time since 2019, GORE-TEX® returns to a The North Face collaboration, bringing genuine weather protection to the collection.

The Mountain Jacket 2000 is constructed from seam-sealed three-layer GORE-TEX, while the Pertex Nuptse adds a hood and reversible construction alongside Cloud Down insulation.

These aren’t simply archive pieces given a fashionable makeover. The technical credentials remain firmly intact, which is precisely what makes the collaboration work.

The design might get you noticed, but the technology is there to get you through the weather.

From the trail to the street

The collection also extends into footwear, with the Base Camp Mule offering a more relaxed approach and the Verto Alpine GORE-TEX® Hiking Shoe providing a more technical option.

Accessories include the familiar Base Camp Duffel, alongside caps, scarves and gloves, completing a collection that covers considerably more than just outerwear.

The common thread is versatility: pieces designed for the outdoors that don’t look remotely out of place away from it.

Two worlds collide

The accompanying campaign film brings the collaboration’s central idea to life, travelling from the stillness of the Andes mountains to the energy and intensity of New York City.

Actor Keith W. Richards and legendary Chilean mountaineer Cristián García-Huidobro sit at the heart of the journey, representing two very different interpretations of exploration.

It’s an appropriate backdrop for a collaboration built around two brands with very different origins but a shared appreciation of movement, adventure and getting outside.

The North Face brings the mountains.

Aimé Leon Dore brings New York.

The seasons are changing. Summer is beginning to fade, the evenings are drawing in and London is taking on that unmistakable early-autumn character. The city feels different at this time of year — cooler, quieter and perhaps a little more atmospheric. It is the perfect backdrop for the latest collection from Wax London.

For Autumn ’26, the London-born label turns its attention firmly towards home with An Ode to London, its most ambitious autumn collection to date. Rather than simply using the capital as a backdrop, the collection is rooted in the city’s character, drawing inspiration from the streets, people and everyday details that have shaped the brand since its beginnings.

The collection will arrive in two drops, with Drop One introducing the first chapter of the story and setting the tone for the season ahead.

At its centre is the Whiting Overshirt, a familiar Wax London silhouette that has been reworked for autumn. Sitting somewhere between a traditional shirt and a lightweight jacket, it is the kind of versatile layer that makes sense in the unpredictable conditions of a London autumn — easy enough for everyday wear, but with the substance to carry you into the colder months.

It also captures something fundamental to the Wax London approach. Rather than designing pieces simply to make an impression for one season, the brand places considerable emphasis on fabric, texture and construction, creating clothing intended to become part of a wardrobe and improve with repeated wear.

An Ode to London

The collection’s London inspiration is brought to life through its accompanying hero campaign, An Ode to London, which takes its cue from one of the capital’s most famous literary tributes.

Inspired by William Wordsworth’s Composed upon Westminster Bridge, written in 1802, the campaign offers a contemporary interpretation of the poet’s affection for London. But rather than focusing solely on the landmarks familiar from postcards and tourist guides, Wax London looks at the city through a more personal lens.

The film moves through London’s streets, skylines and less obvious corners, celebrating the details that are often overlooked — the places locals pass every day, the familiar landmarks seen from a different perspective and the small moments that collectively create the rhythm of life in the capital.

There is something particularly appropriate about using London itself as the inspiration. Wax London has always been closely connected to the city, and the campaign reflects that relationship without attempting to turn it into something overly polished or idealised.

Instead, this is London beyond the postcard: lived-in, constantly moving and full of contrasts.

It is also a fitting philosophy for the clothes. The collection is designed for the reality of everyday city life, where versatility matters and the best pieces are those that can move effortlessly between different parts of the day.

With An Ode to London, Wax London is therefore doing more than introducing a new autumn collection. It is celebrating the environment that has helped shape the brand — and the city that continues to provide its most enduring source of inspiration.

Because sometimes the best way to look forward to a new season is to look a little closer at the place you already call home.