01: BEYOND SKIN DEEP

Montblanc’s latest leather goods come in a rich deep brown – and they’re also pretty green.

If you like your leather accessories both understated and matchy-matchy, the 1926 Montblanc Heritage collection has you covered. Inspired by vintage safari travel, the 20-piece collection of bags, wallets and other small accessories are united by a patinated, deep dark brown hue – the kind of perfectly graduated, rich colour that makes a bag look like it’s already been on some grand adventures even when it’s brand new.

What’s noteworthy too is that this colour was partly achieved through vegetable tanning. Taking its name from the year Montblanc began producing leather goods, the 1926 range marks the brand’s fi rst full collection in vegetable-tanned leather. Carried out using tannic acids found in some plants, vegetable tanning stabilises animal hide and preserves the natural look of the leather – and is a lot more environmentally friendly than mineral tanning.

Aside from the usual carriers of all sizes – ranging from backpacks and briefcases to business card holders – the collection also includes Montblanc’s leather-covered Augmented Paper, which can immediately digitise your notes. A worthy way, indeed, for a modern adventurer to pen his tales.

02: NET WORTH

Forget the signature bag or dress shoe. These days, there’s a new It item for upmarket fashion brands – leather sneakers, which can be used to play down the formality of a suit, or dress up a casual jeans-and-tee ensemble. Dunhill’s updated tennis shoes are the latest addition to the realm of understatedly fancy sneakers, a category that has grown rapidly with the rise of niche brands such as New York-based sneaker specialists Common Projects. Dunhill’s rubber-soled sneakers are available in calf leather in black or white, as well as a textured suede in taupe, navy or orange.

(RELATED: Italian fashion house Gucci to go fur-free in 2018.)

03: HIT THE STREETS

Bottega Veneta has been putting some pretty interesting new spins on its classic intrecciato weave, and the Metropolis is one of our favourites to date. To make this nappa-leather briefcase, leather twine and thread in graduated hues of grey and black are used to create an irregular criss-cross motif on nappa leather intrecciato. The motif is inspired by a late-night urbanscape – imagine vehicles leaving light trails in their wake as they cruise by. The Metropolis range also includes a document case and wallets.

04: SURREAL SILKS

Hermes

Patterned silk scarves aren’t for every guy, but those who dare know that Hermes is always a good stop for some of the most striking selections each season. Celebrate your inner geek with the appropriately named Flamboyant Web scarf, a cashmere-and-silk design conceived by Japanese artist Daisuke Nomura: two spider-robots spin a web around bridles and other equestrian objects. If that’s too trippy, there are saner options, such as a (lightly) fringed wool-and-silk scarf featuring 100 perfectly aligned polka dots.