Mix + Match series. Road to Saint-Tropez. MPM 96Hrs, Porsche 911, Borsalino, Laulhère, Hermès, Louis Vuitton
Somewhere between Aix and the coast, there is a Provençal village with a plane-tree-shaded plaza that has been the right place to stop for lunch since long before anyone thought of Saint-Tropez as a destination.
The platane leaves break the midday sun into moving pieces, and the light on the stone is the particular gold that only exists in the south of France at this hour. A white Porsche 911 convertible sits at the edge of the square, top down, and the couple who drove it there is in no hurry to leave.
She is in the passenger seat, smiling at something he just said. He is leaning against the car near the windscreen, making her laugh.
In the rear space behind the seats, just visible above the sill, the top edges of two MPM 96Hrs cabin trunks in silver catch the filtered light between the leaves.
He is wearing a Louis Vuitton Damier polo in piqué silk and cotton in light brown (instead of white), white trousers, tan boat shoes, and a Borsalino Miami flat beret in natural brown raffia (a shade darker than the polo) , the kind of hat that only works when the person wearing it is entirely relaxed about it,
which he is.
She has a white Hermès polo in double silk and cotton jersey, the same white trousers, the same tan boat shoes, and a Laulhère alpine beret in navy blue, (instead of black) the bulle style, soft and slightly oversized.
The two MPM 96Hrs trunks behind them are silver, their TitanInox shells catching the dappled light of the square as if they were designed for exactly this kind of afternoon.
What makes this pairing interesting is that it works through contrast rather than echo, which is the more difficult thing to pull off and the more satisfying when it does. His brown Damier polo and natural raffia beret are warm and textural, hers white Hermès polo and navy Laulhère beret are clean and graphic. The two palettes sit side by side without competing because white trousers and tan boat shoes hold the middle ground for both of them, and the silver of the 96Hrs trunks stays above all of it, neither warm nor cool, just quietly present. The Porsche ties everything together the way the right car always does on a summer road, not by matching the clothes but by setting the mood they were dressed for.
The two berets are worth a thought on their own. A Borsalino Miami in raffia and a Laulhère alpine beret in navy are about as different as two berets can be in material, weight, and feel, yet together they read as a studied pair rather than a coincidence. Perhaps because a beret, in any form, is already a decision about how much you care about looking nonchalant.
They will be in Saint-Tropez by four. The trunks are already packed.
Further reading:
MPM 96Hrs Special Edition suitcase in Silver
Mix + Match series. Paris, café Le Nemours. MPM Cappuccino, Christian Louboutin, Church's, Krug
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