Openwork, clean cut

1. Transparency becomes structure

This week’s Copenhagen street style reporting finds openwork blouses and shirts taking over from the white tank. The direction was already visible on the men’s runways: Hypebeast lists translucency among SS27’s recurring ideas, Wallpaper* describes Prada materials that expose the construction beneath, and Vogue Runway notes delicate lace shirts within Yohji Yamamoto’s long, rigorously drawn silhouettes.

The point is not to reveal as much skin as possible. The surface becomes valuable when openness and order work together. A geometric eyelet, precisely placed embroidery or measured open knit articulates the upper body. The long skirt responds with a calm, closed plane that keeps the outfit vertical.

2. The underlayer makes the decision

An open shirt requires an intentional foundation. Under white broderie anglaise, a close-fitting layer in soft white is enough; beneath navy, a chalk fine-knit base feels sharper than bare skin. Black lace gains depth over matte black because the motif remains legible without turning the body into the main event.

The rule is simple: the underlayer must never look accidental. Its neckline follows the shirt opening, its shoulder stays inside the top layer and its hem disappears cleanly into the skirt waist. Transparency then reads like a tailoring detail – controlled, adult and worn with easy masculine assurance.

Open fabrics do not show less construction. They demand more of it.

3. An open surface needs a closed skirt

AP summarised Milan SS27 through lighter tailoring and sartorial ventilation, while explicitly noting pleated skirts for men. That pairing supplies the balance. Tropical-wool knife pleats give an eyelet shirt weight; a broad cotton-linen wrap steadies a laser-perforated overshirt; a smooth wool-crepe column sharpens delicate lace.

Avoid stacking too many openings into one outfit. When the shirt offers light and texture, keep the skirt closed, unlined only where the cloth is opaque, and free of decorative slits. Ease should come from pleats, wrap overlap or a discreet back vent, never from a restless front.

4. Colour keeps romance disciplined

White over charcoal is the most exacting combination: the embroidery remains visible while dark pleats ground the figure. Navy and tobacco move laser-cut cotton into an urban, almost utilitarian register. Ecru and olive feel Mediterranean; black and ivory make lace suitable for evening without hardening into formalwear.

Socks and footwear complete the frame. Ribbed socks repeat either skirt or boot; polished ankle boots refine, while matte lace-ups add traction. Sandals could work, yet the closed boot is the stronger Nino Cappello answer here. It places a firm masculine base beneath the airy surface.

5. Men Can: lightness needs no defence

Copenhagen’s current signal carries romantic associations, but materials have no gender. Lace, eyelet and transparency have long belonged to ceremonial, historical and non-European men’s dress as well. Contemporary menswear can adopt those techniques without parody and without reducing their origins to costume.

Men Can, here, means wearing a seemingly delicate surface with composure. The cut stays clear, the proportion long and the finish exact. Made in Italy is visible in bound edges, seams that lie flat and a skirt that holds its shape in motion. Confidence does not come from hardness; it comes from choosing well.