Last month was a crazy one. We traveled form Amsterdam to Tokyo, to Basel, to Lisbon for both business and pleasure. In the coming days we’ll share some of our experiences here. To start with Japan. Together with Menno and Rene – Tenue de Nîmes – we went to Japan to get some serious indigo and retail inspiration. Besides our amazing visit to Takeo Paper, we were invited to visit this indigo paradise of the legendary Bryan Whitehead.
In his gorgeous wooden house in Fujino, a few hours away from Tokyo, we experienced the true basis of our love for denim. During a 24hr master class Bryan introduced us to the secrets of his silk farm, some of oldest weaving techniques and of course told us all about the history of indigo dyeing in Japan. (Tenue de Nîmes will share his story in their Nouvelle de Nîmes during the coming months, so stay turned un that).

The second 24 hours in Japan we went south visiting the capital of the Japanese denim industry, Kojima near Okayama. When we started Tenue de Nîmes Momotaro jeans was one of the first foreign denim brands that agreed to join us on our denim journey back in 2008. Our friends at Momotaro invited us to the epicentre of their denim company: the indigo dye workshop and the weaving factory.

We entered a blue world! From the little stool, the boots, the walls, to the ground – basically the complete building – everything turned blue. All the different shades, the nuance from light almost white blue, to the deep dark blue – simply amazing!
Then the weaving factory with its impressive sounds of five machines, working nonstop on the most amazing Rampuya denim fabrics for their own brand, as well as brands like A.P.C., Naked & Famous, Dior amongst others. Keep an eye on the Tenue de Nîmes site for a little video of the weaving process.

Then, for the remaining 72 hours, we literally crossed Tokyo to see as many corners of this metropole as possible. Friends warned us about Tokyo. ‘You will be blown away’, ‘The amounts of good (vintage) denim are dazzling’, ‘Do not buy something at the first 5 stores’, ‘Decide on your purchase limits while you are still in the Netherlands’, and so on. Well, we forgot about all those great pieces of advice the minute we entered the most amazing retail city we ever visited. We have never experienced the amount of taste, dedication and perfection elsewhere in the world. From beautiful architecture, delicious food, friendly people to retail spaces like museums, green and lively neighbourhoods and huge (but still style-full) shopping malls.
Thanks to some great advice upfront by Luis Mendo and Matt Francis at Jack Flynn, and two amazing guides – Michiya Suzuki, GM of Red Wing Japan, and our good friend Anneke Beerkens – in Tokyo, we managed to see more treasures than one can have in 3 days.

It felt like 5 weeks instead of 5 days in Japan. But most of all, it felt like a place we need to visit once a year, and preferably more than that!
Read more about our trip at Tenue de Nîmes online >

Monsieur Bleu at the Palais de Tokyo In Paris on Yatzer.

Our friends from London recently brought the in 2011 founded menswear label Harry Stedman under our attention. Based in London, the brand champions key facets of classic American and European attire, actively blending old with new to achieve a modern style that resonates with today’s discerning gent. In the pursuit of truly timeless style they secure only the finest fabrics and have forged valuable relationships with leading domestic and international manufacturers.

The clothing not only represents great creative and emotional investment, but also a grand recognition of the achievements of our forebears, who hail from both sides of the Atlantic. Harry Stedman doesn’t aim to replicate garments of past, but rather create new, exciting clothing that demonstrates skill and forward-thinking vision. Inspiration is drawn from varied avenues of life, both past and present, though an overriding catalyst remains present in the form of Mr. Harry Stedman.

Born in Liverpool in 1932 Harry Stedman has led a tremendous life, one filled with many passions, hardships and awe-inspiring world travel. Now in his 80s, Harry looks back on adventures great and small, having crafted the most unique of personal histories. His colourful life and enduring spirit help guide our efforts in menswear, providing a solid foundation for the brand’s DNA. In 1951, spurred on by tales of world travel passed down by his brothers serving in the military, Harry enlisted in the British Army. In the years to follow Harry would find himself in all manner of exotic locations, delivering his unique brand of humour, curiosity and devil-may-care attitude to locations such as New York, Libya, Argentina and beyond.

Throughout these adventures Harry soaked up local culture, particularly whilst in New York. The city spoke to him in ways Liverpool couldn’t, exposing him to the wilds of Rock ‘n Roll, a number of sartorial discoveries and to a gritty working man’s life that was nigh folklore in his native land. It was there he discovered classic dockers’ workwear, the luxury of fine Brooks Brothers shirting and a whole host of music inspired styles that had yet to filter to the British Isles.

The debut lookbook of the Britsh brand was shot by Damien van der Vlist and styled by Atip W.

One for the summer: Une-deux senses take on the Guava-Orange Margaritas.

To make our experience of smart and convenient traveling even better Travelteq launched this beautiful iPhone 5 Case, all hand made in Italy from the finest Florentine Vachetta leather.

The new concept perfume-bar named Liquides in Paris which opened on the 17th of April and was founded by David Frossard’s Different Latitudes, a label for independent perfumers founded in 2005, and designer Philippe Di Méo, is a true mecca for fragrance lovers. Located conveniently at 9 rue de Normandie in the historical Marais neighborhood; which has the air of 17th century Paris and over the last couple of years has become the destination of choice for niche fragrance connoisseurs. On that part Liquides adds significant value to the neighborhood’s reputation offering a broad scala of scents, from rare personalized perfumes, to fragrances from major perfume houses including Byredo, Miller Harris, Odin, Arquiste, Jardins de France and Olfactive Studio.

The perfume-bar itself has been designed by Philippe Di Méo, who created the retail space to accommodate both the mentioned selection of perfumes by renowned perfume houses as well as his own Liquides Imaginaires which were previously only available at L’Eclaireur. Under the eponym Liquides Imaginaires Di Méo has created three limited edition scents with the Latin names, Sancti, Fortis and Tumultu. Each scent represents three different interpretations of the incense theme brought to life through a sacred dimension where their decorative bottles feature various religious symbols from Christianity to Kabbalah, Islam and Paganism.

When entering the bar the eyes see rows of fragrances in glass bottles lined up in the shelves, with an actual bar enabling customers to sample the selection of scents. We can’t wait to visit Liquides in the near future ourselves!

Via Yatzer

Small Ville is a nice wooden cap for Apple charger cables by Pana Objects.

Hermès at Baselworld, designed by Toyo Ito, photographed by Iwan Baan – featured on designboom

The beautiful new cocktailbar Gamsei in Munich, Germany, featured in Wallpaper’s April Travel Picks.

A Herb Lester map, Midori notebook and a Want Les Essentiels de la Vie backpack – Quite some of our favorites featured in ‘What men carry’ on Mr Porter

Lisbon-based couple Nuno Neves and Susana Viela of Serrote make limited-edition notebooks for connoisseurs and collectors of typographical gems. Printed on vintage Heidelberg presses, their graphic design is inspired by items from popular Portuguese culture such as tablecloths found at traditional luncheonettes and the shape of traditional biscuits. They also make special editions of notebooks experimenting with designs and materials, using their craft to the fullest. 

A special edition notebook we particularly like is the Blue & White Soap Notebook which was produced last April and is made out of blue and white soap. This soap, which is also called monkey or Offenbach soap, is known to be used in Portugal since 1881 and even today people use it to wash clothes, remove stains, hand washing, disinfection and personal hygiene. There are even those who use it as a hair care product.

The Blue & White Soap notebook by Serrote was created for those who like to handwash clothes and dry them in the breeze and sunny weather. When you open the notebook you can almost feel the sweet smell of cleaned clothing. The cover is printed in two colors in letterpress, and the inside gathers different soap patterns printed in offset. The dimensions of the notebook are 14,2 cm by 22 cm, and only a limited 1440 copies were produced.

Order it online in on the Serrote website or buy it at one of their retailers.

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