Laid-Back Menswear Label Commas Will Make You Feel Like You’re a Lead Character in The Talented Mr Ripley

Before Sydney-based Richard Jarman started his resort and swimwear label Commas, he was working full-time in property economics and studying his masters at University of Technology Sydney. “I would find myself procrastinating over fashion photography and architecture journals in the design library,” he tells Broadsheet.

In October 2016, he founded menswear label Commas – a collection of contemporary summer dressing inspired by the coast. Jarman’s spring/summer 2022 collection was presented at Tamarama Beach, as part of Fashion Week. It was also the first time Commas showed its womenswear range.

In Commas’ latest collection you’ll find feather-light shorts, long-sleeved shirts and swim shorts all with nods to Roman tiles, beachside colours and palm leaves. The 100 per cent cotton shirts are printed with beautiful sail boats, ideal for holiday dressing. Drawstring shorts, artist shirts and black harem pants also make up the collection, which ranges from $150 to $1055.

Jarman says the name Commas is actually a play on the comma (,) in a sentence, which allows you to pause and catch your breath. “I wanted Commas to serve as a catalyst to find calmness in the spaces between life’s clutter and remind people to take pleasure in being present in the moment,” he says.

Commas’ fabrics come from Spain, Italy and Japan, with production based in Sydney. For Jarman’s 2020 collection he reached out to Ann Roth – the award-winning costume designer behind the iconic looks from the 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley – to talk about the style she created for Dickie Greenleaf (played by Jude Law). In the spring/summer 2022 collection, Jarman returns to Australian beach culture, looking to the beauty of soft lapping water for inspiration.

The range includes hand-painted silk shirts, heavy-woven linen and loose-fitting drawstring waist trousers. This time the soft tailoring references 20th century modernist painter Milton Avery. You’ll find muted greens, blues and sunrise pinks.

An exciting addition is Jarman’s first range of women’s separates, which includes floor-length maxi dresses, linen knit dresses and ottoman robes – all in the same colours and contemporary unisex style as the men’s collection.

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Additional reporting by Emma Joyce.