Too Hot are our favourite purveyors of vintage Stone Island, CP Company, Best Company and classic sportswear. LAW is our favourite biannual magazine, elevating the humdrum, everyday and prosaic with reverence and beauty. Paninaro are our favourite Italian 80s subculture, lovers of Moncler puffas, Timberland boat shoes and Vespa scooters.
All three have come together at Harvey Nichols, as Too Hot are organising a Paninaro themed pop-up, featuring a zine made by LAW — shot on location in Sorrento, Italy, by Theo Cottle. All the pieces featured within will be available to buy at the pop-up, which opens tomorrow and runs until 3 August, alongside a whole trove of other fashion gems.
“Too Hot represents the epitome of cool and the epitome of cool is Italian Paninaro,” John from LAW explains over email. “Where better to shoot than the coast of Sorrento. We street cast local lads Marco and Lorenzo and dressed them head-to-toe in Ollie’s treasure trove of unearthed rarities and sartorial holy grails.”
The Paninaro came about in 80s, a brightly coloured materialistic youthquake that was a reaction to Italy’s post war political upheavals. They embraced American culture; favouring fast food over mamma’s slow cooked ragu; Levi’s over tailored trousers and synthpop over music leggera. The Pet Shop Boys even made a song about the movement, which featured lyrics like: “Girls, boys, arts, pleasure / Food, cars, travel, food, cars, travel / New York, New York / Armani, Versace, cinque.”
“The Paninaro style was a bold and vivid mix of classic 50s American teen cool and the latest European designer sportswear. They hung out at sandwich bars in Milan such as Bar Panino where they took their name. Gathering on scooters, scrambler bikes and jeeps wearing brands like Stone Island, Moncler, Best Company and Iceberg combined with washed denim jeans rolled at the hem with Burlington socks, Vans or Converse and in some cases cowboy boots,” Too Hot’s Ollie explains of the subculture’s fashion.
“It feels a really relevant style at the moment with the resurgence of these brands in popular culture and the crossover in aesthetic with a lot of contemporary streetwear. Looking back at old pictures of the original Paninari, it’s obviously a very 80s look, but it’s aged well and still looks incredibly stylish when done well.”
Credits
Text Felix Petty
Photography Theo Cottle