The official line: Building on their longstanding friendship, BOSS and Porsche are putting forth a new, covetable collection that brings together innovative designs with a distinctive L.A.-tinged appeal. For Spring/Summer 2023, the Porsche x BOSS collaboration features a series of elevated athleisure and premium casual pieces highlighted by a sleek infusion of seasonal color that includes a bright white and a warm royal blue. The overall selection has a sleek, summery vibe that stands out for its understated yet distinctive details that embody the self-determination of a true BOSS.

Our take: From the perspective of understated quality, this is a pairing that makes a lot of sense. For one thing, both BOSS and Porsche generally start from a place of aesthetic restraint, but can be dialed up as needed. (See: Frozen Berry Metallic.) For another, BOSS has a decades-long association with motorsports, so this is not a marriage of convenience—in fact, these two have worked together multiple times.

That said, calling this "L.A.-tinged" might be painting with too broad a brush. Reson being, Los Angeles is everything from board shorts to zoot suits to lab coats and it’s tough to say that one particular style captures it. Los Angeles is a fascinating, compelling city (the only one to produce not one but two profitable Olympics—and maybe even three) but the Hollywood club scene is only a sliver of the place.

The second is branding. Porsche has a better grasp of brand identity than just about any other company, automotive or not. But in many ways that’s what holds it back in collabs like this. There is a very “company store” vibe to this whole thing. That said, Hugo Boss is a restrained brand, too, but it begs the question of why one would pay $178 for a Porsche x BOSS polo that's not all that far removed from the $145 polo in the Porsche shop.

Our recco: There is no question of quality in the Porsche x BOSS spring/summer ’23 collection. If you get a few pieces, you’ll know they’ll last. And that’s the most important part of investing in clothing. But for our part, Porsche already has a line of official apparel that's more colorful and more in line with the culture that's made the brand far more entertaining and engaging than its counterparts, Teutonic or otherwise. That said, there are plenty of people out there for whom the Porsche and BOSS names are enough, and this gear will be part of their wardrobes for a long time.

HUGO BOSS x PORSCHE Spring/Summer 2023 [via hugoboss.com]