When viewers first meet Arthur, a forlorn Englishman played by Challengers star Josh O’Connor in filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s latest feature La Chimera, he’s dozed off in a train car wearing a rumpled cream linen suit. He elicits giggles and whispers of “Where he from?” from three local girls who—as archaeologists might—scan Arthur’s ensemble for clues of his past, hoping to recompose a story of this disheveled but alluring traveler. It’s perhaps the most effortlessly cool character introduction since George Clooney in an unkempt post-prison suit in Ocean’s Eleven.
O’Connor’s stock skyrocketed after he portrayed a young Prince Charles on The Crown, where his portrayal of the monarch dons a regal array of bespoke linen double-breasted suits. In theaters this week, he also stars in Luca Guadagnino’s highly anticipated tennis drama Challengers, appearing opposite Zendaya and Mike Faist in real-life and on-screen Loewe knighthood. With La Chimera, which premiered to notable acclaim last year at Cannes, O’Connor steps into his leading-man era in the latest revival of the greatest cinematic oeuvre of them all: The Misadventures of a Guy Who Wanders About in Crumpled Suit for Basically the Entire Runtime.
Courtesy of Ad Vitam Distribution
The magical and melancholic 1980s period drama centers on the ups and downs of a circus troupe-y gang of local grave robbers (known as tombaroli). Arthur’s uncanny knack for sniffing out ancient Escustan relics anoints him as their leader. It’s never established where exactly Arthur is from, but the lack of personal revelation sets him apart from the provincial Italian town he’s landed in. Where tombaroli seek their chimera—a fantasy artifact one tries to unearth but never manages to find—Arthur digs in search of lost love, the fateful Eurydice to his Orpheus. His wardrobe, as costumed by frequent Rohrwacher collaborator Loredana Buscemi, suggests origins of an upper echelon (milk-white is admittedly a bold color choice for a tomb raider), or even the flashier Scarface or Tarantino ensembles of that era.
According to Rohrwacher, Arthur’s cream linen suit is meant to underline his placelessness. “We try to work on that fine line between realism and fairy tales, so the costumes also have a deeper, symbolic meaning,” the filmmaker told Vogue. “Arthur has this white suit that he wears throughout the seasons because he may be a ghost—he may or may not exist.” Arthur’s ensemble— loosely tucked, tieless, two sizes too big, and increasingly speckled with dust—is a reminder that style is all about the narratives we carry. Most crucially it makes a convincing case for a new addition to your summer uniform—one with all the natural crumple, breathability, and effortlessly cool chops an enduring traveler might need.
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