Mario Carbone and La Ligne Release Men’s Ready-to-Wear Collection

The renowned restauranteur and clothing brand collaborate on a 1980s-inspired line.

Chef and restauranteur Mario Carbone has enlisted the help of womenswear label La Ligne to create a line of men’s ready-to-wear titled “Our Lady of Rocco.” Carbone, whose namesake Downtown restaurant is a perennial favorite of hip New Yorkers, is releasing his first full collection after spending years designing the stylish uniforms of his renowned restaurants.

Inspired by 1980s New York City, the collection pays homage to Carbone’s Italian-American upbringing where the chef witnessed a unique sense of casual chicness throughout the city streets. The campaign is set against the backdrop of Rocco, a storied Italian restaurant that Carbone dubbed as “Carbone’s Church.”

“Rocco was the restaurant that Carbone inhabited when we first opened. We left the original sign outside that says “Rocco,” [and] we’ve always paid homage to the generations past of that area,” Carbone tells VMAN. “I wanted to use Rocco again as the name and I made it into this fictitious church, Our Lady of Rocco.”

Not only referencing the expansive city, the collection is designed to mirror the Catholic School uniforms that Carbone grew up around — tracksuits, wearable separates, and chic tailoring. “I made a capsule collection that’s basically a Catholic School uniform,” Carbone reveals to VMAN. “If you played on the team at school, if you were attending class, and if it was the Fall…you had your varsity jacket on. And we made two [versions] for the younger generation, the top of the jacket is more waist height than traditional suiting.”

The 19-piece collection is composed of ​​laid-back yet sophisticated styles and attractive separates that exude a distinct athleisure flair. “I get dressed quickly, so I like being able to grab something that is a matching set,” Carbone says. “I love the way the pieces in the collection can live in different spaces of your life. Specifically the suit, the velour set, and the track suits, they are perfect for lounging around the house in your slippers. Or if you’re going to play some sort of sport or workout, and even if you’re going out to dinner, those sets are your go-to.”

Standout pieces include a sleek navy velour tracksuit and a color blocked nylon jacket that features the brand’s signature logo. Another key aspect of the collection is the “Leisure Suit” — a sleekly tailored wool jacket and coordinating trousers that arrives in camel, maroon, and navy color ways. 

“There’s some great Members Only jacket photos of my Dad and my Uncles,” Carbone says. “I was definitely looking at Members Only silhouettes from the ’80s and some of those old style silhouettes. Dior used to make these track suits in the ’80s, and those silhouettes were definitely what I pull from.”

Setting against the imagery of Greenwich Village, the campaign imagery fully embodies the social clubs and Italian-American influences that Carbone witnessed during his most formative years. “I remember as a kid the clubs where the old guys go to play cards, have an espresso, escape their wives, and just hang out. There’d be these social clubs and some of them were part of bigger organizations like Knights of Columbus and Sons of Italy,” Carbone says. “So you’d get these haphazard decorations of trophies and flags. And they would say ‘members only’ outside, but there was really no membership process. And so I wanted to create something that spoke to the clothes so that people could feel the origin of it.”

As a part of the release of the collection, Carbone and La Ligne will offer customers an in-person shopping experience at 275 Mulberry Street and the full collection will also be available online

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