Fashionable menswear occupies a narrow band of the sartorial spectrum. It's trapped on one side by the ultraviolet of effeminacy, and on the other by the infrared of the too obvious. Between these two boundaries, however, astute, prismatic men have divided the white light of style into manifold colours. We take a look at four of them found right here in Shanghai.

 The Alt Artiste

Nevin Lee, tattoo artist from Shanghai

At first glance, Lee's style is casual cool. Yet the details, pulling in every different direction, make the look: scope the Ray Ban-style glasses frame, the classic silver watch, the giant chunk of ice in his ear and the reggae-influenced wristband.

Lee's aesthetic is much more particular when it comes to tats. "I like Japanese tattoos. I like interesting colours – blue, pink, purple. Most Chinese like tribal styles, all black. Japanese tattoos are also very big, a little bit like Yakuza."

Lee pulls up one jean leg and tells us, "This is a Japanese Hanya. Before he was bad, but a god talked with this evil guy and now he does good things for people. He will eat bad people."

Lee likes to shop at I.T., Zoo York and 5cm, Email Fashion Plaza, by the Jing'an metro station, and online at the Face One website.

The Man Bag Creative

Eric Chen, advertising exec, from Shanghai

The great thing about being a man bag creative is you don't need to tuck in your shirt. You can also carry more stuff than your everyday man bag-less man, like a Wallpaper magazine and your artist's scalpel.

Chen prefers clothes that are comfortable and relaxed. He takes style inspiration from magazines like Milk. 

He often buys clothes outside Shanghai. He bought his bag, made by Ships, and his shorts, by United Arrows, in Tokyo, and picked up his Nike hightops in Osaka. The raccoon-eyeglasses come from Hong Kong. Chen's favourite piece of clothing is a black, cotton vest he bought from the Gap.

The biggest fashion mistake men make, according to Chen, is to lose focus. "Men wear whatever they want and sometimes the combination is horrible. Like wearing work clothes with ordinary clothes."

The Sneaker Pimp

Lilou, a Mandarin student from Senegal

Like a true sneaker freak, Lilou keeps his clothes simple so they don't compete with his kicks. He's wearing Mek jeans that he bought from a store on Changle Lu, Ray Bans he picked up in France and a subtle v-neck tee from H&M. Most of all, we like that he thought to match his beverage to his shoes.

 "I have, like, 30 pairs of Nikes," he says. "I think I love them all." He bought these ones from the Nike store near People's Square.

He says that generally, "I like to dress formal," but also "just, like, rapper style."

Lilou is a big fan of buying clothes from Japan online, where they almost always have sizes that fit him.

The Savvy Suit

Florian von Oppenheim, business owner, from Germany and Switzerland

Firstly, no, we didn't make up Florian's amazing name, but we think it's an excellent accessory to any outfit. His perfectly maintained beard is another feature of his style, but one can't make it in the business world with a cool name and well-groomed facial hair alone.

Florian had his midtone grey suit made here in Shanghai at the Science and Technology Museum market. His rabbit-detail yellow tie was a gift from his godfather, and it goes perfectly with his striped blue shirt. A striped shirt says, hey, I'm not afraid to take risks, without being cavalier. Someone who wears one of those coloured shirts frosted with a white collar – usually investment bankers and stockbrokers – probably wants to set fire to your money.

Florian prefers Italian style businesswear for its "flair and elegance." To him, that means a thinner cut and the machismo to get away with a slightly shiny suit, if it's matched with "a good silk tie and a well-made cotton shirt."

 - Pictures by Stephen Yang. See more of his work here.