“There’s linen you wear in the Hamptons, and there’s linen you wear in New York,” said Martin Andersson in Theory’s Meatpacking showroom. “This is linen that you wear in New York.”
While the brand’s idea of the Theory man is an on-the-go New Yorker, Andersson is walking the walk; technical innovation is top of mind for the designer, whose choice of fabrication is just as considered as his designs.
This season, Andersson sought to design an offering that could take the wearer from their office to their un-airconditioned European vacation. Enter: Theory’s so-called city linen. “I never understood linen until I moved to New York,” Andersson admitted. “From then onwards, I just wanted to live in linen.” The lightweight, breathable fabric is the bedrock of the collection, spanning unlined sport coats, linen-blend knits, and a performance linen-nylon blend with a little stretch. (“It’s perfect for travel,” he added. “You just shake it out.”) But perhaps best of all is the Theory take on a rugby shirt—rendered in a machine-washable cotton-linen blend.
While linen is par for the course in the summer, Andersson pushed himself to riff on prep codes with a seersucker interpretation. “Theory is a modern brand, so we don’t really do preppy, but we like to twist it a little bit on its head,” he said. In place of the overplayed merino quarter-zip, Andersson created a burgundy version—seen here in short-sleeve shirts and shorts—with all of the texture and none of the WASPy overtones. You definitely won’t see this in the Hamptons.
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