Modern Essentials selected by Beckham

I was lucky enough to be invited by H&M South Africa to preview the new Modern Essentials Collection (selected by David Beckham) before it hit stores on the 29 September. This collection is hand picked by fashion Icon David Beckham in an attempt to offer gentlemen around the world wardrobe staples that should last them for seasons to come.

Personally, I love this approach to fashion, it’s been my approach for many years now, picking items that will sit in my wardrobe and look good with anything else, anytime. My wardrobe is pretty much a pantone book of greys and blues in every shade and tone and if you flip through my Instagram you’ll see that navy and grey are pretty much my uniform…weirdly enough, navy and grey are a lot of peoples actual uniforms. What I’m trying to get to is you cant go wrong with navy and grey, it’s the perfect base to any good outfit.

So it goes without saying that I was more than pleased to find that this entire collection is a neutral palette of blue and grey with some autumn tones of green and burgundy thrown in for a little colour pop. It also covers my other personal essential, texture. It’s amazing what a little texture can bring to a monotone outfit, it helps set items apart and maintain there individuality even when they’re the same colour.

I decided I would put together two looks, my usual formal look as well as something a little more casual. The formal was easy, I mean, do I need to go on more about the benefits of grey and navy? Nah, I think you get it. I picked out a tie and pocket square from the regular collection and everything came together perfectly, as it should, the modern essentials is meant to be the perfect base for your outfit right?

The 2 button charcoal blazer is heavily textured, while the shirt had a brushed cotton feel, so I went for a textured tie and pocket square that picked up on the blue of the shirt, the grey blue of the tie and the burgundy in the shoes. A small pop of colour goes a long way in giving your outfit a bit of stand out. Oh, one last thing, the pants were perfectly cropped and turned up to be the perfect height, straight off the rack, a rare find.

The casual look, was again very monochromatic, but something a little different for me. The heavy cotton pants were cropped really high, something I saw a lot of in a recent trip to Japan, but something that even I (with my ‘show some ankle’ look) wasn’t totally used to. I decided to embrace it and show off an old pair of brogue boots in all their glory, but I’m really looking forward to using them in the peak of summer with a pair of simple white sneakers and white tee.

The rest was another experiment in texture, a heavily textured black polo neck with a lightly textured dark green bomber jacket worked incredibly well with the heavy cotton trousers. The bomber jacket also had some nylon side pockets, which gave a nice contrast without colour and helped bridge the texture gap between the top and the trousers. I really liked this look, it felt pretty bad ass!

In the meantime, go check out the ad campaign where David Beckham and Kevin Hart reunite to take a road trip from LA to Vegas to take ‘I Beckham – The musical’ on the road. As an ad man myself, I love this kind of stuff, Beckham is a major fashion icon, so bringing someone like Kevin Hart on board really makes it all feel accessible to the everyday man. Very clever guys!

If you’re looking for some wardrobe basics, this collection is a great place to start, and I suggest you do it quickly cause everyone wants a piece of the modern essentials collection. No matter what you pick up, the colour palette makes sure everything goes with everything else, so pick up some pants, a shirt a blazer and blend it like Beckham.

Been waiting this whole blogpost to drop that line!

Okay. Stay fancy.