Meet the Italian Menswear Brand That’s Making Slippers Sexy Again
Max Poglia likes to have fun. That should be plain to the 111,000 people who follow the Brazilian-born, Florence-based designer on Instagram, where he regularly parks photos of himself enjoying black tie dinners, cocktails, or cigars—and always well-dressed, whether in a tuxedo or military vintage.
So, it’s no surprise that the pandemic, which hit while Poglia was still living in New York, had him missing the social outings he’d been accustomed to. During its doldrums, he revived an idea he’d had for a brand called “Smoked Bone,” a play on his own eponymous lifestyle brand built around bone-handled knives and bar tools. While initially conceived as an underwear label, Smoked Bone was reimagined as a line of loafers, slippers and robes that hearkened back to late nights on the town and late check-out requests the morning after.
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“Being stuck at home, we all wanted a little bit of the extravagance,” he tells Robb Report. “We were all waiting to party, to get out and meet people, and I thought it was a good moment for Smoked Bone to have some fun.”
“Extravagant” and “fun” would be two ways to sum up the varied offerings of the brand, which launched in January. Its four core footwear models—the Broadway, a Prince Albert-style slipper; the Hampton, a Belgian loafer-esque moccasin; the Pope, a Grecian slipper; and the Beverley, a ballerina—are all black tie-applicable, particularly in their black velour leather iterations (each is also available as a bow pump). But there’s a decidedly playful aspect to the whole range, which manifests in flourishes like insoles lined with quilted yellow hearts or embroidered motifs ranging from mustachioed bellhops to thunderbirds with real turquoise stones.
So yes, you can envision most of them with a tux, but particularly at a given evening’s after-party—and the hungover morning to follow. “The mood of Smoked Bone is a beautiful party, dressing in the robe and the slippers, but also half-naked in the morning, with the same robe and same slippers to grab a coffee,” Poglia says.
The aptly named “Late Checkout” robe, which is made from wool-cashmere and marked by an embroidered horseshoe patch, certainly meets the theme, as do the custom robes made with one-of-one fabrics sourced from the famed Fratello Conforti archive in Prato, which is known for upcycling fabrics from European fashion houses (clients will be presented with three options at their first consultation, and an additional two fabrics in a second round, if needed).
The shoes and robes are produced in Tuscany on a made-to-order basis, and orders will be fulfilled within 4-6 weeks. The brand will soon have a physical presence with dedicated space within the new Fortela boutique in Milan, which expects to open next month in time for the Salone del Mobile. And come summer, Smoked Bone expects to debut a custom program that will allow clients to select from different leathers and velvets and add embroidered initials or motifs.
As bright as its apparent future may be, one question remains: are men in 2025 ready to adopt a sexy Grecian slipper or the male equivalent of the ballet flat? Poglia seems to think so, but with his good looks and gaucho swagger, he seems capable of wearing most anything and not feeling ridiculous. His advice to the rest of us? Just wear them like you don’t care, with whatever your day requires.
“I would wear it with a tuxedo, or a beautiful suit. But the day after, you can be in shorts just going for a cigarette,” he says. In other words, don’t overthink it—just have a good time.
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