By Rocco Mascitelli
A Study in Colour: Examining the Djmon
Every result has a colour
The board is gone from the background. The scientist has moved to a smaller table, a clean sheet of paper and a single flask of blue. He has also changed. Navy jacket, navy trousers, navy sneakers: three depths of the same colour, as if he'd decided to run the next trial on himself.
It isn't the strangest thing in the room. The flasks have been rearranged. Blue with blue, amber with amber, orange at the end of the row. He doesn't remember doing it.
Notes on the colour wheel
Colour theory starts with a wheel: the hues arranged in a circle, and a few relationships worth knowing. Most outfits that work are using one of them, whether the man wearing them knows it or not.
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Tonal. One colour in several depths. A navy jacket, a lighter navy trouser, the darkest navy at the feet. It reads as one decision.
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Complementary. Colours opposite each other on the wheel, like blue and orange. At full strength they fight. Turned down to navy and cognac, they settle each other.
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Neutral. Colours muted until they sit beside almost anything. In menswear, olive, stone and grey do this job.
The scientist has written all three in the margin. Then he's crossed out "orange" and written "cognac".
Meet Djimon:
Every reaction needs a stable compound. The Brando Djimon pairs nubuck with perforated leather on a low-top, streamlined collar, set on a contrast white cupsole for everyday comfort and flexibility. It laces up the front and is leather-lined inside for a soft, breathable feel. Among men's perforated leather sneakers, it's the one built to work with the rest of the outfit rather than over it.
What colour shoes to wear with navy
His notes, sorted by method.
Tonal. Navy trousers, the Djimon in navy. Let the white sole be the only break in the line.
Complementary. Navy trousers, the Djimon in cognac. The warmest colour in the outfit sits at the feet.
Neutral. Navy or stone chinos, the Djimon in olive. Nothing competes.
Three colourways, three reactions
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Navy: the control sample. Tonal with navy, sharp with white and grey.
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Cognac: navy's complement. Warm against denim, linen and stone.
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Olive: the neutral. Easy with navy, cream and earthy tones.
Before you order
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Someone has been in the lab
The scientist reads the label on the last flask. It isn't his handwriting. The colours are in the right order, in the right amounts, on the right side of the wheel.
He makes a note to thank himself. It won't be the last time he's wrong.
The uniform changes. The standard remains unbroken.