Illustrated style index of iconic male musicians. Cheeky graphics. Snarky commentary. I hardly need to drum this up, people. Just look at it. Just look at the Miles Davis neck scarf! The KISS Axe! The Marvin Gaye beanie! Amazing.
Yesterday, Mr. L.A.S of Sartorially Inclined blogged about this spectacular project saying, "I am compelled to mention it again - if not for the mere fact that introducing it to as many people as possible is the least I can do." I was one of those people and now I'm paying the sentiment forward because things this good need to be shared.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, Close Up and Private is an on-going experiment to capture the interplay between style, art, and the individual through photography, painting and video. The project is created by Danish artist, Sergei Sviatchenko in collaboration with Italian designer, Nello Russo. For this installment they teamed up with Japenese artist Noriko Okaku, to create the video above. (Danish + Italian + Japanese design, no wonder I'm bonkers for this).
In addition to the art, I was delighted by Sviatchenko's 'Etiquette for the Modern Classist' a collection of truisms on style and life, such as: "The Beatles sir, listen to them – and do so regularly."
And so I was convinced, as I'm sure you will be too, that there is nothing wrong and everything wonderful about this project. It has heart and something to [actually] think about which I welcome after the 'Fashion! Fashion! Trendo McStyle!' fatigue brought on by September.
Don't miss the video above, check out the sampling of images below, and by all means take some time to discover the whole project. I'm looking forward to following Close Up and Private in seasons to come, which I hope are a great many. - M
At first glance, I thought graphics on this tie were little basset hounds. That's neither here nor there - the point is, if you must buy a graphic tie, why not make it this one. Plus, the little guy seems to be sporting a pretty decent trench.Classy. Found it atStuart & Wright. - M
I've become enamored of Rby45rpm over the years and this collection is only increasing that trend. After 10 years, they're masters of marrying so many influences without seeming schizophrenic or overly trendy. Raw textures, beautifully dyed textiles, tailored and unstructured silhouettes, asian and western details - it's all expertly controlled, harmonious, simple. The look-books are also impressively beautiful in and of themselves and this one is no exception. The company recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary and I can't think of a brand with a more original and timeless aesthetic. See more below the jump and at their online shop. - M
As the above post clearly demonstrates, the internet has just produced, this, the greatest blog of all time. And every post is better than the next. I found it via Twitter thanks to Mr. Porhomme and as he said, I'm sure this guy intends it as an gut punch to us Men's wear revival geeks, but when it's this funny who cares? Pure genius. - M
Love every second of this, especially the opening title shot. Nice work (again) by Varsity Creative, who never fail to be awesome. More of their stuff here. - M
Just a charming little video of mischief and merriment. Also, the cyclist tie which pops up around the 27 second mark confirms that small bikes on slim ties is officially a trend this season. Nicely done and perfect for a Fall Friday, Brooklyn Bridge and all. Check out The Windmill Club here. - M
(via The Pursuit Aesthetic)
Count on the Italians to find any excuse to inject food into fashion.
In this interactive booklet, which I found buried deep in etro.com, Kean Etro illustrates how to inflict some DIY distress on a crisp white dress shirt using coffee, blueberries and salt. I'm not even sure when this came out but I just unearthed it and it made me smile...and curious about how acceptable it would be to sport a blueberry stained button down.
The original is in Flash so I can't embed it here, but fortunately I have enough patience to copy screen shots into this post. For a the full set of scrollable images look after the jump, to see it in it's original page-flipping format visit the site. - M
Last Thursday I had the great pleasure of attending the debut event for the Levi's Photo Workshop at 10 Wooster St. in NYC (yep, that's the old Deitch space). It is the second Levi's endavor of its kind, the first one being a print shop located in San Francisco. These 'workshops' are a bit like an evolved version of a pop-up and, to be fair, far more sophisticated than your average concept store. In Levi's words:
The Levi's Photo Workshop is here as a resource for the photographers of New York City. Whether it's to take classes, rent cameras, stock up on film, make stupid faces in our photo booth with your best guy or gal or just to pop in and see what's being shot in our studio space, the Workshop will be all things to all photographers, be they point-and-shooters or professionals.
The opening event was the place to be and the crowd it drew was a sight to be seen. Packed, undulating and sweaty as it was, the place was bright and buzzing with plenty of points of interest and activities for everyone. I spent most of my time lingering round the T-shirt printing station run by the great folks at Zazzle, which I'm pretty sure stole the show, for who wouldn't want a T-shirt of themselves shirtlessly wielding a chainsaw? (Yes, that happened.)
Both the NYC and San Fran workshops were orchestrated with great finesse by Swiss-army-knife Michael Ventura and his no-job-too-big shop, Sub Rosa. With Levi's they've made some pretty awesome magic and there are plenty of events and exhibitions coming up so I strongly, vehemently recommend stopping by for one of them. - M
Another fantastic video by the producer/director duo, Tom Rand and Brennan Stasiewicz. You might know them from the craftsmanship video series over at The Scout. This time they take us backstage for the Gant by Michael Bastian presentation in NYC. The video captured the whimsical, charming, and I'd say, best side of the collection, which is quickly shaping up to be seminal one for Gant.
The actual presentation itself took on a decidedly more classic, cinematic feel than the locker room inspired Fall collection, but I still don't think the styling quite did the collection justice. I've been more impressed by actual pieces up-close-and-personal than I was upon being introduced through the presentation. Most successful were the ensembles that revolved around a structured piece, like the shawl collar jacket + bow tie get up (below), versus this dandy-meets-jock-meets-JFK, Jr get up, which fell short in my eyes.
Still, I am very impressed by the mature progression that took place over just one season, so I implore you Mr. Bastian to keep evolving past the bath sandal. - M
I first came across the Monitaly Riders Coat while devouring this quarters' Men's File, and have since seen it spread across every blog I know and respect. And with good reason, these are probably some of the most distinctive pieces this season. I love how they've spun traditional with bold rings of color. It's very post-apocalypic in a rugged, nowhere man kind of way, which I find very appealing.
Not surprisingly, Monitaly's sister company, Yuketen, takes a similar approach and if you look closely you'll see it's the footwear featured in this shoot. Shop Monitaly and Yuketen at Opening Ceremony - and check out close ups after the jump. - M
