Displaying items by tag: Autumn 2021

Palace and Kappa unveil a new collaborative collection: the first time the two brands have worked together.

The Palace Kappa collaboration is a celebration of timeless Italian street style and 1990s British football culture. Kappa invited the Palace design team to explore the Kappa archive in Turin. The extensive collection houses jerseys worn by iconic players, sportswear re-appropriated by Britpop stars, and the hundreds of different Home and Away kits worn by Kappa sponsored teams over the past 30 years.

The Palace design team focused on archival garments that they fondly remember wearing as streetwear ready-mades in the 1990s. Jerseys represented local affiliations, but over time the colour ways evolved beyond strict team allegiances.

The Kappa Palace collaboration includes a '90’s fit' crinkle effect long jacket in technical nylon with the Maxi Kappa logo on the shoulders and Palace’s reworked 'banda'' on the sleeves. Another stand out item is the iconic Kappa 222 Banda tracksuit in polytricot, reinterpreted with a playful new Palace Kappa logo. T-shirts with Raglan sleeves are inspired by iconic soccer jerseys in blue, yellow, pink, and black, and a soccer boot bag with the Kappa and Palace logos in rubber round out the collection.

The Kappa® Palace collection is available at Palace stores in London, NYC, LA and Tokyo ; DSM - London and LA Online at palaceskateboards.com

Vincentmania isn't new, yet it never gets old. The famous ginger Dutchman has become a modern day deity with his artworks treated like contemporary relics. With the Courtauld Gallery newly reopened at London's Somerset House, we get to re-see his famous painting, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Painted in 1889, it will be centre stage of a new exhibition of van Gogh's self-portraits in early 2022. While we shouldn't celebrate anybody cutting their ear off, it just adds depth to his image which seems to be on everything these days along with a few of his artworks.

Left - The first ever exhibition devoted to Vincent van Gogh’s self-portraits across his entire career will take place at The Courtauld Gallery from 3 Feb – 8 May 2022

Left - A bandaged Vincent Christmas decoration - £18 Liberty from Rocket St George

Below - Scotch & Soda - 'Vincent' Optical Frames - £165

Left - Topman - Vincent Van Gogh Sunflower Shirt Print In Ecru - £30

Left - ASOS DESIGN - Van Gogh Relaxed Revere Shirt With Artist Sketch Print - £28

Left - National Gallery - Sunflowers Watch - £28

Left - Etsy - Van Gogh UNISEX Knit Sweater Jumper - £53.45

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It's all about striking a pose, with a bold silhouette like this one, at the moment. I love the strong shoulder on this coat. A power shoulder says strength and this follows a trend that has been pioneered by brands such as Balenciaga, who has continued to push very distinct shapes in outerwear.

Martine Rose is London's home grown answer to Balenciaga, stealthily building a healthy men's and women's fashion brand which recently received investment. One thing to note is, this coat is made from cotton in Mauritius, but it would be great to get the same shape in solid worsted wool from a great British factory. You could always buy separate shoulder pads and stick them in your favourite overcoat.

Left & Below - Martine Rose - Box Shoulder Jacket in Grey & Black Houndstooth - £1085

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Raf Simons at Prada is basically Raf Simons, but with a triangular logo. While he delivered for his debut menswear collection for Prada, - the fans seemed to be happy - the most memorable items were the coloured leather gloves with an annoying little pouch on the back of the hand which you'll never be able to access easily. Costing £850 you'll have nothing left to put in the pouch anyway! Could it be perfect for the back-of-the-hand Oyster entry onto the Underground?

Below - Prada - Zipped-Pouch Gloves in Orange - £850 from LN-CC

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The third iteration of this collaboration, Barbour has launched its Autumn Winter 21 collection with New York label, Noah. This season the range includes six different jackets that are based on the traditional Barbour Bedale and Beaufort styles - both of which were first introduced in the early 1980s. These classic designs have been reimagined in new vibrant fabrications to create a collection that is both timeless and modern.

Left - Barbour - Aero Noah Bedale - £299

The jackets have been crafted from two distinct fabrics, both made in the UK – a dry wax and a heavy wool. The Bedale jackets are made in a dry wax and is available in the colourways of wine, nicotine and dark navy - with a contrasting tartan lining.

By contrast the Beaufort designs are made in a heavy wool from Abraham Moon & Sons, a British company established in 1837. Although the shape and cut of the Beaufort design has been retained, the heavy fabric gives the jackets a weighty, robust feel. Available in tan, brown plaid and a pink tone, each design features a contrasting tartan lining. 

The jackets are completed with Barbour’s signature heavy-weight two-way zips, corduroy collars, upper hand warmer pockets and lower bellows pockets. On the exterior. there is a small and subtle Barbour X Noah embroidered logo on the pocket flap - and on the interior you’ll find an oversized embroidered Barbour X Noah logo at the neck.

Ian Bergin, Director of Menswear, Footwear & Accessories, Barbour said: ‘We really enjoyed working alongside the team at NOAH to bring our unique collaborative designs for Autumn Winter to life. There is a natural symbiosis between our two brands that comes from the desire to create timeless products with a contemporary twist and I hope that people will enjoy wearing them for many years to come.”

Brendon Babenzien, Noah Co-Founder and Creative Director said: "Barbour jackets are perfect for what they are designed for, therefore we chose to make only subtle updates this season. We focused on cloth selection for those who may not manage to wear wax comfortably — water resistant dry cloths for those looking to shed rain and wools to combat chilly temperatures. These felt like simple but elegant variations to an already legendary outerwear piece.”

TheChicGeek says, "The Barbour jacket is the Range Rover of the coat world and as such is one of the UK's greatest clothing exports. Who wouldn't want a pink one?!"

The Autumn Winter 21 Barbour x Noah collection is available on barbour.com and noahny.com and from selected stockists worldwide

Exclusive UK Stockist: Dover Street Market

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TheChicGeek says, "Category is ‘metallic zips’ after skinny clotheshorse, Timothée Chalamet, (or Chalametallic as I've renamed him for this!) hit the red carpet for the ‘Dune’ London premiere in an Alexander McQueen Spring 2022 suit. 

"Alexander McQueen's menswear is usually overly dressy, but this is relaxed, trying, but not too hard, and cool. I just wonder if all the zips actually work. The shoulders seem to in the lookbook image below. Expect this to be a big trend, moving forward in 2022, for the fast fashion menswear brands."

Left - Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2022

Zip it.

Left - Alexander McQueen - Slim-Fit Logo Webbing-Trimmed Crepe Track Jacket - £890 from MRPORTER.COM

Below - Tom Ford - Buckley Briefcase - £2590

Left - Burberry - Zip Panel Wool Silk Tailored Jacket - £1490

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British menswear brand, Percival, has joined forces with Korean-based illustrator Aaron Chang. Chang's ivy-style illustrations are featured across a capsule edit of Percival's classic embroidery and screen-printed styles.

TheChicGeek says, "This is cute. Percival is a British brand really killing it atm. They are offering men something different, but with taste and is extremely wearable. Only a brand with confidence starts to produce fun product like this. It's moving into the Rowing Blazers territory or maybe even Drake's and that Wes Anderson preppy look I always love. I particularly like the corduroy tote bags.

Percival is six years old and still owned by its co-founder and head designer Chris Gove. By making in London, Percival is able to drop multiple short runs of product a year, keeping its offering fresh & varied. Percival recently provided garments for David Beckham's recent Holiday and designed trousers for 'No Time to Die'." 

Right - Percival - Tote Bag - Forest Cord - £59

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Lab Series, a pioneer in men’s skincare, has had a '360 degree upgrade'. All the brand's packaging has been redesigned with the consumer in mind to be functional, modern, and easy to navigate with clear product benefits and ingredients callouts on pack. Six new product series targeted to the most common male skincare concerns are colour coded based on the benefits of the products for instant recognition: Daily Rescue, All-in-One, Oil Control, Anti-aging MAX LS, Grooming, and Instant Fix. A new, sleeker logo ties it all together.

New sustainability measures include: more than half of packaging by weight will be recyclable, refillable, reusable, recycled or recoverable with the goal to reach 75% by 2025. More than half of the new packaging contains a minimum of 20% recycled content. 100% of cartons will be recyclable and are made using FSC-certified paperboard.

The Max LS Weightless Anti-Aging Water Lotion has been reformulated with Youth Renewing technology and powerful ferments to condition and recharge skin after cleansing, leaving it smoother and younger-looking.

Lab Series has also launched a new e-commerce experience featuring the exclusive 'Lab Series Skin Diagnostic'—a personalised online skin analysing tool that provides consumers with private, customised advice at their fingertips. Activated using a smartphone with an uploaded selfie, the skin diagnostic uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide a personalised skin report mapping six main skin concerns and providing customised product recommendations.

The new Lab Series digital experience is available now, followed by the Skin Diagnostic in early 2022.

TheChicGeek says, "Lab Series was one of the first premium men's grooming brands, started in 1987 by Estée Lauder Companies Inc. This new rebrand feels contemporary and fresh, while still recognisably Lab Series. The range is extensive - maybe still a little too large? (Below) - but they'll be something here for everybody.

The new imagery is less chiselled and more inclusive. Men's grooming brands can be softer today and less stamping of masculinity. This new look feels modern and while retaining the science we've come to expect from Lab Series. The personalised Skin Diagnostic tool sounds like it has potential and will help to navigate the products. I will be testing the reformulated Max LS Weightless Anti-Aging Water Lotion."