We are blown away by this extraordinary ready-to-wear collection by the Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, which she presented in Paris on September 30th of this year. For the collection van Herpen found inspiration in a visit to CERN's Large Hadron Collider, whose deadly magnetic field exceeds that of earth’s by 20.000 times, forming the essential spark and motif for the collection which she named Magnetic Motion. The designer, who often joins forces with like-minded artists from other fields then fashion collaborated with Canadian architect Philip Beesley and Dutch artist Jolan van de Wiel, which resulted in a dream team for the exploration of the boundaries between nature and technology and a simply stunning collection. [ Continue reading ]
Although there are very little unlikely combinations of brands left in this postmodern collaboration-, and brand-crazy period we live in; this capsule collection featuring the most famous of all Walt Disney's creatures, in forms one hardly sees it, created by Danish label Wood Wood, thoroughly fascinates us. Seeing the original black and white Mickey Mouse in these surrealistic forms, as if he's depicted while visiting a house of mirrors, gives a whole new image to Disney's price mouse, almost like it reveals the craziness that lays behind his everyday, ever-friendly persona we usually see him in. The capsule collection will be launched next Monday, the 20th of October, in Parisian Colette, after which a select group of retailers worldwide will bring you this sharp contemporary streetwear collection boasting the twisted Mickeys two week later. [ Continue reading ]
Since last June Nike has been opening very inspirational new consumer destinations in 6 major cities all over the globe and online named named NikeLab. The new outlet is a place to showcase how Nike interacts and collaborates with other innovators as part of its larger journey of exploration. It will present a curated collection defined by product never before imagined paired with new variations of existing performance styles. Among the first line of new products presented within the new framework is an all new beautiful Nike Gyakusou line for the holiday season of 2014. Mirroring designer Jun Takahashi’s progressively more serious approach to running, this collection exponentially combines top Nike Running and Research Lab innovations with the designer’s athletic insights, which resulting in a collection combining its signature sharp aesthetic with the latest innovations in performance wear: we love it! [ Continue reading ]
Eleven-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater has just released the name and first imagery of his new, and highly promising looking, ready-to-wear brand named Outerknown. The name Outerknown references the furthest reaches of our knowledge today. It challenges the people behind the brand to build better, more sustainable products. It asks to lift the lid on the supply chain bringing the consumer along on our journey to transparency. Slater has put together a world-class team that includes co-founder John Moore as Creative Director overseeing product and marketing. Moore has collaborated with Slater in the past, and was recently named as one of GQ’s best new menswear designers of the year for 2014. [ Continue reading ]
After we wrote about the first steps of Amsterdam-based denim label Olaf Hussein at the end of last year, a lot of work has been done by Olaf and his team. They presented their new collection during last Amsterdam Fashion Week and received a lot of rightful positive feedback after participating in the major fashion fairs. With their new collection Hussein en co put the mod back in modern; drawing inspiration from the stylish young men of the late fifties and implementing that within an updated appearance. Nevertheless from their clean aesthetics, to their razor sharp tailoring, traces of the mods can still be found throughout the entire line, mixed with contemporary details like bonded fabrics, drawstring hems and seams sealing tape; Olaf lifts the classic look to the current modern standards. The collection shows character and depth marking a serious step in the right direction for the Olaf Hussein brand, promising great things for the future. [ Continue reading ]
We haven't been writing about our friends from Copenhagen for a little while, but we absolutely love the new imagery for Libertine-Libertine's Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, which is again of the highest standard. With this lookbook the Danish label of Rasmus Bak, Pernille Schwarz and Peter Munch Ovesen returns aesthetically to its punk roots, very much in line with the great monochromatic imagery for last in-season 'Black Moon' collection. As always the collection combines a street-ready sensibility and dapper cut and sew designs; consisting of returning items like bomber jackets, parkas, button-up shirts in different prints and colors, with the 'Trasher,' 'Gung-ho' and 'Mosh' patterns as signatures for this season's collection. The images were shot by regular collaborator, photographer Sacha Maric and art directed by the Copenhagen-based studio Ironflag. [ Continue reading ]
Once again our friend Sergei Sviatchenko returns with a very interesting project. After starting Close Up and Private in 2009 as an online art project in which he shared his collage-like photographic vision on style, it quickly rose to fame for both this created aesthetic as Sergei's own impeccable style, which gained him personally a lot of rightful attention. Based on this fundament of Close Up and Private, Sergei now decided to take his endeavors one step further, in a concept which features continuing collaborations with an international rage of heritage brands and skilled craftsmen. With the new project, named Private Classicist, Sergei aims to create a solid range of classic menswear items that verges on pushing the boundaries of current minimalist fashion towards the classic style championed by Sergei himself and his work. [ Continue reading ]
We are highly fascinated by the story of Pietà, a fashion label born in a prison of Lima, Peru. At the start of the project only one prison of Lima was involved, but at this point it successfully developed to two other prisons, two male-only and one female-only prison. Each Pietà collection is entirely produced in these prisons without any external help. Even the lookbooks are shot with models who have nowhere to go but inside the prison walls. Next to producing appealing collections, Pietà also allows inmates, often left to their own devices, to independently generate an income and develop their skills allowing for a faster rehabilitation. Every single Pietà piece is created in the fashioning, knitting, and leather workshops of the different prisons where the prisoners produce the garments, which are signed by the craftsman, making one wonder about what story lays behind every single piece. [ Continue reading ]
The Italy-based jewelry label Loha Vete, which was founded by Max Zubari in 2012, is inspired by crime, by taking this rather large associative concept and creating unique and beautifully crafted items in their italian atelier. We still particularly love their most recent, and possibly final, Autumn/Winter 2013 collection which includes a skeleton hand ashtray, a smashed glass bracelet and a bootlace knuckle duster. The equally striking lookbook depicts illustrated people wearing the jewelry, perfectly conveying an aesthetic connotated to crime, which was created by the Paris-based fashion designer and illustrator Evelina Romano. [ Continue reading ]
The Basques, living in the south of France and the north of Spain, believe that in the olden days, during transhumance, the sheperds’ wives used to give their husbands an undergarment that was endowed with the power to protect them from the harshness of nature’s elements. The new fashion brand Hemen Biarritz, 'hemen' means 'here' in Basque language, managed to revive the genuine savoir-faire and the high-quality textiles that built the reputation of this legendary present. The idea for Hemen was sparked by this century-old tradition, but financing, as happens with so many great initiatives now a days, was found in a very modern fashion through Kickstarter. The brand designs underwear with personnality for the men of today. Inspired by the Basque country, its traditions, its history, its craft and culture, the strength and colors of the elements, all the products are designed in the famous surf city Biarritz, one of the more prominent cities of the Basque country, under the name Hemen Biarritz. [ Continue reading ]
Officially launched last May, the Singapore-based fashion brand MATTER is a socially motivated business focusing on affordable luxury, thoughtful design, and provenance to create travel wear with stories to tell. The first edition, Freedom, focussed only on pants, versatile pieces that are silk sumptuous yet cotton easy. Future editions will see this inaugural set of signature styles updated in different fabrics and print for the changing seasons. The mission of the brand is to inspire consumers to value provenance, to ask of the where and why something is made, and champion alternative production models for textile artisans to expand their economic freedom. [ Continue reading ]
We really like the new collection and accompanying amazing lookbook of London designers Agi & Sam. The Autumn/Winter 2014 collection was named Watu Nguvu, the Swahili word for 'people power,' and the lookbook was shot by the never disappointing and regular Agi & Sam collaborator Luke Stephenson. The lookbook places Agi & Sam’s monochrome collection, showing a lot more maturity in its designs, in a odd eighties office environment, remembering of the BBC series, outfitted with the odd swivel chair and classic desktop computer. As ever with Luke’s photography, there is a playful element to the compositions, especially where the model is snacking on a snickers or acting as tech support making it one of our favorite outings of this season. [ Continue reading ]
New York-based ISAORA recently released their first-ever Rainwear collection and we really love it. The collection is completely waterproof, though not resistant, and features three pieces that clearly represent ISAORA's guiding principles. Made in Portugal, the collection includes an amazing Mac Coat in black and bone color, a black Sportcoat and a Wetworker Tech 3L Field Jacket also in black and bone. By applying precision ultrasonic welding to fabrics from their technical apparel, ISAORA was able to eliminate their reliance on stitching, perforations, and taped seams during production. This technique yielded a rainwear collection that embodies the intersection between all- season wearability, emphatic minimalism, and leading-edge performance. Each piece features 100% 3L technical nylon from Japan, ultrasonic welding construction, ventilated eyelets under the arm and YKK Aquaguard zippers, creating completely waterproof garments that can be worn throughout the year, without compromising on its beautiful design. [ Continue reading ]
Ouur is the latest beautiful endeavor by Nathan Williams, brand director and editor in chief of Kinfolk Magazine, and his team. Pronounced just like the word our, the brand is centered around a visual motif of underlines. These underlines represent an effort to collect like-minded elements into a single place. This translates into collections for men and women which are clearly in line with the Kinfolk aesthetic, primarily using textiles such as linen, cotton and wool. Created with a sharp attention to detail, classic silhouettes and a neutral color palette, each item has been made with an emphasis on comfort and utility. The goal Williams has set for the line is that pieces in the collection will be interchangeable, functional and wearable in all seasons, which clearly shows in the newly released lookbook for the Autumn/Winter 2014 collection. [ Continue reading ]
We love the amazing still life campaign featuring Linda Farrow's Spring/Summer 2014 icons, shot by the highly talented Belgian photographer Frederik Vercruysse in a collaboration with art direction studio Uber en Kosher. Vercruysse is most known for his minimalistic, but highly stylized photography and former collaborations with Filip Dujardin. For the seasonal pieces shot by Vercruysse, Linda Farrow draws inspiration from cosmetic pastels and a new-found love for the eclectic stylish Seventies, creating a diverse and adventurous exploration of fashion eyewear. The constant elements are the hyper-luxe materials including snakeskin and gold, superlative finish and fashion-forward shapes Linda Farrow has become renowned for. The campaign showcases the LFL306 model, crafted from yellow gold and ash snakeskin frame teamed with gold plated lens, and the LFL300, made out of rose gold and its amazing mocha snakeskin frame teamed with a rose gold lens. [ Continue reading ]
Berlin-based ic! berlin produces beautiful and unique screwless sheet-metal glasses, which are crafted by hand in Germany's capital. With their signature clip-on hinge system all the glasses by ic! berlin feature a hinge, which holds together both frame and temple with a detachable clip totally free of screws. Therefore all glasses can be disassembled and reassembled individually. Next to the clip-on system ic! berlin has also found an extremely flexible steel for their frames, which added up with the hinge system turn the glasses into small unbreakable objects. A very convenient solution for a lot of people, with a lot of glasses being well-designed, but very fragile. For founder Ralph Anderl his glasses combine ideas and perfectionism: the glasses are elementary and naked, in the same way they are as much off the wall as they are suitable for everyday use. [ Continue reading ]
Very soon iconic label Boneville, which was launched in 1981 by legendary designer Massimo Osti, will officially return to the world of fashion. Originally, in the early 80's, Osti decided to create Boneville following the launch of his first brand C.P. Company which later became Stone Island, in order to find an outlet with a different angle for the extensive research on garments and techniques he had done. From its 1981 launch to its final days in 1993, Boneville set a benchmark in the men’s fashion arena, pushing boundaries both aesthetically and technically, having had a significant part in the formation of the legacy which Massimo Osti has today. In 2012 avid Osti fan John Sharp bought the Boneville brand, an acquisition carried out with the intention to reintroduce the brand for the public and tastefully further the Osti legacy. In the years to follow Sharp began to build a team, he felt capable of reviving an Osti classic. A team which is now lead by Creative Director Adi Wollaston, bringing with him over 25 years of experience in the fashion industry, which should be enough to carry the burden of following in the footsteps of the late great designer. [ Continue reading ]
Last week a new subscription service named Pharmacie came under our attention. The idea is rather simple: when subscribed one receives one pair of outstanding socks, once a month. All socks are constructed in a Northern Italian factory, run by a father, his son and his grandson. A family business in its purest form, meaning that all socks leaving the factory are honest and beautiful products, made with care. Despite significant shifts in the way the production industry operates, the factory remains sternly traditional. The finest yarns, hand linked toes and twelve quality checks on every pair making sure that your feet are in good hands. The very first release was a wonderful start with socks made out of 90% Egyptian wool, with a touch of Nylon for additional strength. Socks built for the tail end of the European winter, and although in the Netherlands spring seems to be very early this year, a great start for Pharmacie. [ Continue reading ]
We have been a fan of the work of Todd Selby from the moment he stepped into the limelight. His latest work 'Fashionable Selby' is his third collaboration with publisher Abrams books, in which the photographer moves his gaze onto the world of fashion. The book features profiles of today’s most interesting designers, stylists, models, shoemakers and other fascinating figures. The subjects are wonderfully curated; with some very familiar faces and others totally unexpected. Chapters on individual artists bring readers into the utmost inner circle of the artists, and include Selby’s signature photographs and watercolors of not only the artists and their environments, but also the things that inspire them, the materials they use, their creative process, the people who work alongside them, and the final pieces. From the showroom of the incredible Dries van Noten, the studios of Central St. Martins in London to 'techno fashion designer' Iris van Herpen's studio: Selby continues his wonderful documentation of highly inspiring people and their environments in his signature bright aesthetic. [ Continue reading ]
It is always inspiring when great parties find each other and collaborate to create beautiful products, and this is one of those outstanding combinations. We've been a fan of Hancock since the moment we found out about them, and seeing them team up with Converse creating a classic Jack Purcell mid-top sneaker in their signature vulcanized rubber is amazing. The rubberized upper brings the label’s pioneering, handmade outerwear techniques to footwear, creating a modern sneaker that’s clean and durable, encapsulating a rich heritage of craftsmanship. The Converse Jack Purcell x Hancock sneaker is released in three fresh, seasonal colors: our favorite indigo, summer yellow and mastic gray. All featuring a soft lining with a unique phytology print of the Siphona Elastica plant, which is used to manufacture rubber. The elegant Hancock Vulcanised Articles logo is stitched on the heel tab of each sneaker, and seams are bonded with the same precision that is the hallmark of Hancock's outerwear. [ Continue reading ]
During the last New York fashion week EPONYMOVS by HVRMINN, the brand of Keving Wang and tailor Minn Hur who's best known for his bespoke work, had its debut live presentation revealing sixteen Ready-to-Wear tailored looks. The collection is the third collection of the EPONYMOVS line, but the first two were presented online solely. The balanced collection consisted of strong individual looks with the beautiful navy double-breasted blazer paired with white trousers as one of our favorites. Hur's work stands for classic formality opened up to a focused approach to traditional menswear, combined with subtle western influences. From blazers chicly belted at the waist to structured overcoats and three-piece suits, the EPONYMOVS by HVRMINN collection delivers class and sophistication with the familiar 1920's Jazz aesthetic also to be found in the bespoke work by HVRMINN, but now available off the rack. [ Continue reading ]
Tokyo-based Stevenson Overall Co. is the product of the collaboration between Zip Stevenson and Atsusuke Tagaya. The brand originally existed in Portland, USA in 1920's-30's and was relaunched by Zip and Atsusuke in 2005. The collections of Stevenson Overall Co. derive directly from Stevenson's and Tagaya's shared deep interest in vintage denim and leather goods. One of the founding goals was to redevelop the process of creating jeans with a “flat felled seam”, which arises from sewing methods used before the 1920's. For Stevenson and Tagaya the unconventional sewing method is key, as they value the original taste from the hand made goods that has been consistent from the time of the original brand establishment. The different styles in the collections are created with inspirations from vintage clothes, fabrics and art and the pursuit of designs and details that were lost but not forgotten. Stevenson and Tagaya create suitable clothes for this modern time: “nostalgic but new, modern and universal." [ Continue reading ]
In its Autumn/Winter 2014 collection Norwegian Rain introduces two extraordinary new coats. The beautiful Moscow and Rive Gauche coat are the first products with which Norwegian Rain expands its waterproof philosophy unto the field of extreme winter coats. The brief for the coats was: "How to make a jacket that will keep you warm and comfortable no matter how biting cold it is, and in a stylistic way", which was executed in the signature style designer T-Michael rightfully has made a name for itself with. Key element to succeed in the creation was finding a new partner who would be able to produce the premium thermal garments needed for the coats, matching the highest quality of the elegant waterproof garments from Japan used for the other coats of Norwegian Rain. [ Continue reading ]
To celebrate the ten-year existence of his iconic sneaker, Erik Schedin teamed up with Comme des Garçons Shirt for an excellent Spring 2014 collaboration. The beautiful minimalistic sneaker was designed by the Swede ten years ago for his final degree at the Beckmans College of Design. At that time the clean and minimalist aesthetic really stood out; very few sneakers would not show any logos or labels and/or would have a monochrome style, like the all white leather with a perforated lining Schedin's sneaker was made of. For the collaboration with the Japanese fashion label three different editions of the white sneaker were created: each sporting a different black painted shape, reminding somewhat of the sneakers Helmut Lang used to produce. Next to the release of the special editions, Schedin also restocked his classic all white sneakers, which are now produced in Italy. [ Continue reading ]