Kris Van Assche is nothing if not consistent. The Belgian designer’s collections explore a restrained proportion and color palette each season, and his shows are executed precisely without excess fanfare or runway gimmickry. For spring 2012, Van Assche, who also designs Dior Homme, looked to British Teddy Boys of the 1950s for inspiration, and found it in their polo shirt and suit combos, porkpie hats and creeper boots. It was insouciant summer suiting, all floppy jersey and truncated drop-crotch pants—and it looked comfortable as hell. 

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p class=”p1″>Summer is all too often a season that designers leave by the wayside. Layering is out of the question, as are coats, jackets and all the other things that go into a dapper winter look, but Van Assche took the ball and ran with it. His coats were cut in shirting, long-sleeve shirts came with cool cotton pique bodies and bomber jackets looked light enough to wear on a warm June evening. And if the arms on some of those polo shirts were verging on the too-long side, it’s nothing a couple of sleeve rolls wouldn’t fix in a jiffy—it’s very Teddy.