Massimo Alba Genova Shirt – Soft Pink

Pink is a difficult colour on a man and an easy one on a shirt, and the difference is entirely a matter of saturation. At full strength it is a statement and it dates. Softened almost to the point of being a warm off-white, as here, it behaves like a neutral and does the one thing white cannot, which is to look correct against skin in strong light. Santa Fe light is strong for most of the year, and a pure white shirt at noon here can read hard. This does not.

Linen is the most casual cloth the Genova is cut in. Linen has almost no elasticity and a slubbed, irregular surface, so it holds a crease from the first hour and never entirely loses it, and it softens substantially over the first season and keeps going for years after that. This is the version to buy if you want a shirt that will look better in its fifth summer than its first, and the version to avoid if you want it to look pressed at six in the evening.

It carries the bib and the crest, as the other two Genovas do. The bib is a second layer across the chest, and in a linen it is doing more work than it does in a voile or a viscose, because linen at shirt weight is an irregular cloth and doubling it is what keeps the front of the shirt from going thin in strong light. The crest is embroidered small and left empty, because it is there to be filled in with a set of initials, which is an old Italian shirt-making convention that has almost entirely disappeared. Nobody needs it. It stays because the shirt is designed to be finished by whoever owns it.

We selected the Genova once and bought it three times, in three cloths, because it is the only shirt we know of that expects something from the person wearing it. The empty crest is a small piece of unfinished business and we like clothes that have one. The linen is the one we wear ourselves in August.

One hundred percent linen, made in Italy. Pointed collar, inner bib, embroidered crest for applying initials, regular fit. Colour: Soft Pink.

Regular fit, meaning it skims. Linen has no give, so a shirt that is tight across the shoulder when you try it on will still be tight in a year; take the size that lets you reach forward. The bib adds body across the chest only, so the shirt reads slightly more substantial from the front than the back. It will soften and relax considerably over the first season. Expect creasing from the moment you put it on.

Untucked with the Kevin shorts or the Ionio2 in Ferro. Under the Bali jacket in hemp if it is being worn on the women's side, where soft pink against Blu is the pairing. Sleeves rolled rather than pushed, because linen holds a roll.

Wash cool and hang to dry, and press damp if you want it crisp. Linen gets softer with every wash, so frequent washing is doing the garment a favour rather than a harm. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

The Genova Shirt in Laguna is the viscose and cotton and the Genova Shirt in Bianco is the cotton voile. The Selma Shirt is the linen shirt cut loose, the Noto2 Classic Shirt is the band collar, and the Kevin Shorts are the linen shorts. There is more on the house on the Massimo Alba designer page. Everything we carry from Massimo Alba is listed together.