A menswear store under the influence

So, we haven’t been posting for some days now because we’ve been working like busy bees from one appointment to the next, going to
the fairs in between and also the shows but, we are keeping track of everything and promise that we’ll show it all in the next few days.
Going back to last friday, we were at Maison Martin Margiela. It’s 9:30 am, our first day of shopping in Paris and here we are at this old school in 163, rue Saint Maur. The beautiful building hosts the MMM headquarters. More than just a showroom, this is the place where everything happens on a daily basis. It feels special to be in this creative working space, among the lab coat people that make the brand.

The building from the outside and the main entrance. The room where the men’s collection is displayed and we make our own selection.

Below, the accessories room where both men’s and women’s collections are displayed and one of the stair halls in between the rooms.
The trompe l’oeil effect can be seen everywhere in all the doors along with the white painted objects and the unfinished walls.

An inner patio next to the cafeteria to where the most resilient come to have a coffee or to satisfy their nicotine cravings. The meal room with a canteen kind of vibe. The food is always great and there’s always chocolate cake at the end. Double Yummy!

So, we finally arrived to Paris last night, just in time to catch the Adam Kimmel presentation. The usual big crowd at the door while the
place was really pumpin’ inside. As we watched Mr. Kimmel being cornered by journalists wanting to learn more about his Pacific North West collection for AW11, we thought it was best to lay low and chill while sipping some glasses of bubbly. Still, here’s some shots from the event.

Kimmel talks to the mic with artist Dan Attoe on his side while the reporter drinks some champagne. A view from one room with the collection photos pinned to the walls.

The kind of aquarium set with a Twin Peaks vibe where the presentation was being held. At the end, we managed to sneak up backstage and take some pictures of the models holding the boots in their hands.

The first day of the Neil Barrett selling campaign is always like this, one of the most busy showrooms of the week. The two giant rooms fill up with buyers from all over the world, eager to be the first ones to pick the best pieces. One other reason for this enormous flood of people was that, today is day one of Paris Fashion Week and the most part of these buyers, like ourselves, were traveling from Milan to Paris later yesterday. With the plane tickets in our pockets we were already felling a little frenchie…

The show line up is a way to see how the pieces match together and get the vibe of the collection. The selling team at full throttle.
A nice furry piece laying on the table and a large view of one of the rooms showing all the tables occupied.

With such a cool familiar environment going on at the Paul Smith showroom, we almost feel at home. The three floor building made to house the multiple collections from the brand is no longer big enough so guess what?!, they had to resort to an old car shop around the block in order to make room for one more line…

A general view from the building’s inside with a nice open feel to it and a damn good looking accessories wood cabinet.
Some looks from the AW11 collection. Looking mighty fine and dandy!

The converted car shop with a nice old track bike at the middle (très Paul Smith…) and a close view at the shoes line.

The visit to the Boglioli showroom is always an opportunity to learn something more about new and better fabrics and about the true art of blazer making. Gianluca Modena is the designated teacher and you can even see him at the back in one of the photos, probably making reservations for the fine raw fish dinner that followed… Yuummy!!!

Milan tries to have it’s own menswear event to rival with Pitti Uomo in Florence and the shows in Paris, the result of this is The White Show.
On this edition there were three main different exhibition spaces that included art exhibits, shooting sessions for the White website in real time and a display of the jeans production process with the duplication of a factory, including the design, testing, production and washing.

The main entrance with the white runway and a view of the inner rooms, basement style…

Some magazine, media stands and exhibits. That guy was wearing some cool looking shoes btw.

The jeans factory equipped with all the necessary machinery and some washing process being done and checked.

A real laboratory feel with some color testing being made. The White on Web shooting space where designers showcased their collections.

Some more pics of our journey, now in Milan.

Band of Outsiders… at the Marziano Bello showroom and with the help of the ever pleasant Cinzia . Some shoes, ties and beanies on the table and our selection on the rack, behind a fantastic camel trench coat – Scott Rocks!!

ts(s)… still at the Marziano Bello showroom, the ts(s) corner was one of the most visited. The über nice and extremely helpful Kotaro Yasu and Takuji Suzuki, commercial responsible and designer of ts(s). A view of the AW11 collection and lookbook photos on the wall.

As you all know by now, collections are chosen about half a year in advance so, every season we get down to Florence, Milan, Paris…
to do our roundup of brands and try to find new exciting ones to cater your needs. Amongst that, of course, there’s still some time to be with our friends. Keep in mind (and we are not complaining) that there’s also a lot of hard work involved here.
This season we decided to show you what we’re up to and reveal a little more on the brands we work with. We’ll keep previewing it as we move forward and hopefully find the time… Here’s a short diary of our first days at Pitti Uomo in Florence.

The first time the world sees the result of the collaboration between Adam Kimmel and Carhartt. Sorry, we can’t show much…

Our good friend and always elegant Jockum Hallin of Our Legacy and some of the brand’s new pieces hanging. Nice…!!!

Yuketen’s Yuki Matsuda and Ryan Keenan proudly wearing their leather working aprons. The Buttero space and the new models for AW11.

A look at the fair hall where the brands were showcased.
More updates to follow, soon…

For the upcoming SS11 season, the brilliant minds at Maison Martin Margiela have come up something really new and unique – accessories made out of wood. Among the first ones to arrive at the shop are these wood wallets with leather interiors. The detailing is really incredible with the wood veins clearly visible and the fold system along with the lacquered finish looking simply amazing. Inside, there’s room for the usual credit cards and a special money bill compartment. Available in dark or light colored wood with matching leather interiors.
More views and details here.

Celebrating the launch of it’s 1995 line, Raf Simons hook up with usual suspect Pierre Debusschere and Dazed mag to create this exclusive fashion film styled by Dazed’s own Robbie Spencer. The Raf Simons 1995 collection, set to debut in AW11 will present a series of updated heritage pieces and recognizable Raf Simons classics from the last 15 years. Comprised by 40 pieces, the collection includes Raf’s turtlenecks, classic R shirts, a school boy jacket but also outerwear such as a military parka and a bomber and is intended to be combined with the seasonal Raf Simons show collections. We just can’t wait to get our hands on some of these…

We’ve just received this from Maison Martin Margiela and thought we’d share. Using a kind of low tech that’s
so dear to us, the white lab coat people created this video to welcome all of its followers into the new year.

Click on the image to watch it.

Our A/W10 SALE has started! Reductions up to 50% on All Brands, Clothes and Footwear at the Shop and Online.

Although this trailer has hit the blog rounds a while back, we couldn’t help to put it up here and the reasons behind this are quite simple.
The most recognizable one is that this is an amazing piece of work about an exceptional and distinctive craft – the Neapolitan tailoring tradition. The other is that, like the tailors featured, we also try to take care of the person who comes at the shop and to adapt the clothes to the personality of the one who wears it. Like them, we also believe that ” the individual has to be himself and has to dress for his own sake “ and, above all, that ” there is no craft that you can make without passion “. Thru their wise testimonies, these men translate the true meaning of the word Sarto and what it means to do a thing by heart. For us this is also our way, and maybe the only way we know.