The Original Gangster Style Guy.

Albert W. Hicks, top left, seen in
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 7, 1860.

As the men’s wear shows continue in Europe, spare a moment to consider a different kind of influencer.

There are trends in movies just as there are trends in fashion, and occasionally the twain shall meet — and not just on the runway. Such will probably be the case this summer, anyway, as the gangster movie, after a period of dormancy that followed the 2007 finale of “The Sopranos,” returns with a vengeance.

First comes Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," an old-time noir dressed in Los Angeles nostalgia, and next “The Irishman,” by Martin Scorsese, which reassembles the crew from the last great gangster flick, “Goodfellas,” in all their sharkskin suits and spear-point-collar and alligator shoes glory.

Together the two are bound to reignite a passion for silk shirts and overcoats that, though the directors, costume designers and retailers involved most likely don’t know it, can at least in part be traced to the first megastar of the underworld: Albert Hicks. Soon the look he made notorious when he went on trial for terrible crimes in 1860 may be all the rage once again.

By Rich Cohen.

Full story at NY Times.