Android Homme – Spring 2010 Collection
As you do, I met up with one of the guys from Android Homme at a boat party back on Boxing day during my trip to Hong Kong for Christmas.
Admittedly, I knew nothing about Android Homme before then, but all I knew was that his kicks were looking fresh! I think they were Propulsion 2’s but anyway, what caught my eye was the quality of the overall trainer.
I don’t know how these guys do it but, cracking the seemingly saturated sneaker market during a recession with a product made of the highest quality materials must have some people scratching their heads in bemusement.
Android Homme have indeed cracked this tough market and they also seem to be one of the pioneers of growing trend of “premium trainers” such as Dior, Louis Vuitton & Kris Van Assche. May I stress that even though Android Homme is a premium trainer it does come with a considerably more affordable price tag (£100 approx). This is particularly good news for me as I am still saving up for a pair of Kris Van Assche’s.
After much success from the release of Propulsion 2, there is now another limited edition colour available. The Propulsion 2 is now available in zinc metal and there are only 200 pairs available! As I expected, this release comes with all the “bells & whistles” such as pigskin lining, full grain leather and waxed laces.
This release is only available from their site here. Check out the images below including the original Propulsion 2’s (Black and White)
Hella Tight Snapbacks & Fitteds
Just before Christmas i noticed that my favourite grey snap back cap had lost it’s shape (actual cause unknown, but some say alcohol and certain acts of misdemeanor played a part in it’s demise), so i thought i’d get a new one. After a couple failed shopping attempts i came across Hella Tight, whose wide selection of caps lead me to the Calavera fitted & Land of the Kings Snapback.
Now i’m not the biggest fan in fitteds, as i my head always seems to be between sizes, but i’d thought i’d give this one a go just because of the detail in material they choose for there caps. The Calavera fitted is made fom 100% grey wool with an embroided candy skull on the front & the Hella Tight logo embroided in pink on the back. What stood out for me though was the under bill made from yellow satin & a yellow leather top button. The Land of the Kings Snapback is a collaboration between Hella Tight and U-N-I (till this day i still have ‘Beautiful Day’ on rotation, just love it) and boasts the iconic LA Lakers colours of purple & yellow. The snapback is yellow along with yellow satin for the under bill and top button & the front portion of the cap is somewhat narrower than the Calavera cap.
I originally bought both caps direct from Hella Tight but the Calavera is no longer on their site. A limited size is still available at CraniumFitteds.
If you do decide to go direct at Hella Tight not only will you be getting your hands on the highest quality headwear possiblet at now either $15 or $25, but $10 from every purchase made on Hella Tight until Sunday 15th February will be donated to the Haiti Reilef Fund. Check below for a close up on the caps.
Pop Music, Pop Art, Pop Culture – Acne Pop Classics SS10
Think of Sweden and the first things which spring to mind are: Beautiful blonde women, IKEA, Sauna’s, Bjorn Borg (The Tennis Player and not the Underwear range) & beautiful blonde women.
Well, let’s add Acne into that list of all things good & Swedish. Acne was founded in 1997 by Jonny Johansson and 3 others. Surprisingly, their initial intention was not to become a fashion brand “We didn’t want to participate in fashion in the first place” Johansson continues to explain “We wanted to be on the outside but, of course, you end up in the heat of it eventually”.
Since then, Acne has become one of the most sought after denim brands around selling 300,000 pairs per year and is up there with the likes of: Seven, Earnest Sewn, True Religion, APC, PRPS to name a few…
Acne’s pop classics SS10 is a very casual and versatile collection indeed. There are key on trend pieces like the farmer style chequered shirt and the denim jacket so, if anything, the pictures below are a great guide on how to piece together a great outfit for Spring Summer 2010.
You can find the Pop Collection & denim here
The New Brit on the Block – Albam Clothing
So the new Spitalfields Market is all completed after what seemed like a decade in the making. I think we can all agree it looks a whole nicer even though the purists amongst some of you may have something to say about the invasion of Wagamama’s, Giraffe & other well known restaurants.
Although the food has gone more mainstream, Spitalfield’s fashion shops/stalls still have that air about exclusivity about them. One of the newer shops in Spitalfields is Albam.
Albam started in Nottingham 3 years ago and just after one year they arrived in The Big Smoke (London) just by the trendy area of Kingly Court by Carnaby Street. Fast forward to now and they find them selves in 2 trendy neighbourhoods in London.
Albam’s cornerstone of thinking is that their clothes are “Modern Crafted Clothing”. Do I agree with that? Totally! Their denim is a match made in heaven between craftmanship & value for money. They are wonderfully crafted with Japanese 13 Oz. Denim, with nice details on the rivets and a lovely selvedge finish. All this for £80.00?!? The nearest rivals to that in terms of value for money are my beloved APC and who can forget Uni Qlo’s Japanese Denim Range.
Next up, the Hunting Cagoule which comes in a nice sand colour with a waxed finish. There is also nice denim-esque detail on the inside of the hood which just give the jacket a contemporary feel to what otherwise seems like a classic jacket.
I could go on but I’m gonna stop there as I eagerly wait for their next collection. I think the thing that strikes me the most is that, this brand just oozes the British-ness that we don’t really see at this price range nowadays. I just hope they don’t dilute this identity over the coming seasons.
Go and check out Albam for their webshop, store locations.
Breath of Fresh Air – Geek Vision
Geek Vision was born in a little town across The Channel in France called Paris. This is where two young chaps met at Art school but they weren’t any two ordinary chaps.
No, as they progressed through Art School their skills improved and they decided to start up a t-shirt brand using their Graphic Design and Photography Skills.
Their current t-shirt range is very raw (See below to nod your head in agreement) and their photography is comparable with the likes of Terry Richardson, David LaChapelle & Yonemara Yone Yasumasa.
You get your mits on these t-shirts here and you can also check out their blog here. Check out the pics below!
King Spring 2010 Collection
As we were rummaging through our inbox, we noticed the guys over at King hit us up with a preview of their Spring 2010 line. Notably being successful in working with New Era, being the only UK label creating specialised and exclusive ly designed 5950 fitted caps, their new collection shouldn’t go amiss.
Bold colours and slogans always go well with t-shirts and it seems their designs are getting better as the label grows. It’s a shame their pop-up store in Covent Garden closed earlier this month, because judging from their Spring 2010 LookBook, there seems to be quite a few nice pieces i’d like to get. Word has it though that there already planning the venue of their new pop-up store, so we’ll keep you posted on the launch.
Head on over to King to get the lowdown on where you can find stockists and online stores.
Toy Me now @ Topman Oxford Circus
Toy me is one of my favourite jewellery brands and found it quite hard to get my hands on them back in the day. The only place I could remember was on the Triads website. If you didn’t know, Toy me is an Über cool brand from Italy and has seen their master-pieces grace the necks of the Dim Mak’s very own Steve Aoki, Uffie, Soul Wax & Bloc Party.
Apart from their close links to music, Toy me have taken everyday objects and converted them into so really unique pieces of mens jewellery. For example: a pair of scissors bent into a bracelet and a zipper on the end of a neck chain.
Mens jewellery is going to be very big this summer and this is mostly due to “The Rise of Plunging Neckline Tees”. A nice neck-piece will add an extra little something to the deep v-neck or a scoop neck tee. Toy me will definitely answer all your prayers and will be able to offer you something different from Joe bloggs’ oil slicked side parting and his worn out Lyle & Scott polo.
Anyway, lets get to the bottom line, Moses says “Go to Topman Oxford circus because Toy me have perched themselves very nicely on the first floor in the Accessories section!”. As I have said, You’ll find some really nice pieces there and they don’t cost you the earth too!
Go check out Toy me to fall further in love and check out some pics below!
Soulwax
Toy Me X Swear Shoes
Steve Aoki
Bloc Party
