Toronto native Philip Attar is no stranger to the wonderful world of men’s style — he started his career as a bespoke tailor, then moved onto designing mens’s clothing and homewares for Joseph Mimran & Associates (the founding company of Club Monaco and Joe Fresh), before moving to New York City in 2004 to have a crack at advertising. It was a good call: in the years since, he’s worked with everyone from Swarovski to Hugo Boss.
When it comes to his own wardrobe, Attar prefers to buy high-quality pieces and keep them forever. “I do not like pre-faded, or pre-worn-in clothing,” he says. “I believe one should break in their own items themselves, slowly over time, aging gracefully and with your own story woven into each piece.” This is never so evident than in his signature piece, a Helmut Lang denim jacket he purchased in 1996, and still wears every week.
He hasn’t lost his tailoring roots, either. For the past few months Philip’s been experimenting with canvas jackets for a leather moto-wear project he’s working on, and he ended up liking the samples so much, he’s been rocking them on the regular. “I tend to wear my natural-colored cotton prototypes often if not every day to test out their fit and durability. After many designed samples, they have now become my uniform and I am quite attached to the look.”
As for how to work in your colorful kicks, Philip believes in not overthinking the equation. “To nail any look is to have fun and not take it too seriously. I prefer simplified and minimal looks with colorful kicks but more experimentation will always lead to eventually finding what you love and what feels just right for you.”