Church’s Traditional Quality
@ 5:33 am May 27, 2008Filed under: News
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MILAN, May 27, 2008/ FW/ — Time is constantly changing, yet sometimes it’s better to go back to tradition and the way things were originally done. The Northampton established brand, Church’s, understands the quality and purpose in traditional craftsmanship and knows how to apply it in the present day. Established in 1873, the company has a lot to look back on, and for the Men’s Accessories Autumn/Winter 2008-09 collection they not only use this knowledge but they apply it.
While the company is mainly known for their hand-sewn shoes the quality of their ties and leather goods are hard to match. Church’s signature style comes from their roots and portrays a very classical English style and elegance. Like their shoes, Church’s ties are hand-sewn in Italy by specialized craftsmen. Where an industrial machine would make sixty ties in an hour, Church’s in the same time, produces six.
The ties are produced using three different types of looms and are produced in a more personalized way then industrial machines. The shape is not modeled during the manufacturing process but is produced using the ’shape of the tie’, in a process similar to socks and knitwear production.
This process is important because it allows finer details to be worked into the ties, like a wider range of shades and more delicate and precise detailed patterns. For the Autumn/Winter collection pure silk fabrics come in double and triple weave jacquard as well as different patterned silk.
To accompany their handcrafted ties, Church’s has collaborated with the best English manufacturers to produce its leather goods. Sticking to tradition ways, every piece is hand assembled and expert craftsmen constantly guide the productive process. The selection of calf bridle leather and natural panel leather, allows for outer resistance and a softer internal lining.
The whole accessories collection is well thought out not only style wise but also for its quality and resistance. Church’s stores have been around since the 1920’s and it’s nice to see they know how to fall back on tradition, in a good way.
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Chris Han Fall 2008: Alternative Looks for the Mainstream Crowd
@ 8:00 am May 22, 2008Filed under: New York
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NEW YORK, May 21, 2008 / FW/ — Though there are 6 billion people on earth, the fashion industry seem very crowded with emerging designers finding it very hard to find their own niche. Yet, Chris Han’s solid performance for her past several collections demonstrates that there is still room for the young and creative as the New York-based designer expands her fan based season after season.
With black, gray, and mustard as the main color palette, Chris Han mixed architectural and fluid silhouettes, Due to this combination, there is a rebellious and almost alternative feel, but also very uptown and chic. Whether it was by design or by accident, Chris Han caters to a woman who is from uptown but likes hanging out downtown.
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(Photos courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week)
Milano Moda Uomo Spring 2009: Looking for a Hero
@ 11:17 am May 21, 2008Filed under: Milan, Op-Ed
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DALLAS, May 21, 2008 / FW/ — With Milano Moda Uomo Spring 2009 in the horizon, but everyone going gaga over the upcoming ‘Sex & The City’ movie, the usual interest for menswear had been eclipsed with the high profile coverage of women’s fashion, albeit it is for a movie.
Which brings us the question – does menswear need a new hero? And, I don’t mean a designer, but a new icon, be it fictional characters like what Carrie Bradshaw and friends did for womenswear or real life heroes like David Beckham, the de facto poster boy of metrosexuals.
Still, metrosexuality did not really sit well among men. Except for the urban male who had embraced metrosexuality without question, the regular American male who drives a truck, an SUV even a sports car did not see themselves as metrosexuals. They just saw themselves as men.
Their heroes remain to be sports stars from Kobe Bryant to Andre Agassi, yet though the appeal of sports heroes are universal, they are not really worshipped because they are fashion plates. They are admired because of their game play.
Perhaps, that is the key to men’s fashion. Unlike women who admire great dressers like Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie, men in general could not be bothered with what Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise are wearing because they are expected to look good.
Yet, the likes of Kobe Bryant, though they are always dressed well are not expected to be fashion plates. They are expected to be great at their games, which brings us to another world, open to everyone but mostly populated by men – video gaming.
The video game world has a lot of heroes and there are too many of them to mention here. Quite frankly, it will be hard to name all of them because the video game genres are as varied as the movies. Still, it will not behoove us to mention the 14-year Final Fantasy series by Square Enix (formerly Square Soft) wherein their heroes and heroines have captured the imagination of both teens and adult gamers.
On its latest installment Final Fantasy XII (the 13th installment is due in North America late this year), one of the main characters Balthier had captured the heart of both male and female gamers, albeit the female gamers make up only a very small percentage of the gaming industry.
I won’t go into a review of the game (here is a link for a fashion review of Final Fantasy XII), but needless to say, Balthier’s total look, which of course includes his outfit, had gotten everyone’s attention. (See photo above, courtesy of Square Enix, copyright Square Enix)
Maybe, that’s what menswear need, a fictional hero that will not grow old. The same way that Marvel comics gave us Superman and Batman, our childhood heroes that have actually inspired real clothes worn by real men, perhaps, Balthier is something that the internet generation needs. After all, they have been born and raised in the digital world.
(For those of you who have not played Final Fantasy XII, here’s a video clip)
Gustavo Arango Fall 2008: Many Layers of a Woman
@ 12:20 am May 20, 2008Filed under: New York, Runway Shows
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DALLAS, May 20, 2008 / FW/ — Gustavo Arango’s elegant aesthetics has never ceased to amaze his fans. For Fall 2008, he experiments with contrasts like light and dark, architectural shapes created with fabrics traditionally associated with fluid silhouettes.
His inspiration is this woman, whose many roles and layers are reminiscent of a collage in chiaroscuro. Employing unique draping and sensuous textures, the Colombian born designer presents a woman who is modern, edgy yet very feminine.
Opting for warm and cool shades of black with bursts of pixilated copper and jewel tones including sapphire, teal, amethyst and emerald, Gustavo Arango created an intoxicating mix of silhouettes that brings the seductress out restrained with primness.
Fabrics that contrast and unite are skillfully layered in signature Arango style. The sleeve is a key accent this season. Gowns boast short and long sleeves in different layers of mesh, and on tops Arango has created a new sleeve to the elbow on which strategically gathered darts create a full shoulder.
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(Photos courtesy of Gustavo Arango)
For Dennis Basso, it pays to be politically incorrect
@ 5:32 pm May 19, 2008Filed under: Runway Shows
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NEW YORK, May 19, 2008 /FW/ — Last February, when Dennis Basso presented his Fall 2008 collection to a star-studded audience that included Anna Wintour, Brooke Shields and the whole cast of Lipstick Jungle who are all fur lovers, there was an animal rights protest going on outside the tent specifically for Dennis Basso.
But, something unexpected happened. Because Basso is celebrating 25 years of being a furrier this year, there was already a festive mood. The protestors, though their objective was to make people aware of the inhumanity of wearing furs, had the exact opposite effect because Dennis Basso got more publicity than usual.
To New York’s social register, Dennis Basso needs no introduction. Furrier to the city’s social set, he just opened a chic salon in Madison Avenue where mink, fox and sable are part of the main fare.
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(Photos courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week)