In Best of the Best, we honour the brands and people behind the most covetable products. Here are the fashion powerhouses that earned a spot on our 2025 list
Collection of the Year: Dior Men’s Summer 2026
Dior’s Summer 2026 collection marked more than just another season. It heralded Jonathan Anderson’s highly anticipated debut as the first creative director since Christian Dior himself to oversee womenswear, menswear, and couture. Renowned for his cerebral playfulness at Loewe and his eponymous label, Anderson entered the maison with the full gaze of the fashion world upon him. His first showing didn’t hedge its bets. It unfolded as a bold first draft of a new Dior vernacular: equal parts homage and subversion, fusing house heritage with his own irreverent sensibilities. From sculptural fisherman sandals to Napoleonic coats paired with slouched skater trousers, Anderson’s vision collided history with contemporary ease. The result was a confident, layered reimagining that honours the maison’s legacy while boldly forging ahead.
Best Small Leather Goods: Bottega Veneta
True luxury doesn’t need to shout. As Bottega Veneta continues to prove, quiet luxury is about saying more with less. Where others pare back to minimalism, Bottega Veneta builds with nuance, texture, and extraordinary craft. There are no loud logos—just a refined whisper. Its intrecciato leather, handwoven in Italy from supple, long-wearing nappa, requires no introduction. Applied across its bags and leather goods, it signals discernment, restraint, and enduring style. Each piece embodies unadulterated sophistication— iconic, without needing to say so.
Best Footwear: Tod’s Gommino
An evergreen icon in the world of footwear, the Gommino was born from Diego Della Valle’s vision to create a shoe that balanced elegance with everyday versatility. Inspired by classic driving shoes, the original Gommino redefined casual refinement—and nearly four decades later, it remains a benchmark of timeless style. With its distinctive rubber pebble sole and flawless construction, the Gommino is more than a loafer: it is a tribute to Italian craftsmanship at its most exacting. Each pair reflects Tod’s philosophy of artisanal intelligence, where tradition, technique, and quality converge with effortless ease.
Best Bag: The Row Soft Margaux
Dubbed the next Birkin and hailed as a modern heirloom, The Row’s Soft Margaux has quietly ascended to icon status since its 2018 debut. Beloved by fashion enthusiasts and celebrities alike—Jennifer Lawrence and Kendall Jenner among them—it even topped Lyst’s list of the world’s hottest products. Its influence has extended beyond the runway, spawning high-street interpretations from brands like COS, whose versions sold out just as quickly. Substantial in scale yet refined in silhouette, the Soft Margaux speaks to today’s elevated tote trend: functional, investment-worthy, and imbued with the discreet codes of quiet luxury.
Best Leather: Hermès
Now approaching two centuries of creating the most coveted leather goods around, Hermès gets plenty of attention for its bags—for good reason—but don’t sleep on the house’s other categories. The struggle to get your hands on an Haut à Courroies or Bolide is real, but any frustrations should vanish the moment you slip into a three-quarter-length leather trench or sit down to toil at a calfskin-wrapped desk. Nobody does it better.
Best Vest: Brunello Cucinelli
An indispensable garment for a certain segment of professional males, the vest is, frankly, quite practical. So why not sport the best? Enter Brunello Cucinelli, which can be relied upon for functional, warm layers in a spectrum of luxurious fabrics and fillings, from padded suede to virgin wool. Never too bulky, any of the brand’s offerings will elevate your look, even when you’re dressing down and raising an eyebrow at anyone who still thinks designer ties are a requisite office flex.
Best Eyewear: Morgenthal Frederics
Unlike most luxury eyewear brands, New York City-based Morgenthal Frederics, founded in 1913, is anything but mass-produced. The firm is renowned for its masterful work with water-buffalo horn, which artisans craft into some of the finest unique spectacles and sunglasses around. It also chooses its collaborators carefully—most recently partnering with Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, for whom frames featuring rare woods and enamel temple details were fashioned.
Best Neckwear: Cesare Attolini
Statement ties dominated the Autumn runways, from wider cuts and heftier fabrics to unexpected materials such as suede. But in the rarefied menswear sphere that Cesare Attolini occupies, nothing is merely tacked on. Where lapel widths shift, so too do shirt collars and neckwear. It’s a sartorial system rooted in the utmost artistry and precision, and everything is handmade in Naples. A Cesare Attolini tie, even solo, is a thing of beauty, with signature seven-fold and unlined styles that are incredibly light and rich fabrics in classic (but bold) patterns that feel oh-so au courant. Slip one on and you’re not just wearing a tie— you’re stepping into a tradition of timeless Neapolitan elegance.
Best Chelsea Boots: Berluti
During Pitti Uomo in January, the phrase ‘suited and booted’ took on additional meaning on the streets of Florence, where Chelsea boots, paired with traditional tailoring, surprisingly provided the most directional looks. Standard issue they were not, with many a man opting for Cuban heels and daring toe shapes. French house Berluti, which happens to be celebrating its 130th anniversary this year, offers the full spectrum with its line-up featuring a snipped Western-inspired toe and a bicoloured patina leather that is hand-painted by Italian artisans.
Best Collaboration: Ralph Lauren x MLB
A more iconic duo than baseball and apple pie? MLB and Ralph Lauren. The designer is no stranger to merchandising, having successfully outfitted the US Olympic team since 2008, and thank goodness for that. Not everyone, despite their team pride, is looking to sport a shapeless replica jersey. Fortunately, Lauren has delivered again with tasteful intarsia knits, satin jackets, and, of course, polo shirts for good measure. The brand even took the collection abroad in March for a special activation at Shibuya Miyashita Park for the MLB Tokyo Series.
Best Eveningwear: Dolce & Gabbana
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana love a theme, whether they’re channelling the Amalfi Coast or Sicily into their designs. But amid all the Sorrento-lemon and majolica-tile prints, it’s easy for one to lose sight of the tailoring savoir- faire. (Dolce, after all, grew up in his father’s sartoria, Italian for tailoring shop.) The brand’s Autumn 2025 collection provided a welcome reminder via 20 models with pomade- slicked hair clad in as many iterations of black-tie from its Sartoria range. (Don’t miss the dedicated custom space at the label’s new Madison Avenue boutique.) From asymmetric shawl collars to satin obi belts to a cravat revival, all offset by well-placed statement brooches, the effect was at the same time old Hollywood and modern.
