CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

Few brands manage to translate their sartorial DNA into fragrance as effortlessly as Lacoste. With L.12.12 Lacoste Bleu, the house captures the spirit of its iconic navy polo shirt, distilling its balance of athletic energy and refined elegance into a fragrance that feels unmistakably modern.

The L.12.12 collection has always drawn inspiration from the legendary polo shirt first introduced by René Lacoste, a garment that redefined sportswear by blending performance with effortless style. In Bleu, that same philosophy is translated into a fougère woody composition that feels both fresh and quietly sophisticated.

The fragrance opens with a lively burst of yuzu, bringing a crisp citrus brightness that immediately energises the senses. Ginger follows closely behind, adding a subtle warmth and spice that sharpens the opening and introduces a confident dynamism.

At the heart lies a refined aromatic core of lavender and geranium. Lavender provides a classic masculine elegance, while geranium introduces a green, slightly floral nuance that keeps the composition light and balanced.

As the scent settles, its base reveals a more grounded character. Cedarwood lends structure and depth, while vetiver adds an earthy, smoky refinement that anchors the fragrance with understated masculinity.

The composition is the work of perfumer Yann Vasnier, whose interpretation captures the dual identity of the Lacoste man — active yet composed, sporty yet polished.

The result is a fragrance that feels entirely in step with the Lacoste ethos: relaxed, confident and effortlessly stylish. Much like the navy polo that inspired it, L.12.12 Lacoste Bleu is a modern essential — simple, versatile and quietly iconic.

Neem London enters the conversation with quiet confidence rather than noise. The low-emission menswear label has built its reputation on a considered balance: refined yet unfussy, contemporary yet grounded, purposeful without ever feeling performative. This is clothing designed not for spectacle, but for life as it’s actually lived.

Rooted in natural and recycled fabrics, the brand’s proposition is clear—garments that move fluidly through the rhythms of the everyday, without compromising on integrity or aesthetic restraint. There’s a discipline to it. Nothing excessive, nothing arbitrary. Just a wardrobe that works.

That philosophy is sharpened by insight. Neem’s research—spanning over 400 men—reveals a notable shift: a growing appetite to dress well without appearing to try too hard. Less trend-chasing, more self-assurance. Less noise, more clarity. Crucially, it signals a return to something more personal—style not as performance, but as expression.

From this emerges The Uniform of Hot Dads, the brand’s SS26 campaign. A title that knowingly flirts with humour, but lands with substance. It centres men aged 40 to 60—not as an afterthought, but as the focus—positioning them as figures of modern style relevance rather than nostalgia.

Fronted by DJ, artist and father Josh Parkinson, the campaign avoids cliché. There’s no over-styling, no forced narratives. Instead, it leans into a more lived-in elegance: garments that feel worn, understood, and entirely at ease on the body. The kind of pieces that don’t demand attention, but inevitably earn it.

What Neem London offers here isn’t reinvention—it’s refinement. A recalibration of what it means to dress well now: quietly confident, environmentally conscious, and entirely authentic

There’s something appealing about restraint. In an era where everything is over-explained, over-branded and over-priced, Harry’s has taken a different route with its latest launch—simply calling it Redacted.
No name. No grand claims. Just a body wash that smells… familiar.
If you’ve spent any time around modern fragrance, you’ll recognise the profile almost immediately. A smooth, woody santal base lifted with cardamom, softened by violet, and grounded with cedar. It’s the kind of scent that has come to define a certain tier of luxury perfumery—only here, it arrives without the usual triple-digit price tag.
That’s very much the point.
Redacted leans into the idea that good taste doesn’t need to shout. The formula itself follows suit: soft, non-stripping, and designed to leave skin clean, conditioned, and subtly scented long after you’ve stepped out of the shower. It’s understated, but effective—the sort of product that quietly earns a place in your daily routine.
It also marks the first release from Harry’s Scent Labs, a new limited-run concept built around small-batch drops and more experimental fragrances. Available exclusively through Harrys.com and TikTok Shop, these releases are intentionally fleeting—designed to be discovered, enjoyed, and then gone.
There’s a certain confidence in that approach. No permanence, no overproduction—just a well-executed idea, delivered at the right moment.
Even the campaign reflects this slightly subversive tone. Fronted in the US by Anna Delvey, it gently pokes at the theatre of luxury, while reinforcing what Harry’s customers have been saying for years: these scents smell like they should cost significantly more than they do.
At £8, Redacted feels like a quiet correction to the category. A reminder that good design, good scent, and good formulation don’t have to come wrapped in excess.
If you know, you know.
And if you don’t—this might be the easiest way in.

There’s a new word doing the rounds, and it lands with the kind of blunt force that only the internet could produce: enshittification. Coined by technology writer Cory Doctorow(below) in his book of the same name, it describes the depressingly predictable lifecycle that transforms beloved digital platforms into hollowed-out, ad-choked, algorithm-obsessed shells of their former selves. It’s crude, yes. But it’s also clinically accurate.

You’ve felt it. The social platform that once connected you now buries your friends beneath sponsored content. The streaming service that promised everything now fragments its catalogue across paywalls. The dating app that once felt human now feels gamified to exhaustion. The e-commerce site that made discovery joyful now nudges you relentlessly towards promoted listings. This isn’t nostalgia talking. The services really are getting worse — by design.

According to Jamie Dobson, author of Visionaries, Rebels and Machines: The Story of Humanity’s Extraordinary Journey from Electrification to Cloudification, this decay follows a pattern. Platforms begin by serving users brilliantly to gain scale. Then they pivot to serve business customers and advertisers. Finally, they extract maximum value for shareholders — even if it degrades the experience for everyone else. It’s a four-stage descent, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Social media is the cleanest case study. What started as frictionless connection became algorithmic manipulation optimised for engagement metrics. Streaming services followed suit, splintering content ecosystems in pursuit of subscriber growth at any cost. Dating apps turned intimacy into infinite scroll. Even e-commerce platforms — once engines of entrepreneurial opportunity — now prioritise those who pay to play.

The underlying driver is economic gravity. Venture capital demands growth; public markets demand returns. In highly concentrated markets with limited competition, platforms can afford to squeeze. Interoperability is blocked. Labour power is weakened. Users are locked in. And so the extraction begins.

But here’s the twist: enshittification isn’t inevitable. It’s a choice.

There are counterexamples — companies that have resisted the decay cycle by aligning long-term value with user trust. There are regulatory interventions that have worked, particularly where competition has been enforced or interoperability mandated. There are moments when even capitalism blinks and says, “This is too much,” usually when public backlash begins to threaten the bottom line.

Dobson argues that the next phase may be defined by user rebellion. When switching costs fall, when regulators intervene meaningfully, when workers regain leverage, and when alternative models prove viable, the cycle can be disrupted. The real power, as ever, sits at the intersection of incentives. Change the incentives and you change the outcome.

For over a decade, Dobson — founder of Container Solutions and author of The Cloud Native Attitude— has helped organisations move towards cloud-native ways of working. His latest book places today’s digital turbulence in a much longer arc, tracing the journey from electrification to cloudification and asking a harder question: what kind of technological future are we actually building?

Enshittification may be the word of the moment, but it’s also a warning. Platforms decay when extraction outweighs value. They degrade when growth becomes the only metric that matters. And they can improve again — but only if users, regulators, technologists and businesses decide that better is worth fighting for.

Spring has arrived—and with it, that familiar shift in pace. Diaries begin to fill, weekends become less predictable, and the promise of longer, brighter days invites a more spontaneous approach to living (and dressing and going out).

From impromptu escapes to family gatherings and holiday meet-ups—punctuated, of course, by the welcome rhythm of Bank Holidays—this is a season defined by long warm nights, memory-making, and a certain relaxed optimism.

Naturally, it calls for a wardrobe that can keep up and see you through for every eventuality.

Enter La Redoute, whose latest arrivals strike that increasingly essential balance between style and practicality. This is clothing designed not for the static, overly curated moments of life, but for the in-between—the dash for a train, the quick change before heading out, the park bench pause in the afternoon sun.

It’s about effortlessly easy pieces that feel considered without appearing contrived. A return to laid-back staples that prioritise comfort but retain a sense of structure, while acknowledging the realities of unpredictable weather and even more unpredictable energy levels.

There’s a quiet confidence in dressing well for the everyday. Not overdressed, not underthought—just right. Because whether you’re packing a bag for a last-minute getaway, organising the logistics of holiday camps, or simply heading out for a day with no fixed agenda, what you wear shapes how you move through those moments.

And in spring, when everything feels just that bit lighter, that bit more open—getting dressed well becomes less about statement and more about ease.

Wherever the season takes you, consider this your reminder: style doesn’t need to be complicated to be impactful. Sometimes, it’s simply about choosing pieces that let you get on with the business of living.