We very much like Commune de Paris, 1871. A simple, well made and beautiful label started by three young Parisians: designer Alexandre Maïsetti, art director Sébastien Lyky and Edouard Launay, all collaborating with other creatives in the field of fashion and graphic arts. Inspired by the french revolutionary… [ Continue reading ]

Just got some very nice footwear by Oliver Spencer in the mail. The collection launched for AW09 is modeled after an Italian gardening boot and made of waxed leather in brown and black with a lovely red rubber out-sole. [ Continue reading ]

We wrote about it before, but now we’ve got some insights on the brand and wanted to share it again. The spring/summer ‘Horses collection’ by Camo is inspired on north-african colonies and is about camouflaging the clothes to go to work, whether it is on your bike or… [ Continue reading ]

I instantly fell in love with Heritage Research. Hand crafted in England using the finest British and Japanese fabrics they’re reviving tailoring traditions and with the addition of Swiss RiRi zips, horn buttons and leather binding they make each piece entirely functional yet distinctive. Above the Union naval… [ Continue reading ]

Slazenger Heritage is going to re-launched an Autumn Winter collection exclusively at Urban Outfitters. Slazenger was founded in 1881 by the two brothers Ralph and Albert Slazenger but the roots of the brand are from much earlier (around 1810, which makes it one of the oldest surviving sport… [ Continue reading ]

The movie news of the year―at least on this side of the Atlantic―has almost wholly revolved around Spike Jonze's filmic adaptation of Maurice Sendak's seminal children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, an innocent-looking 48-page essential that no good mother would be caught without. The big screen version of the generation-transcending classic is quite visually spectacular and emotionally moving (I'm not going to get into criticism or review here―The New Yorker's for that), which is, not incidentally, what most Sendak fans assumed it wouldn't be. ("How can you―and why do you want to―inject live-action life into a masterpiece of the two dimensional?" many asked.) The magical transformation from innocuous paperback to grandiose $100-million-dollar-budget silver screen spectacle can be explained by noting the importance of a simple "a-ha" moment Jonze had several years ago upon splitting with his girlfriend Sophia Coppola: The Wild Things embody wild emotions (anger, fear, and loathing; happiness, exuberance, and excitement). The trouble-making director, along with one of this generation's most lauded scribes, Dave Eggers, transformed Sendak's bedtime story into an exploration of the most primordial feelings that unify us all.

Unusually, the film did not come attached with the usual Disney-style marketing package (numerous throw-away action figures, cheap pajamas, lunch boxes, video games, and so on), but rather a sort of grassroots call to (creative) arms. Where The Wild Things Are gave people the bug to simply create in reverential celebration of a seminal work of toddler fiction. Obviously, Jonze et al. had a roll in the development of these "extended value" efforts, but theirs was more of the warm, encouraging father than the demanding, out-of-touch boss. Read on for a rundown of some of my favorite objects that were created in concordance with the flick. [ Continue reading ]

Last month h(y)r collective changed it’s name and focus to INVENTORY, a curation of Ideas in Product, Craft & Culture. The online magazine became an off-line magazine which will be published in the coming days. Anothersomething got a sneak preview on the first proofs from the… [ Continue reading ]

New treasures in the new Blend nr 45 featuring Marijn Akkermans, the Gentleman’s Cap by Rapha, our favorite new danish label Libertine-Libertine and the Le Labo candle Petit Grain 21. Enjoy Blend (dutch) here > and… [ Continue reading ]

Just came across this wonderful project called CLOSE UP AND PRIVATE by artist Sergei Sviatchenko. In this project he's capturing the spirit of modern style, as seen through the subtle shades of the individual. Great inspiration! [ Continue reading ]

The ninth issue of Acne Paper addresses the dual themes of Art and Spirituality, and explores the relationship between these two inextricably linked areas of study. The cover story sees a unique collaboration between Tilda Swinton and Paolo Roversi. Other collaborators include David Lynch, Marina Abramovic and Maureen Paley,… [ Continue reading ]

Last week we met talented creatives and reviewed their portfolio’s at the Blend New Talent Night. We were very excited to meet such passionate and talented people and so we left Pakhuis de Zwijger with a fresh dose of inspiration. Our favorite was definitely last years graduate from… [ Continue reading ]

Number two of a selection of beautiful finds by Anothersomething and Tenue de Nîmes. Enjoy after the click. [ Continue reading ]

I just received the Urban Outfitters Home holiday preview with some lovely stuff to fill your interior shot by Anne Grandin. Along some very camp items like Holga camera’s, a Tru-Square rock tumbler and a Bob Ross painting kit there are some nice little presents like… [ Continue reading ]

I very much like this classic american style — The pure Scottish cashmere cardigan sweater jacket by Brooks Brothers is really a classic! Mother-of-pearl buttons and button cuff with grosgrain on sleeve and placket. Our need to have for this autumn…… [ Continue reading ]

Last monday we were pleased welcoming Mr Nigel Cabourn himself. Inspired and excited we finished the day knowing he started his business with today’s biggest british designer as his London Agent, pleased with an invite to his little castle in the United Kingdom, packed with stories… [ Continue reading ]

It need not be reiterated that over the past few years we've seen an unprecedented number of collaborative projects between pairs or trios of brands that may or may not be from the same industry. Major efforts of this variety have been embraced by both massive corporations (Target has been doing it for years and now plans to work with Rodarte for a seasonal collection; Pepsi famously teamed up with A Bathing Ape; Jil Sander's +J line for Uniqlo is in stores now) and smaller ones (Monocle has worked with countless people, from Comme des Garçons to Porter; practically every issue of Arkitip, a tiny independent Southern California art publication, features a collaboration with folks like Mike Mills and Peter Saville).

This trend isn't unusual per se, however: All sorts of companies have partnered with non-employees and separate businesses for ages, but for the most part, such pairings haven't been publicized or used as marketing ploys. So why is it that we can no longer enter a store as ubiquitous as the Gap or J. Crew and not catch sight of a tag that features both the shop's name and an affiliate's? Simple: Sustaining a brand's image and reputation is harder than ever due to cheap forms of marketing and the impact of the Internet today; additionally, the "two is better than one" mindset has convinced many clothiers, luggage manufacturers, cobblers, liquor producers, and so on to shack up with competitors with equal ambition and creativity or companies outside of their field who can spread whatever product they make in conjunction to their loyalists. Belvedere may not be the choice vodka of hipsters, but if Parisian graffiti artist and restaurant and hotel owner André slaps his Mr. A. character on their bottles, it will instantly become a nightclub hit.

The following is a rundown of some of our favorite collaborations as of late in no particular order. [ Continue reading ]

Olympia Le-Tan grew up in house where the walls were covered in beautiful books. Inspired by the amazing first edition covers of her favorite classics like The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Catcher in The Rye, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Winner Take Nothing, Moby Dick amongst… [ Continue reading ]

Finally – the collaboration of Nalden & Tenue de Nîmes is online. As Nalden said before, purple is the new black (we would say brown…) so this lovely cotton shirt comes in a deep purple, with magenta buttons and branding, and is now available at… [ Continue reading ]

Kimberly Lloyd just emailed us to say they released the first Qompendium Print Publication. Qompendium is an evolving and ever-changing platform for philosophy, art, culture and science, represented by a series of print publications: magazines, books and monographs. Furthermore, it is enriched by a real gallery… [ Continue reading ]

Coute Que Coute shared this lovely lookbook from Grounded Ltd – called White Line. A beautiful series of pictures, traveling thru the wilderness with fantastic vintage inspired garments… And be sure you’ll check their previous collections as well since they all have this raw and pure… [ Continue reading ]

One of our favorite brands will hit the road again: Clemens en August is starting the fall/winter ’09 tour and will visit Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Munich, Tokyo and Zurich. The only way to get your hands on this beautiful collection is by visiting… [ Continue reading ]

Lovely pictures from Ukraine based photographer Valeria Lazareva for Dresscode september 2009. Be sure you’ll check her portfolio – she did some amazing work…… [ Continue reading ]

Today the new Fantastic Man, Dazed & Confused and Monocle hit the news stands… Fantastic Man comes with articles on Ewan McGregor, Hans Rosling, Peter Philips, Hamish Bowles and is introducing its new sister: The Gentlewoman. We’re very curious to that one!… [ Continue reading ]

The next vintage for the next era: Anachronorm is a Japanese label with a fantastic collection of garments. Every single collection is build upon one fictitious person. For instance this jacket was from Jack, a man with style, who loved his Honda CB77 Super Hawk (which is definitely… [ Continue reading ]