Just because the sun is sizzling doesn’t mean your style has to suffer. Heat-fighting tech has gone to the next level and brought forth a whole new class of clothes redefining what it means to look cool. Andrew Koji, Bullet Train’s up-and-coming action star, proves it.
Upgrade a Classic
Meet your new summertime uniform. Banana Republic’s performance pants look like chinos, but they’re water-repellent and breathable, with built-in stretch. Wear them with Goodlife’s slim, lighter-than-air Henley. This outfit looks good anywhere: the office, al fresco dates, overwater bungalows (one can dream), or wherever else summer takes you.
Henley ($85) by Goodlife; Motion Tech pants ($100) by Banana Republic; Tread Lite sneakers ($120) by Florsheim; watch ($550) by Victorinox.
Go Camping
Old-school camp shirts were billowy button-ups made for post-retirement lounging. Fair Harbor’s Casablanca top fixes all that. Its cut is slim, like a summer dress shirt, yet lightweight for hot poolside days. Its UPF 30 fabric helps
fight sunburn.
Shirt ($78) by Fair Harbor; Alpha Icon chinos ($88) by Dockers; sunglasses ($163) by Ray-Ban; Captain Cook High Tech Ceramic Diver watch ($3000) by Rado.
Travel Light
Cross-country summer travel calls for comfortable clothes that still look polished. Enter Buck Mason’s cotton polo, which feels broken-in like your favourite sweats, while its suede finish keeps it looking sharp. Pair it with Everlane’s moisture-wicking travel chinos to move you from the tarmac to the resort without losing a second of relaxation style.
Polo ($58) by Buck Mason; performance travelling chinos ($98) by Everlane; Divers Sixty-Five watch ($2200) by Oris.
Play Smarter
Todd Snyder’s Tipped tank is perfect for gun-show weather, thanks to its slim but not-clingy fit, so you can wear it at the park or the beach. Match it with these Lands’ End shorts, which feature UPF 50 sun protection and a little stretch for swimming and running.
Tank ($58) by Todd Snyder; Outrigger Stretch cargo shorts ($65) by Lands’ End; sneakers ($140) by On.
Stretch it Out
A polo-and-pants combo is the ultimate summer-Friday look. Polo Ralph Lauren upgrades it with an extra-stretch, breathable fabric that feels like a second skin, so you can go straight from the office to a barbeque wrinkle- and sweat-free.
Polo ($95) and cargo pants ($125) by Polo Ralph Lauren; sneakers ($110) by Everlane; watch ($3000) by Rado.
Cool Kicks
Elevate your summer style with a casual, tech-savvy sneaker. Julius Marlow’s Sabre features O2 motion technology, offering premium comfort and function without sacrificing style. With added flexibility from strobel construction, you’ll look as cool as you feel.
$169.95, juliusmarlow.com.au
The ultimate warrior
Andrew Koji can take a beating. After all, the 34-year-old actor’s breakout character was
a Bruce Lee–inspired martial artist on the show Warrior, for which he went through months of arduous training. Although Koji studied tae kwon do in his teens, this was another level of intense fight work – and it paid off. Soon after, he landed a string of steady gigs: Peaky Blinders, American Gods, the G. I. Joe prequel Snake Eyes.
And then came the action-thriller movie Bullet Train, shot at the height of the pandemic. “Normally you get to know your cast members, but we had the double masks and social distancing,” Koji says. “It was claustrophobic.”
The British-Japanese actor channelled his nerves into his character, Yuichi Kimura, a troubled gangster who boards the title train and collides with lethal adversaries. “I just used that anxiety for the character,” he says. “It worked because he’s a bit of a mess.”
Plus, Koji had a decent scene partner to work with: Brad Pitt. “When we were going over this scene, he said, ‘We’re sculpting it and we’re sculpting it. It’s never perfect. We’re fine-tuning it and making it better,’ ” Koji says. “I really respect that. He cares so much about trying to make it as good as possible. He’s a craftsman.”
Next, Koji will enter another round of martial-arts training in South Korea to prepare for Warrior’s third season. With little room for downtime, he unwinds with video games, reading and meditation. And he sticks to comfortable clothes that he can relax in.
“During my screen test with Brad, he was wearing casual sneakers and a jumpsuit thing,” Koji says. “Brad said to me, ‘Once you get to a certain age, it’s about comfort.’ That’s how I feel, but I’m already there.”
— Christian Gollayan
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