Mastering the art of wearing a suit elegantly in the heat of the summer is one of menswear’s biggest challenges. With this in mind, Robb Report sat down with Nicolas Bijan, the new head of Beverly Hills’ House of Bijan, to give us his top tips for summer dressing.
Suiting runs in Bijan’s blood. His father founded the now iconic Rodeo Drive bespoke atelier—known for its signature buttercup yellow silks and unapologetically opulent style—over 40 years ago. From half-lined jackets, to how to test the waters with bold colors, keep reading to discover how Bijan thinks about dressing for summer.
How do you approach summer dressing?
I am very lucky because Bijan is based here in Beverly Hills, and it’s like 300 days of summer—360 days of summer, actually. I wear a suit or a sports jacket daily, and I love half-lined jackets when the weather is warmer. We’ve been using [them] in our recent collections, and I’ve personally been wearing them much, much more [than I have in the past]. They are probably the biggest staple in my summer wardrobe right now.
[Half-lined jackets] have all of these beautiful details, which are very unusual. It’s always fun to be able to take off your jacket, especially a Bijan jacket, and see the bright lining colors inside. These half-lined jackets are a different kind of statement because rather than seeing all of the lining, you see all of the hand construction and the piping in red or yellow silk. It’s very rich, very elegant, and very summer.
Photo: Courtesy
What suit fabrics do you gravitate towards in the summer?
Some of the most beautiful fabrics in the world are heavier weight fabrics, but for summer I go for a lot of linen and silk blends. I am always traveling, visiting our factory in Italy and clients in all different countries, so I need to have something that I can travel with very easily. [Having] silk in these suits ensure that they don’t wrinkle like a 100% linen suit would. Wearing a fabric like that on a summer day or while traveling is the best. It’s very luxurious.
Photo: Courtesy
Bijan is known for its bold use of color. Do you have any tips for incorporating color into your summer wardrobe?
[Color] is a part of our brand’s DNA, we see men buying these beautiful colored jackets because it makes them feel good—even if it is only on the inside, on the lining it can still be a conversation piece to take [a jacket] off and show these colors. [I advise clients] to start with darker colors like burgundies, and then move into stronger ones.
Another tip is to wear color with gray pants—if you want to wear a pink jacket, you can style it with neutral gray or something that tones it down. You don’t have to wear white pants or very bright combinations, mixing bright colors with darker colors is a good way to ease into it. But the thing about wearing those [strong colors] is that you’ll get so many compliments because it’s very unusual.
