Style Lessons From The Late Jean-Paul Belmondo

We're mourning the passing of Jean-Paul Belmondo, one of 20th century cinema’s most stylish and influential actors. An early star of French New Wave, Belmondo made a searing first impression with audiences as the charmingly laissez-faire, doomed Michel in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. His deep well of charisma and rugged-to-the-point-of-crumpled good looks made him a star, reteaming with Godard for A Woman Is A Woman and Pierrot le Fou, playing opposite the likes of Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale, and teaming up with Alain Delon in the crime caper Borsalino (yes, the films’ hats are by Borsalino.)

Like Delon, Belmondo was also a star with an innate sense of style - one he brought to bear both on and off-screen. Effortlessly blending chic sartorial codes with hardy workwear, he made European elegance feel wearable and thoroughly modern. His unique knack for merging the classic and the casual has never felt more relevant - and his wardrobe will undoubtedly continue to be the inspiration for many a new made-to-measure tailoring project.

Let’s explore some of his most valuable style lessons.