It’s easy to be dazzled by las mujeres de Madrid, with their flair for bright colours and statement footwear. But los hombres are no less sartorially daring: it's not uncommon to see an older gentleman strutting down Calle de Serrano in a voluminous merino wool cape, for example, or a pack of young Spaniards sifting through piles of vintage jewelry at El Rastro. While sartorial tastes have traditionally skewed more old-school, a groundswell of new streetwear-inspired men’s boutiques and modern tailoring shops are injecting edge into the capital’s shopping scene.

Of course, the basis of any madrileño wardrobe is classic tailoring and luxurious fabrics. To get the look, head for Camisería Burgos, the oldest shirt maker in Spain (and the royal family’s go-to), where walnut display cases showcase poplin, twill, Oxford and linen styles that have been worn by the likes of Cary Grant, Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway. Now run by the third generation, the century-old shop is still a magnet for the city’s best-dressed – affluent families send their housekeepers there to learn the art of ironing a Burgos shirt. A five-minute walk will bring you to another Madrid institution, Capas Seseña, on Calle de la Cruz, which is the only establishment in Spain dedicated exclusively to the making of the traditional cape. Some of the country’s greatest artists and thinkers have donned the brand’s signature merino-wool garments, which take three to seven weeks to be crafted on site. Pablo Picasso was even buried in one!

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Straddling tradition and modernity, Oteyza specialises in bespoke and made-to-measure suits with an avant-garde spin. There’s always an element of surprise to the designs, whether it’s a deconstructed-looking jacket with asymmetrical buttoning or high-waisted red trousers evoking a matador’s costume. If you don’t have time to get a custom look, you can also shop the brand’s prêt-à-porter collections. In the bohemian Chueca neighbourhood, Duarte is another brand shaking up the capital’s dress codes with its gender-fluid, size-inclusive suit wear. Founder and creative director Carlos Duarte draws on such far-reaching influences as vintage car design, the clean lines of Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza and the geometric shapes of American sculptor Dan Flavin.

Llop

In Madrid, even casual styles are given the made-to-measure treatment. Fernando García de la Calera is the founder of The Concrete, an atelier crafting tailor-made work clothes out of premium materials like 280g indigo-dyed Japanese selvedge denim or 140g herringbone natural cotton – lightweight fabrics perfect for Spain’s oppressive summer heat (most madrileños would never be caught dead wearing shorts, by the way). Meanwhile, at fashion and design hotspot Llop, in Las Letras, the Catalan-born owner Alex Llop leans on his experience working in Italian fashion houses to elevate modest materials like the checkered farcell cloth, traditionally used by Catalan farmers to transport goods to and from the market. His current collection, Tramuntana, named after the mountain chain that ripples across Mallorca, comprises terracotta-hued suede trousers, chunky hand-knit vests and double-breasted farcell blazers.

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The streetwear trend that has swept the world has cropped up in Madrid, too. Edmmond Studios specialises in cool-kid graphic tees, slouchy sweatshirts and perfectly lived-in cargo pants, all sustainably made in Portugal and Spain. For eco-conscious urban wear crafted from organic cotton and recycled fabrics try Unfeigned, a fast-growing technical brand launched by the Gómez family in 2018. The brand’s flagship in the Salesas district also features accessories by international labels like Scandinavia’s Sandqvist and Australia’s Bellroy. 

For more multibrand shopping, check out Calle del Conde Duque, in the lively Malasaña neighbourhood, where the graffiti-streaked Mini Shop – a favourite of locals like legendary Spanish rapper C.Tangana, whose own Late Checkout brand is stocked here – is located just steps from the two-storey Sportivo, which carries more than 60 labels like Dries Van Noten and Norse Projects.

Sportivo