For Todd Snyder, being a designer isn’t just a job, it is something he was destined to do. As the show notes of his FW24 collection reveal, the name Snyder in Dutch means tailor, so who else could be more suited to opening the 105th edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo?

Snyder’s résumé is a vision in red, white, and blue. He started at Polo Ralph Lauren before becoming the menswear director of Gap. From there he moved to J. Crew and founded his namesake brand in 2011. Since then, the brand has become known for its blend of Savile Row tailoring, Old Hollywood style and field clothing. Along with his brand, Snyder is also the Creative Director of Woolrich’s Black Label, and for his FW24 show at Pitti, he presented a runway in two halves: Act 1 — “Black Label” for his work at Woolrich and Act 2 – “The Modernist” for his namesake brand.

For the Woolrich portion, Snyder looked back at the American brand’s 190-year history. There was an emphasis on mixing classic pieces with technical fabrics and high fashion flourishes. Many of the looks followed an explorer and mountaineering aesthetic – cable knit jumpers, snoods, fingerless gloves, and plenty of hardy black leather boots. It was a throwback to Woolrich’s heritage (they famously provided the clothing for some of America’s first Antarctic expeditions) but it never felt like you were watching a plain, old outerwear show. It was all undeniably luxe.

For his namesake brand’s portion, Snyder explained in the show notes that many of his collections begin with music. Joy Division and The Smiths being his go-tos. But the inspiration for this collection wasn’t purely audible, it had the air of capital-M Modernism throughout. The paintings of Franz Kline and the designs of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche and Arne Jacobsen were on the mood board throughout the design process. Harking back to his collaborations whilst at J. Crew, the Todd Snyder collection was a collaborative effort. The jewellery was by John Hardy, the boots were provided by Tricker’s, and the Van Gogh patterns on some of the garments were courtesy of a partnership with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Synder’s penchant for outerwear continued with aviator jackets with merino shearling, field shirts and guide jackets, moleskine overcoats and cargo pants galore.