EVERYDAY IS A FRIDAY NIGHT
LIFE LESSONS FROM MR. GIANNI AGNELLI
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Mr. Gianni Agnelli represents that most inimitable of icons — profoundly stylish yet also profoundly proficient in his chosen profession (that he has long since passed helps. Men don’t like admiring living male icons; competition and all that). Here are five lessons from the great man’s life, guaranteed to:
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Turn your 9 to 5 into a Mad Men season finale;
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Your weekend into a Slim Aarons portrait of Saturday brunch on a yacht along the Italian Riveira; and
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Your college dorm roommates into a coterie of style trendsetters with a negroni in one hand and a celebrity in the other.
EVERYDAY IS A FRIDAY NIGHT
We can’t all dive into the Atlantic from a helicopter, date the English Premier’s daughter and drive a Ferrari through the cobbled streets of Turin at a speed that would shame Mr. James Hunt. But. Know when that one friend calls you out for a pint on Wednesday night? Or that slightly annoying ex-roommate invites you to a new gallery opening? Go. Go get drunk. Go raise some hell. Go mix a negroni with a martini as an appetiser for your shrimp cocktail dinner. Go wander the streets with the girl you’re trying to impress at 2AM on a Thursday. Go take a Tuesday off from work and drive down to Biarritz with some equally rakish friends. Go for a midnight showing of the latest Marvel movie. Go for the midweek Champions League game and tell your boss you’re going. Go invite your coterie of trendsetting, loyal friends for a Wednesday night dinner replete with Sunday roast, Cosmopolitans, backgammon and a karaoke session where Wonderwall and Mr. Brightside annoy your neighbours at 3AM. Go live for every day, not just for the weekend. And the best hangover cure is tea. No pinkies. White tea cup. Milk and two sugars. Preferably with a copy of orangesaint., some wayfarers and overlooking a lush golf course. None of this aspirin or Pocari Sweat nonsense.
STYLE IS WHAT REMAINS AFTER THE CONCIERGE COLLECTS THE FASHION
Is pretty self-explanatory. While the great Italian did spend more on his clothes than many spend, period, his timelessness comes in how he treated them. Skew your tie horribly stylishly? Check. Wear a watch on your shirt cuff? Check. Look equally louche in a polo on a yacht in the Mediterranean or in an Italian bespoke suit in a boardroom in New York? Check. There is a myth that only the blessed few humans (read: Mr. Zayn Malik) can pull off the blessed few clothes. saint. is here to assure you this is simply the latest marketing gimmick made by C-grade celebrities who want to cut in line on Black Friday. If it feels good, it’ll look good.
THE GOOD LIFE ISN'T ALL ABOUT THE BEACH
It’s also about being good at what you do, professionally. Now this doesn’t mean condemning yourself to a lifetime of 8PM report write-ups, 7AM email checks, and continuous all-nighters for that one presentation that may or may not resemble a scene from . But it does mean being absolutely present at work while you’re at work. A gentleman is defined solely by his actions and most of us cannot afford to be defined solely by our beach bodies playing volleyball with our beach bodied friends drinking beach-appropriate cocktails on a Instagram-aesthetic beach. Rest is only fun when there’s something to rest from. Mr. Gianni Agnelli, in between his bouts of timeless hell-raising, managed to reverse the fortunes of two iconic car manufacturers, fund one of the most iconic football teams of any generation, quell the raging Italian workers’ unions of the mid-twentieth century and cast himself as the gateway to all things Italian business.
NO ONE EVER DRINKS JUST ONE PINT
Is a truism coined by the infinitely iconic Mr. Liam Gallagher and therefore is infinitely true. When you work, work. But when you drink, drink. Now, this isn’t a call to a week-long bender, which, even if you’re dressed in an Edward Sexton suit, is a hard look to pull off. But it does mean that hurried pints, social politeness and always looking at the clock to not be late for something decidedly unimportant are not recommended. Chalking out an entire day to show the American First Lady around your hometown is.
FLIRT WITH LIFE, NOT DEATH
That Ms. Lauren Hutton wittily uttered this after surviving a motorbike accident only adds to its authenticity as a maxim for life. Death will come eventually, but there’s no point cautiously awaiting for it. Go on those idiotic, mad adventures that are so far confined to your bucket list. And if you’re planning on diving off your helicopter into the Atlantic, give orangesaint. a call.