In “Shore leave – a nautical tour of Hamburg,” the Financial Times’ HTSI stages a menswear editorial against the port city’s maritime backdrop, dressing models Max Stenzel, Lander Zaman and Cosmo Suffert in tailored looks from Loro Piana, Saint Laurent and Hermès that nod to Hamburg’s seafaring soul.
The shoot, photographed by Ben Marshall with styling by a team credited at the end of the piece, treats Germany’s second city as a natural runway. Cranes, warehouses and the Elbe river set a working-harbor mood while the clothes lean polished and urbane. It is fashion photography using a port city the way cinema uses a skyline: as atmosphere with attitude.
Three Takeaways From the Dockside Shoot
- Three models — Max Stenzel, Lander Zaman and Cosmo Suffert — anchor the looks, shot in Hamburg by DOP Ben Marshall.
- Price tags run from Falke cotton socks at £23 to a Loro Piana wool flannel jacket at £8,065; Church patent leather Oxford shoes at £1,020 recur across nearly every look.
- Production credits span agencies Tomorrow Is Another Day, Mint Management, DM Casting and NU Projects, signaling a high-end European editorial.
Hamburg’s Working Harbor Becomes the Runway
The title promises a nautical tour, and the styling delivers on that promise in spirit rather than literal costume. Nobody wears a sailor suit. Instead, the editorial leans on the romance of the port: heavy wool coats, leather overshirts, trench coats and polished Church Oxford shoes read like the wardrobe of men who actually own boats.
Max Stenzel opens the story in a Junya Watanabe wool coat priced at £1,700, layered over a cotton shirt and wool trousers at £500, shoes drawn from a selection at Theaterkunst. The look sets the register immediately: Japanese avant-garde tailoring meeting Northern European practicality. Later, Stenzel reappears in a Saint Laurent viscose-knit jumper with brushed flannel trousers, a Prada gabardine suit jacket at £2,550 with matching trousers at £1,370, a Giorgio Armani wool suit jacket at £1,900, and a Dior cashmere tailcoat at £2,500.
Lander Zaman carries the streetwear edge: a Comme des Garçons wool-mix blazer at £580, a Louis Vuitton nylon jacket at £2,110, a Louis Vuitton cotton shirt at £785 paired with nylon trousers at £1,060 and a silk tie at £200, and a Meta Campania Collective cotton trench coat at £1,500. Cosmo Suffert rounds out the trio in a Saint Laurent wool coat with matching trousers, a Loro Piana wool flannel jacket at £8,065 paired with a Bottega Veneta silk shirt and Jacques Marie Mage titanium Dealan 53 sunglasses at £830, a Celine wool felt jacket at £2,850 with cotton twill jeans at £790, and a Jil Sander wool coat.
The Price of a Portside Wardrobe
What strikes any reader flipping through the credits is the sheer spread of the price ladder. The editorial moves from accessible finishing touches to investment pieces without blinking.
| Model | Standout pieces | Price highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Max Stenzel | Junya Watanabe wool coat; Prada gabardine suit; Dior cashmere tailcoat | £1,700; £2,550 + £1,370; £2,500 |
| Lander Zaman | Comme des Garçons blazer; Louis Vuitton nylon jacket; Meta Campania trench | £580; £2,110; £1,500 |
| Cosmo Suffert | Loro Piana wool flannel jacket; Celine wool felt jacket; Saint Laurent coat | £8,065; £2,850; POA |
| All three | Church patent leather Oxford shoes | £1,020, recurring |
| Lander Zaman | Louis Vuitton shirt, trousers, silk tie | £785; £1,060; £200 |
| Cosmo Suffert | Jacques Marie Mage titanium sunglasses | £830 |
The lowest-priced item, Falke cotton socks at £23, is cheaper than a single silk tie at £200, while the most expensive garment is the £8,065 Loro Piana jacket.
Credits That Read Like a Fashion Who’s Who
The production block at the end of the piece is unusually detailed, naming casting by Piergiorgio Del Moro and Helena Balladino at DM Casting, grooming by Anna Burdine at Shotview Management, production by Hannes Deter at NU Projects and Artem Projects, and model representation through Tomorrow Is Another Day and Mint Management. Stylist assistants Isabella Papadimitriou and Hanna Kohlhauer, photographer’s assistant Torben Averkorn and digital operator Felix Engelhardt are part of the crew.
Loro Piana, Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Prada and Dior all appear in the same storyline.
Why the Nautical Frame Works
Hamburg has always sold itself on water: the Elbe, the Speicherstadt warehouse district, the port itself. The editorial borrows that identity without costume. The recurring Church patent leather Oxford shoes at £1,020 act like a uniform across looks — polished, formal, slightly old-money — which contrasts nicely with the industrial backdrop. It is a visual argument that luxury menswear and maritime grit belong in the same frame.
But the math tells a different story for most readers. The shoot offers a nautical tour of Hamburg — even if the only thing most of us will take away is the memory of a £23 pair of socks.
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