We all know that by now shorts have staked their claim on the fashion map, and rightly so, until men can wear skirts in the street a la most recent Fantastic Man issue, the options are fairly limited.
So praise be to Angus Young for rocking shorts since before I was even born, which is a very long time. I’m not a 100% sure the utilitarian Clarksalike trainers and white sports socks is what I’d team his suit with, but not everyone can understand a trailblazer. You’ve now got a model to copy for summer, go forth to the office in your shorts suit!
Preppy on the top, skatewear on the bottom, Johnny Knoxville was snapped coming out of John Waters‘ opening at the Gagosian on Saturday. Knoxville starred in the King of Camp’s ‘Dirty Shame’ so it’s no surprise to see him at the private view for ‘Rear Projection’. ‘Dirty Shame’ a satire on sexual values which, funnily enough I saw this weekend and stars Knoxville as a kind of sexual Jesus.
This look is never going to wow catwalk crowds, but as far as a uniform for the hipster hitting their 40s it’s a far more appealing sight than the visual nightmare of ‘greying cool dad’ in their heyday attire of chunky skate shoes, baggy jeans and a surf tee. A generation of ageing cool dads should take note!
Sander Reijgers’ sex doll hoodies have been a mini-internet phenomenon and it’s not hard to see why. The hoodies are witty, but sympathetically so, which probably goes some way to explain their popularity, but we spoke to Sanders himself to find out more.
Your blow up doll hoodies have been a great success, what do you think it is that struck a chord with people?
I think the elements of humour, surprise, sex, also that it’s something new and unique, and not forgetting the simple fact it’s nice to look at.
How long have you been designing clothes, and tell us a little more about your past work?
I’m a painter, I have done the art academie (The Royal Academy of Art in the Hague). But for now I’m more interested in working 3d. The hoodies are an example. I’m using fashion and sex as a means to make objects. I like to operate in the grey area between art, design and fashion.
Russell Brand was pictured today alongside protesters against the G20 summit outside the Bank of England the City of London. He told press: “I always come to these kind of things, I’m very interested. I am interested in learning and interested in why these people have come to this. I wonder what alternatives there are and I think it makes people cogent of them. I think it’s also very beautiful,” That’s a wonderful sentiment, but I just wish he’d get rid of the McQueen skull scarf! Jump through to see who else was out and about today.
Matthew Horne was snapped outside the afterparty for the Teenage Cancer Trust in London last night looking a little sheepish after he left his wallet containing £1,500 and all his cards in a taxi.
The Gavin & Stacey star has always been a little more fashion conscious than most, sporting rolled jeans and doctor’s bag which make for nicely understated trend pieces but It’s his Doc Martens that really interest me. The scuffed leather is a gorgeous shade of dove grey and the chunky sole is a trend that is slowly filtering onto the high street.
What do you think of Matthew Horne’s outfit? To me it seems a little forced, like he’s been styled for the night, do you agree or do you think he’s making brave baby steps into the world of fashion?
Most people use the date the clocks go back as the official start of Spring but at Brandish we pay attention to altogether more stylish markers.
Luke Treadaway (right) turned up at the Empire Film Awards accompanied by his equally stylish twin brother Harry Treadaway. The actor who is tipped to appear in the 2010 version of Clash of the Titans was decked in a madras shirt and a charmingly cut grey suit. A bow tie and battered brown belt top off the look and add a touch of personality to the outfit. Take our poll after the jump and let us know what you think of the outfit, or tell us on our Facebook Wall.
Today marked the launch of the Umbro England kit, with a special preview for press. The kit is being officially unveiled tomorrow at the England vs Slovakia match, but take my word for it when I say it’s pretty special!
We caught up with the trio behind the innovative design today and grilled them on the creative process behind this launch. David Blanch is the creative director for Umbro and an ex-footballer but his love of fashion runs deep. He has worked at the RCA which also was home to Savile Row tailor Charlie Allen for a while before he launched his own label.
In our second video, after the jump we interview critically acclaimed designer Aitor Throup who takes us through his body and movement focused approach to design.
Here is part two of our interview with Fantastic Man Co-Editor In Chief Gert Jonkers, along with Jop van Bennekom they produce one of our favourite fashion mags, click here to read part one.
How do you think being from the Netherlands and basing the magazine in Amsterdam has influenced the magazine?
To develop and maintain our own tone of voice it surely helped to not be around all the other magazine makers. And just because we’re not in London, Paris or New York, I think we have quite an interesting perspective on the fashion world. We’re intrigued by fashion, yet we’re not completely drowning in it.
Sad news today as we hear that Uriel Jones, (pictures centre, with James Jameson) one of the Funk Brothers has passed away aged 74. Jones was the last remaining drummer in the group which only gained notoriety fairly recently thanks to the award-winning documentary ‘Standing in the Shadows of Motown’
The Funk Brothers were the backing band for some of Motown’s biggest artists, helping to create hits like “My Girl,” “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” and “Cool Jerk” but they went largely unnoticed Jones himself worked on a series of hits for Motown including including Marvin Gaye’s I Heard it Through the Grapevine and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough as well as Smokey Robinson’s For Once In My Life. If you haven’t seen the documentary order it now, it’s a really great insight into Motown and the minds of seasoned musicians.
We were lucky enough to speak to Gert Jonkers recently, who, along with Jop van Bennekom head up the team at Fantastic Man. It’s no secret that we’re big FM fans at Brandish, and one look at the magazine’s clever art direction, witty articles and embedded fashion editorials will show you why. Nowhere else can you read about Beryl Woodsware crockery and Tom Ford in the same magazine so it was a real privilege to speak to Jonkers, stay tuned for part two of this interview tomorrow.
Butt, your first magazine, took a very European view of sex, happily mixing explicit and intellectual content. You’ve kind of done the same thing with Fantastic Man, is that just yours and van Bennekom’s general approach to life?
Yes I guess so. We love reality, and the reality of life is that it’s sometimes quite mundane, sometimes quite thoughtful, sometimes quite exciting, sometimes quite complex, and sometimes quite plain. Why would a magazine have a completely different take on life?
Ever since their inception into the pop charts Franz Ferdinand have been pretty fashion savvy, but now they’re stepping things up a notch as they’ve enlisted Danish designer Christian Westphal to come up with costumes for their upcoming tour. Promoting their latest album ‘Tonight’ their tour takes them across Europe and then to the US including an appearance at Californian festival Coachella.
The Franz are obviously keeping their fingers in as many fashion pies as possible, the Scottish quartet have also been snapped by Karl Lagerfeld for German magazine Stern, as well as featuring in the latest John Varvatos ad campaign.
Obama received the watch as a gift from his security team in 2007 and has been spotted wearing the timepiece at official functions ever since. The Jorg Gray company, used to selling their watches for the corporate gift market have set up www.barackswatch.com to make the most of the association. It’s available for $325, which for a fancy watch is a pretty good price and in 40 years’ time will make a great piece of memorabilia.
The Spring Summer issue of Numéro Homme is out, and for the non-francophones among us they kindly include an English translation of all the interviews at the back of the mag.
Philip Utz spoke to Alexander McQueen who, with typical forthrightness called Utz up on his interview skills, called fashion journalism a “thinly-veiled exercise in marketing” and then proclaimed that “the British Fashion Council doesn’t know what the fuck it’s doing.”
In a particularly explosive comment McQueen said: “Well what do you make of Hubert de Givenchy? He was only ever any good at ripping off [Cristobal] Balenciaga”
From Catwalk Queen… This has to be the strangest news that I have read in a while (in the last 24 hours, at least). Liam Gallagher is getting his hands on the rag trade by launching his own fashion label, Pretty Green. Nope, I’m not joking either.
It seems the Oasis frontman has his sights set on fashion, why? Because “he likes clothes.” Fair enough I guess. The label is beginning with menswear, with a limited edition collection of classic pieces including trench coats, knit, footwear and t-shirts. Pretty green or pretty bad? You decide. Click play on promo video above to watch.
Hypebeast has posted an interview with Stan Smith, the face to one of the most popular tennis shoes of all times. The interview (by Eugene Kan) gives a little insight into Stan’s own background and how he broke into the world of professional tennis, as well as how the game has changed over the past 40 years. Smith also talks about his minimal involvement in the development of the Adidas trainer that has taken his name and his own surprise that the shoe has been in production for almost 40 years without hiatus. Oh and I mustn’t forget about the curious tale of why the shoe bares a moustache-less visage of Stan, that’s a real corker! (It’s not)
The interview will be of interest to any sneaker or tennis fanatic and if you’re a tennis sneaker fanatic then this will BLOW-YOUR-MIND so take a peek here.
From:What David Gandy Can Do For Your Style