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We might not all be pilots in real life, but we can at least travel as easily—and as stylishly—as they do, thanks to Rimowa.

The luxury luggage brand’s Original Pilot Case, which was first released in 1994, underwent a major overhaul last year. If you couldn’t snag one during that go-around, though, Rimowa has finally restocked its classic, coveted roller bag, which retails for $1,990.

Ideal for a short-haul trip—whether that’s via car, train or, of course, plane—the Original Pilot Case retains the original’s functional look. Rimowa’s iconic grooved aluminum covers the case, and it features the company’s multiwheel system and telescopic handle, for ease of use in crowded airports.

Inside, you’ll find a number of useful new features to help you keep all your items organised and easy to find. First, a padded compartment can hold a laptop up to 16 inches, or it can be removed to turn the suitcase into a toolbox of sorts. Two zipped pockets have been inserted for storing small items such as chargers, while a vertical pocket is big enough for a water bottle or compact umbrella. All of these features are easily accessible via the suitcase’s unique top opening.

The Original Pilot Case is somewhat of a return to form for the 125-year-old company. Rimowa’s suitcases are of course its most well-known products, but recently the brand been crafting some more unique cases, including for bottles of Champagne or fine wine. As a bonus, the pilot case comes with stickers ($65), with five designs inspired by aviation companies in the ‘90s. They’ll not only add some personality to your case, they’ll help you pick out your luggage on the baggage carousel.

Previous iterations of the Pilot Case sell for as much as $2700 on the secondary market, making the new and improved case a veritable steal.

rimowa.com

With made-to-measure and bespoke tailors crafting everything from pajama sets to safari jackets for the modern man, it would follow that raincoats should feature in their repertoire. But custom-made rainwear remains a rarity, a seeming oversight considering the difficulty of altering traditional raincoats.

Unlike woolen overcoats, whose sleeve lengths can be easily adjusted, coats made from water-repellent cotton or cotton-blend fabrics tend to “scar” with alteration. As Robert Squillaro, the senior vice president and chief merchandising officer of J. Press warns, attempting to alter the retailer’s 100 percent cotton Grenfell raincoat is a dangerous business.

“Tightly woven cotton fabrics that have been tailored and pressed into garments cannot have the seams let out or the sleeves lengthened because you will see the stitch marks or creases that were either sewn or pressed in,” he tells Robb Report.

Aside from the nature of the fabric, Squillaro points out that a raincoat’s sleeve cuffs typically end with a fusible that creates a crease. Trying to undo this crease without leaving the original mark behind is an impossible task.

Men whose proportions fall outside of traditional sizing might seek out a bespoke tailor to stay dry. But as Paolo Martorano of the eponymously named bespoke tailoring business explains, popular rainproof fabrics like Loro Piana Storm System don’t play nice with a benchmade tailor’s tools.

“Storm System is an exceptional product. The issue with the membrane is that it is a very dense synthetic, which, in pressing, can melt and cause damage to the tailor-shop irons,” he says. “Most high-end factories or made-to-measure workshops which work with this fabric are equipped to deal with it in ways that bespoke tailors simply are not; this includes special sleeves to cover their irons so they can work with this cloth properly without fear that they’ll damage their equipment.”

Cad & The Dandy has addressed this issue by partnering directly with Mackintosh to provide rainproof outerwear in a made-to-order capacity. Through its ongoing partnership with the maker—whose founder Charles Macintosh introduced the first rubberised cotton raincoat in 1824—clients can be fitted for a custom Mackintosh at Cad & The Dandy’s London or New York showrooms.

“A Mackintosh is 100 percent waterproof. In order to achieve this, every seam is bonded. Tailors often don’t have the means to adjust a bonded seam or reseal,” Cad & The Dandy’s US managing director Steve Knorsch says of the partnership’s necessity.

After a client selects a rubberized cotton and chooses between either the classic Oxford raincoat or the hooded Granish model, their measurements will be applied to an existing size block and manufactured into a finished garment at Mackintosh’s UK factory in eight weeks.

Angel Ramos, the founder of the eponymous New York-based custom clothier, ties the scarcity of custom raincoats to a lack of imagination.

“Custom rainwear isn’t difficult to find, per se, but really it’s more that people don’t think about rainwear when they think about custom,” he says. “For outerwear, we tend to think of all types of classic tailored overcoats, but because rainwear falls into this sort of ‘technical’ function territory, people don’t think it’s available custom.”

Ramos’s solution was to design a raincoat that matched sartorial gravitas to practical performance. His water-repellant twill trench coat, available both made-to-order and made-to-measure, mimics a polo coat with such classical features as an Ulster collar, half-belted back and gauntlet cuffs. But it is made from a cotton-wool Dormeuil fabric whose high-density weave and nanotechnology treatment easily resists rain droplets.

However, all that weather resistance comes with a price. “The density in this fabric means mending is very tricky, since it is physically difficult to push a needle through the fabric to make any corrections that might be necessary,” Ramos says of the miraculous but tough-to-tailor textile.

Creating custom rainwear is not without its challenges, but the good news is that makers are stepping up to serve those who require it. As for those who can fit into an off-the-peg make, “You could do worse than a classic Burberry,” Martorano says.

It’s taken a British outfitter to teach us about proper shorts and stylish beachwear.

And the heightened messaging that frames lifestyle label Orlebar Brown has been given further appeal with the debut of a lavish Australian flagship boutique.

Set centrally on Sydney’s Martin Place, the new ‘OB’ store speaks of a brand at the forefront of luxury lifestyle made for holidays (and home) — interiors of white aligned to sandy tones, terrazzo flooring, and reclaimed louvre shutters.

Of the offered products, the new boutique opens with the fun that is the new SS23 collection – pointing to heady European summer sojourns of yachting, refined beach clubs and more.

Print abounds this season – Cravat a standout – with both the ‘Sea Mist’ short and matching cotton-silk polo proving Robb Report must-haves.

The Martin Place opening takes to five the label’s bricks-and-mortar retail footprint in Australia – having found a firm alignment between our climate and desire for the finer things with its elevated, stylish and functional resort, sport, holiday and beachwear.

Extending its affinity with this country, OB recently unveiled a new ‘Noosa’ Bulldog swimshort, adorned in a printed aerial beachscape of the famed Sunshine Coast region by Noosa photographer and artist Dave Wilcock.

Orlebar Brown launched in 2007 by photographer Adam Brown and claimed an instant following given its fresh approach and the quality of its product, so too the delivery of a debut set of tailored shorts that were able to be worn from beach to bar and which came with a five-year guarantee.

Growing to what is today an expansive lifestyle brand of deep lines and broad collections, it has extended its international reach with stores in more than 25 locations around the world, including London, Paris, Spain, New York, Miami, France, Greece, Kuwait, and the UAE.

In 2018 the label was acquired by Chanel for an undisclosed sum.

Orlebar Brown is now open at 5 Martin Place, Sydney, NSW; orlebarbrown.com