There was a time when it seemed like Russell Brand could have been a saviour of men’s fashion. His Dickensian witticisms and gothic-lite get up were a breath of fresh air, but lately Brand has let things slide a little. His favourite ruched leggings leave very little to the imagination, and teaming them with flip flops? Rookie mistake!
What do you think of Russell Brand’s outfit? Take our poll
Maxim magazine are publishing their June issue this April and announced it’s to be their last. Dennis Publishing pulled the UK edition of the mag which debuted in 1995, riding high on a wave of lad mags which included FHM and Loaded. Chief executive, James Tye said: “The Maxim brand remains the bestselling men’s lifestyle magazine in the world, but Dennis Publishing must move with the times and recognise that the future of the brand in the UK is online.”
Which magazines do you read? Are lad mags still relevant or have you never been attracted to them in the first place? Take our poll and let us know!
Exciting news this afternoon as we’ve just received word of a Topman project called We ♡ the White Tee.
With a roster of designers which includes big names Henry Holland, Philip Lim, as well as Richard Chai, Juun J Topman are really keeping on their toes as far as getting new design talent in is concerned. They’ve also got LFW MAN designers JW Anderson and Christopher Shannon in on the act as well as the Topman Design team so we’re looking forward to seeing it when it hits stores on May 28th.
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Another day, another Raf Simons collaboration, this time with Doc Martens. We can’t wait till this one hits the stores, the metallic tones work so well with the hardwearing DM leather and I’m sure they’ll look even better with wear. Our favourite piece is the two-tone boot, pewter and gold never looked so good. Stick around to see our previews from all the press days tomorrow, including Billionaire Boys Club, Ermenegildo Zegna and more.
We also love the pointed shoes underneath. So chunky! So lace-y! So buckle-y!
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.
If you’re interested in seeing the Umbro England kit then you’re probably down the pub watching the match against Slovakia, but here is the image waiting for you to pore over with a kebab when you get home.
On the surface it looks like a regular kit but they’ve really pushed for technological and tailoring improvements. I’ve put up the annotated picture so you can see the tailoring details, click the image to enlarge and check out videos with the designers below.
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”
You may have noticed I’ve been away, I’ve just come back from a great trip to Burkina Faso where Sebago shoes are totally the in thing (stay tuned for an East Africa fashion round up). The shoe company is celebrating their 40th birthday with a limited edition range in conjuction with Colette and Parisian agency La MJC.
La MJC’s have two pairs to their name, pictured right, feature the agency’s trademark colours and little crosses on the back. Colette have entrusted Jack Spade with their pair, which is a great mix of colours for summer, love the orange dipped toe! The shoes will be available instore from the 21st March.
The sad news yesterday was that Arena magazine has been closed down by publisher Bauer Media. The magazine has been running for 22 years and it has always been BOT (Bang On Trend) despite rapidly falling circulation figures in recent years.
The April issue of the magazine is due out next week and rumours are flying that this issue will be the last. Thankfully for our fashion flames, the magazine’s diffusion mag, (if you could call it that,) Arena Homme Plus, will continue on.
Check back to Brandish for a full review of the possible final issue next week!
There was a time when it seemed like Russell Brand could have been a saviour of men’s fashion. His Dickensian witticisms and gothic-lite get up were a breath of fresh air, but lately Brand has let things slide a little. His favourite ruched leggings leave very little to the imagination, and teaming them with flip flops? Rookie mistake!
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