We all know the Daredevil’s origin story: blinded by a radioactive substance falling from an oncoming vision, loss of his sight heightens his remaining senses to superhuman levels and imbues him with a sonar ability serving as a convenient plot device to get around the inconvenience of a literally blind action hero. And so, while Matthew Murdock may prowl the streets of Hell’s Kitchen at night without lengthy explanations of why he’s able to navigate his way around potholes and broken furniture, Costume designer Stephanie Maslansky realised that Murdock needed to dress himself for his day job and that sonar doesn’t translate a crucial aspect of the visual spectrum – colour. And colour my friends, is where most average joes have an issue with when it comes to great style.

Matt Murdock Should be Your Ultimate Men’s Style Style Icon

Having outfitted Matt Bomer in White Collar, Maslansky knows her way around suits but more importantly, she’s placed emphasis on the tactile nature of fabrics used in suiting to play up Murdock’s diminished visual senses and increased tactile senses – thus the monochromatic palette of suits available in fleece and flannel.

Men’s tailoring seems like it would be boring, but it’s not. The details are what create a particular costume and what can differentiate one man’s look from the next. Whether it’s the colors that we use, the combinations of shirts and ties or the textures are very important. Also, accessories like tie bars, belts, cuff links, ties, shoes, boots, socks… they all tell such a story. – Maslansky

Ranging from simple greys to sophisticated charcoal, Maslansky takes Murdock’s lack of colour recognition and turns it into an elegant collection of fine menswear even when the suits are worn as separates; and because each item matches the other in terms of hue, colour and texture, there is never any chance of a fashion disaster even as our fearless hero reaches in blindly (literally) into his wardrobe.

The concept of sprezzatura I often espouse, is very dependent on one’s ability to mix and match accessories on the fly but for the novice who simply wishes to look good, Matt Murdock, lawyer by day, thus becomes the ultimate style template – he’s essentially the menswear icon who takes fashion to its functional basics and still manages to look put together. Having made a huge bet on himself, Matt’s father Jack Murdock wins a fight rather than throwing it, thus leaving a sizeable inheritance for our daredevil, thus he wears Paul Smith almost exclusively. In the Netflix series, Murdock’s suits run the gamut of black, greys and blues, each textural but all coordinated regardless of combination. His partner in crime, Foggy Nelson wears Ted Baker and with his penchant for vintage ties and patterned shirts, he’s the hipster of the duo. While arch-nemesis, Fisk, now he’s the dressy one: Wide-lapels, cufflinks, a vest – that’s a man who pays attention to his appearance and he dresses to command respect.

Thus, the Daredevil Matt Murdock is the poster child for men who simply want to look good without the fuss. That said, Murdock could afford to be a little more daring in the choice of his footwear. For those of us sighted, you literally have no excuse to wear boring black lace ups.