In 1982, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas (real name: José Antonio Domínguez Bandera) graced our screens for the first time in Labyrinth Of Passion. Since then, he has secured leading roles in a whole host of films, from children’s flick Spy Kids and Once Upon A Time In Mexico to Madonna’s breakthrough movie, Evita, and the action-packed The Mask Of Zorro.
With five Golden Globe nominations (the latest being this year for his lead actor role in Pain And Glory), an Oscar nod and a further 32 award wins, he is one of the most celebrated Spanish actors on the planet.
He’s also one of the best dressed. While today he’s all about doubling down on his denim, chunky Western-style boots and slim-fitting tuxedos, it was actually his younger days which first saw him gain certified menswear god status.
A red-carpet regular (with or without his equally sartorial ex-wife, Melanie Griffith), we’ve whittled down the style lessons you can learn from Banderas.
Sure, you’re probably wearing a belt as you read this (unless you’ve opted for WFH-appropriate sweatpants, of course), but are you really getting it right? The key to wearing a belt today, à la Miuccia Prada’s waist-cinching double-wrap offering for Autumn/Winter 2019, is to wear the one you already own so tight that it draws in your waist, giving you unfathomable proportions. Not only will you look slimmer, but you’ll also be nailing a big trend without having to raid Regent Street for the latest in-product.
And, of course, Antonio Banderas was doing this long before it hit the catwalk, or, indeed, we started doing it in the GQ office. With his belt pulled high and tight, Banderas was enhancing his streamlined waist as far back as 1995.
Forget whatever you’ve been told regarding the does and don’ts of wearing mismatched prints, because it’s exactly what you should be doing. Banderas was doing it with flair back in the 1990s, as were George Clooney and George Michael, and today the likes of Harry Styles, Darren Criss and Jeff Goldblum (who really does it best) are at it too.
What’s more, colour and pattern clashing has found its place on the once minimalist-heavy catwalks. Gucci, Marni, Louis Vuitton (under Virgil Abloh’s direction) and Celine are doing it best, with checks and stripes and bold and vivid colours that shouldn’t work but do thrown together in OTT glory.
Back in 2000, Danny Boyle’s The Beach was released and it kickstarted a love-hate relationship (for us anyway) with surfer style, and beads in particular. Well, come 2003, Antonio Banderas had been convinced that jade, wood and coconut beads were the look du jour and, to be honest, after some toing and froing, we’re into them.
What’s convinced us, though, in addition to Banderas’ 2000 style, is the fact that Colombian man-of-the-moment J Balvin is also into them. Taking to Instagram recently, the Beyoncé collaborator shared a glimpse of his very own Italian-made Carolina Bucci Forte beads.
Wear yours loud and proud and preferably with an on-trend Hawaiian shirt (Bode does some nice takes on the classic holiday-ready must-have). Surf’s up.
There’s a fine line between wearing an all-white outfit and looking good and looking like you’ve escaped from a Towie-hosted White Party in Marbs. If Kim Jones is putting men in head-to-toe white on the Dior catwalk and the aforementioned Abloh is doing it for Louis Vuitton, however, then it must be the thing to do. The trick to getting it right is to go easy on the spray-on fake tan and, akin to Banderas, opt for subtle differences in shade: off-white up top and ivory down below, for instance. Try it out this summer.
The 1990s may have been awash with grunge-led, throw-it-all-on fashion, promoted by the likes of Johnny Depp, Kurt Cobain and Helena Bonham Carter, but there were also plenty of super-chic all-black ensembles on rotation.
Case in point: Antonio Banderas’ own inky wardrobe. When he wasn’t repping all-white ’fits or donning patterns, the actor channelled his Spy Kids character with gusto. Boxy and delicious leather jackets that could’ve come out of one of Kris van Assche’s Berluti campaigns, cotton T-shirts and straight-legged slacks, all in shades of black, made for some expertly put-together looks. Copy immediately.
Akin to Jeff Goldblum and a young Leonardo DiCaprio, Banderas (when he wasn’t going tonal) was an unofficial representative for gaudy, patterned shirts. Not for the faint-hearted, the patterned shirt has got some stick over the years after being adopted by the likes of Ace Ventura and Corrie’s Les Battersby. Yet – and we’ll admit it’s tricky territory – we still can’t help but hold a flame for overt patterns.
And part of that might be to do with the fact that Mrs Prada is also into them. Pioneering a jolie laide design approach, Miuccia Prada has been an advocate for turning the fortune of the patterned shirt on its head. Now, Prada’s bold and loud shirting, which debuted as part of the brand’s AW18 outing and have become a mainstay in subsequent collections, has taken on Holy Grail status, loved by fashion editors and hypebeasts alike.
Side note: props to Melanie Griffith’s all-white ’fit, which allowed Banderas’ shirt to stand out in all its garish glory.
It’s not just about having gorgeous knitwear any more, it’s about knowing how to wear it. Take, for instance, Harry Styles, who either wears his cinched and cropped, oversized or over his shoulders. And the latter is something that Banderas was particularly good at back in the day. The nonchalant, collegiate move of wearing your jumper thrown over both shoulders has been a firm favourite among the likes of Banderas, Hugh Grant, Prince William and, well, the entire cast of Ivy League elite-heavy Gossip Girl.
And it’s a move that we’ve seen grace the catwalks, with brands such as MSGM and Lacoste favouring yuppie style. You know what to do.
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