“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Wednesday December 2nd — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Wednesday December 2nd — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Wednesday December 2nd — —

Wardrobe by Koen Tossijn

Our friend Koen Tossijn has come a long way since we both had a share in the ‘Blue Jeans’ exhibition, which took place over two years ago in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. At that point Koen still solely focussed on bespoke denim with his label Atelier Tossijn, but his ambition always was to create a full wardrobe of staple piece items, boiled down to perfection. Born out of his longing for a greater quality of life and a fascination for the everyday, in the last two years Tossijn went on a quest to find a way to work outside and within the modern-day fashion industry. Instead of an ever-changing new collection, Tossijn aims to create one steady stream of everyday essential pieces, which he named fittingly the ‘Wardrobe’ collection. Designed to their most essential form and made in ton sur ton shades with only the best materials available, the pieces in the Wardrobe evolve over time in a constant search for perfection, which is seldom seen in modern fashion anymore.

The fact that the contemporary fashion industry still works under a set of rules which were established over a hundred years ago is something which puzzled Koen for years. Two or more seasonal collections a year are being designed, produced and sold. In contrast, Koen clearly aims to offer an alternative for this high tempo of production, information and stress. Instead of an ever-changing new collection, Tossijn creates one steady stream of everyday essential pieces.

By bringing the things we surround ourselves with back to a minimum, you create more time and space.

As of now the Wardrobe collection consists of four immaculate pieces. The trousers are created in house with a single thread machine and hand-stitching details, out of a 10 oz. yarn dyed black selvage twill fabric made of US cotton and woven at the Kuroki mill in Japan. Out of that same fabric Tossijn created his industrial jacket in house with a single thread machine and hand-stitching details. The sweater is made out of a dark-dark, nearly black blue merino wool from Loro Piana and knitted in Italy. And finally, the flat hat is made out of a dark-dark, nearly black, blue wool cashmere blend from Loro Piana and constructed in England, in collaboration with James Lock & Co.

We look forward to where Koen will take this promising start of a immaculate complete Wardrobe.

To order the first impressive Wardrobe pieces see here