Massimo Alba Kos Collarless Pop-Over

Remove the collar from a shirt and you remove its rank. A collar is what makes a shirt formal or informal, correct or incorrect, and a shirt without one has opted out of the question entirely. The Kos takes the second step as well: it is a pop-over, so the opening stops partway down the chest and the shirt goes on over the head rather than being fastened from throat to hem. There is nothing to do up and nothing to leave undone, and between the two decisions almost every choice a shirt normally puts to you in the morning has been removed from it.

What is left is a plain garment in a linen and cotton cloth, airy enough for real heat, in a grey called Polvere, which is dust and is exactly the colour dust is here. It demands nothing of anyone.

Styling and care

Untucked with the Kevin shorts or the Felix trousers, sleeves pushed. A pop-over has no placket running the length of the front, so it reads as a single plane of cloth and looks better loose than tucked. Under a jacket it is deliberately plain rather than underdressed. Wash cool, hang to dry, and let it soften; linen and cotton in this proportion improves with washing. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

Some summers you want one shirt and no decisions. This is that shirt.

Fifty-five percent linen, forty-five percent cotton, made in Italy. Collarless, cut as a pop-over so the opening stops partway down the front. Relaxed fit. Colour: Polvere.

The Noto2 Classic Shirt is the linen and cotton button-up, with a band collar. The Kevin Shorts are the linen shorts, and the Felix Trousers are the cotton gauze. There is more on the house on the Massimo Alba designer page. Everything we carry from Massimo Alba is listed together.