Displaying items by tag: Burton

Trousers with a go-faster stripe aren’t even fashionable anymore. What???! What I mean is, they’ve become a standard trouser style and they still look good. 

It’s a simple and sporty touch to a classic pair of trousers. For work or smarter attire, they just say you know what you’re doing and you can add fashion into a professional and conservative environment.

I noticed this pair in Burton's SS18 collection, they've also got some other really nice bits this season - I wasn't paid to say this! - but, this pair with a delicate red stripe with a zip pocket is what stuck in my memory and at a great price.

I would team them with a plain camp collar shirt and loafers or sandals. 

Left & Below - Burton - Side Stripped Trouser - £30

Walking into Topman’s Oxford Circus flagship, a couple of weeks ago, there was a collection of bought-in brands such as Nicce, Le Coq Sportif and Champion, in an area on the first floor. All familiar, all offering the current taste for branded clothing. 

Left - Vision Streetwear - Scarf £30

There was a large section for a brand I hadn’t heard of called “Vision”. All Balenciaga-type logo tops and branded football scarves, the product was good and definitely where we are right now and what guys want to buy.

I always like retailers to surprise me and give me things I hadn’t heard of before. I just thought it was a street/sportswear brand that was yet to jump onto my radar. 

I went to the Topman SS18 press day, the following week, and there was a special area for “Vision” and, then, the penny dropped: this must be an in-house brand.

It’s clever. It allows brands to do something different, have a clean creative sheet and for it to be detached from the parent brand. It can also, unlike the main brand, be disposed of the minute it starts to wobble. Easy come, easy go.

People are much more open to fresh brands and this is the future for high-street retail. Secretive in-house brands, that look like they’ve been created by a young, dynamic group of creatives rather than be tainted by the connotations of the parent brand. TK Maxx have been doing it for years.

And this takes me to HIIT. A new sportswear focussed brand under Burton’s umbrella. I’m much more likely to get excited about HIIT - it looks really good BTW - than “Burton Sportswear” for example. It also allows the people who work there to push it and be very current without a buyer in the background wailing “It’s not very Burton, is it?”.

Right - HIIT Available at Burton in January 2018

It also allows it to be stocked by third parties such as Zalando and ASOS. It stands on its own right and when its life cycle is over it can be shelved and a replacement or alternative waiting in the wings.

I’m calling these “Russian Doll Brands”: brands within brands offering a new niche and more fashion forward or specialised clothing.

What these do is represent the shortening lives of brand and how they can easily come and go and also, it’s a step away from “collaborations” which many consumers and brands have grown tired of.

Correction - Vision is owned by Authentic Brands Group, a brand development, marketing and entertainment company, which owns a global portfolio of lifestyle, sports, and celebrity and entertainment brands. It is exclusive to Topman in the UK and US, but not in Japan.

A new exhibition charting the emergence of the modern male wardrobe has opened at the Jewish Museum in Camden, London .

This new exhibition tells the story of men’s fashion and the emergence of the modern male wardrobe – taking visitors on a journey from the tailoring workshops of the mid-19th century to the boutique revolution and mod culture of the Swinging 60s. The story is told through the huge number of Jewish companies who were at the forefront of the major developments and changes in the design, manufacturing and retail of men’s clothing from the mid-19th to late 20th century.

Right - Cecil Gee, who helped bring the 1960s Italian Mod look to London, in his Shaftesbury Avenue store in the 1960s. I love the birdcage

For over 100 years British menswear set trends which led the world – and many of the most influential figures of that period were Jews, from Montague Burton and Moses Moss to Cecil Gee and Michael Fish. 

Left & Below - Mr Fish outfit & label on a 'Kipper' tie from his store in Mayfair

TheChicGeek says, “I hadn’t been to the Jewish Museum before and, as far as I know, this is the first exhibition they’ve had dedicated to menswear. It’s a concise and compact exhibition starting with the early mass suit producers such as Burton and Moses Moss up to the colourful Peacock Males of Carnaby Street.

It’s a simple timeline with lots of images and a few films illustrating the processes these manufacturers invented and also giving a feel of the time these things were happening. 

I didn’t realise so many of the Carnaby street sixties brands such as Mr Fish, Granny Takes A Trip, Lord John etc. were all Jewish and it’s always a joy to see this colourful chapter in British menswear. 

The exhibition is perfectly timed as the Mr Fish label is set to return under new ownership. The original Michael Fish is said to not be very well and he doesn’t have many examples of his own work left, unfortunately. The exhibition does has a couple of pieces, including one of his famous ‘Kipper’ ties, lent by the Victoria & Albert museum. While Jewishness doesn't necessarily have an influence on the product, this is a celebration of the Jewish community's input into British menswear over the last 150 years."

Until 19th June 2016 

www.jewishmuseum.org.uk

Are you BeachGEEK body ready?! Well, no matter the answer - to be honest, I'm not quite sure what beach body ready means anyway!! - monochrome hides a multitude of sins while being as timeless as a 99 ice cream.

Strip the colour out of your beachwear and look for black and white stripes in various thicknesses. Team with dark sunglasses and matching sandals and you're good to go.

Just don't forget to apply lots of sun protection so you don't get a 'newspaper tan' - black, white and red all over!

#BeachGEEK

Credits - Striped Top - Burton, Bag - Hunter, Swim Shorts - Hentsch Man, Sunglasses - Dita, Socks - Topman, Jelly Sandals - Hunter Gather, Bracelet - River Island, Towel - Scotch & Soda, Bat & Ball - Frescobol Carioca, Perfume - Atelier Des Ors, Day Screen Multi Protection - Clarins, Immediate Moisture Facial Hydrosol - Aesop, Thickening Tonic - Aveda

Shot by Robin Forster on #OlympusPEN

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