My personal style signifiers are traditional Chinese workwear trousers in Shanghai blue that I find at the market in Montreuil, just outside Paris. I like them because they’re easy to wear, have large pockets and are slightly cropped. In French slang we have an expression for short trousers, feu de plancher [floor fire] – as if the bottom of the legs has been burnt off. I usually pair them with Church’s or JM Weston Derbys, or the Berluti Andy loafers. For going out, I usually put on a simple, Kennedy-style suit – Agnès b makes good ones – with a three-button 1960s-cut jacket and a navy blue turtleneck. When I was little, my mother thought blue went well with my eyes, so I’ve been wearing it ever since.
The last thing I bought and loved was a rare 1960s Martin D-28 acoustic guitar made from Brazilian rosewood. They stopped making guitars out of tropical hardwood due to deforestation. I had to sell four of my other guitars to buy it, but I will take this one to my grave. It has an incredibly warm sound and I pick it up any spare moment I get – I even take it with me on holiday. This same model was used by legends such as Neil Young and Bob Dylan, and it’s great for playing pop and folk songs.
