The Lanvin Tie and the Art of Starting Somewhere

I found it in an online thrift store. A Lanvin tie with a print that looked like Art Nouveau on acid. Seaweed swirls, cerulean blue and deep emerald green, curls and currents dancing with no shame. It was one of the first ties I ever bought. It cost next to nothing. But it made me feel like I owned the room.

This one tie kickstarted my journey into menswear. I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I loved how this piece of silk looked against a white shirt. The navy suit came later. The double-breasted silhouette, too. But the formula was simple even back then: white shirt, navy suit, killer accessory. You can go up, you can go down, you can go sideways and wild. But this starting point? It works every single time.

So here it is for the beginners, the curious, the confused:

• Get a navy suit. It doesn’t have to be double-breasted like mine. Single-breasted, two buttons, clean lapels—whatever fits your body and your life.
• Get a white shirt. Crisp. Plain. No gimmicks.
• And then? Go nuts with the accessories. Pick a tie that sings to you. A pocket square that sparks joy. A pair of socks that say something only you understand. This is where your voice comes in.

Accessories are the beginner's playground. You can make mistakes, you can experiment, and nobody dies. You’ll get bolder. You'll develop taste. You'll discover that sometimes the "wrong" thing becomes your signature.

This isn’t about looking like someone else. It’s about building a conversation with yourself, in front of a mirror. And then, later, a conversation with the world.

My Lanvin tie? I still wear it. Not because it’s rare or expensive. But because it reminds me how far I’ve come. And that I had the guts to start.