Neoboy and the Poptones

Jun Takashi posted images from his upcoming collections for Undercover "NeoBoy" and "Poptones" for Spring Summer 09. As usual I'm not only interested I'm impressed and there are a number of remarkable pieces included in these dual collections. Poptones harkens back to the early days of the rock and roll generation. An assembly of various plaids are present. Sharply tailored jackets are paired with slouchy voluminous trousers. Metallic threading and materials evokes images of sparkling Cadillac chrome.






Neoboy devolops a more dramatic urban approach but retains some pop symbolism.

The pairing of leggings, tall shafted boots with cutoff shorts is a winner for me. I'm a sucker for well employed digital printing.

More reassembled motorcycle jackets with knit sleeves from Jun. This time with much more restraint.

First Look: Sebastic Autumn and Winter 2009/2010

Say the words "men's" and "lingerie" in the same breath and one is likely to conjure up an image of cross-dressing. Until recently that would be the only conjuration with any basis in concrete reality. Sebastiaan Kramer and Sjaak Hullekes, who studied at the Academy of Arts and Design in Arnheim, Netherlands(the school has also produced Lucas Ossendrijver and Viktor&Rolf) joined creative forces to bridge the gap between luxury and men's underwear with Sebastic.



While not the first to treat the subject in satins and silks, with this collection entitled "Adonis" they may be the first to do so from a high fashion point of view. They are pioneers in creating current shapes, and editing out annoying embellishments like logo printed waistbands. The rich, grown up color story is welcome too.

Sebastic makes their debut at WHITE homme in Milan and RENDEZ VOUS homme in Paris later this month.

Hood-By-Air Spring and Summer 09

I am a complete rookie to Hood-By-Air, but after spending some time today looking over the past and present collections I'm getting a good feel for their vision. The Hood-By-Air wearer is looking for a taste of something urban but refuses look backwards. Instead contemporary athletic looks are adapted into something unexpectedly luxe. The looks are edgy. Futurist.

Architechtural elements like pleating and surprise zippers make the shorts and trousers the real standout area. There's also a button up which makes a direct homage to Viktor & Rolf. Fusing progressive conceptual design, with urban streetswear is paying off. Part Gaultier, part Rick Owens. It all looks great.



All images courtesy of Hood-By-Air. (Via Hypebeast).

Flower Power Revisited

I hate Hippies. Its true and maybe its a majority opinion, but I don't care. The Hippy transmitted through the decades to give us the annoying stoner white guy with dread locks. That's their legacy.

That said I love the fucked up pop art grunge version by Love Thy Neighbor (thanks to Fashionisto for the heads up). SS09 shows a good range of washed out denim, plaids, and trousers in a variety of fits. Its a very relaxed look. Unfortunately Love Thy Neighbor's stockists are on the other side of the planet. Come to New York guys.

On a different floral note, I've been developing a fixation on floral pins. Kate Cusack (no relation to Joan and John) has stolen my heart, and my lapels, with these zippers turned flower pins.

Designer DNA

I first got wind of Yang Li in an interview on Dazed Digital and now Fashion 156 has serveral images to mull over. Li warps the structure of basics beyond their essence with a short sleeved jacket with micro lapels, and a shirt with wide front pouches that function as another layer.

Like in evolution all it takes is a couple of flipped chromosomes to lead to disorder or the next step in species future. Tinkering with proportion and composition, Li is clearly looking forward but he is not beyond making wearable clothes. The operation revolves around change and erasure. What is a jacket? Does that definition include the term long sleeve? Change in meaning over garment components leads to the erasure of preconceptions. The intended endgame: "creation of forms with no limits". The images reveal a promising effort from someone so young.

Follow Li here @ www.clothlabel.com.au/yang

The Next Big Trend: Watermelon Sneakers

I have a serious problem with watermelons. When I was ten years old I ate my last slice of watermelon. The sun was blazing that day. Some friends were over, and we were all eating watermelons like they were the last ones on earth. Two of my best friends, my little sister, and me had our fill of the melon. Afterwards, and too soon, we headed over to the pool. My sister jumped in last, and she was only in the pool for a few seconds. She immediately hopped out and started vomiting. Naturally I did what any ten year old brother would do while his sister was doubled over and ill; I exploded in laughter along with the rest of my friends.

Then looking at all of the melon colored puke. I joined her, and then my friends did as well. We were all gagging. We were all sick the rest of the day learning the hard way not to mix swimming and full stomachs. What had started out as good clean fun soon devolved into a grotesque nightmare borne from the sinister loins of melon patch hell. I recovered, but my taste for watermelon did not.

That said, maybe its just the black in me but I can't help getting a smile out of these Watermelon shoes made by Vans. They are releasing an entire line of watermelon sneakers in all styles. I kind of need them, at least for an inappropriate and racially insensitive halloween costume that I've been meaning to do for years.



(via HighSnobriety)

Composite Sex: Highlights from Prada Linea Rossa lookbook S/S 09

Even from a collection which includes numerous feminized pieces such as scoop neck shirts that cropped just at the waistline and cropped jackets which suspended from from the model's shoulders, Prada's Linea Rossa line contains a number of covetable luxury sportswear items. The bronze woven hooded jacket is both modern and elegant, visually simply wonderful to look at. In this earth toned world shirts are fastened with zippers. While Miuccia Prada seems incapable of boring, her collections of late rely on applying delicate vulnerable shapes attributed to womenswear to the opposite sex. The range of bronze, beiges, and militant greens supply some contrast however many of the pieces propel the androgynous male into further, perhaps extreme, depths. The materials are light, often synthetic, much like the deployed concepts.

Black Arts: Antonin Tron SS 09

Designers like young Antonin Tron (and every one who lays their hand on a new material or method of construction) has a great design godmother in Elsa Schiaparelli. Once Chanel called her an "artist who makes clothes". Her humor, surrealist inspired shapes, colorful, and opulent garments are not just artistic clothes but prime examples of how fun fashion has been and can be. Elsa invented hot pink.

I came across this interview of Tron dicussing his current collection "La Jetee" with Dazed Digital. He discusses his inspirations: the Danse Macabre. The translation provides even more medieval looks for a moody spring. The looks towards this period, the high renaissance with its new worlds and unstable empires provide a fruitful comparison I'd like to delve into sometime soon here on the blog.




The embellishments of gold, and amber elevate the pieces and also add a sense of power and light to an otherwise gothic portrait of a man, while volume is built up with an elegant modern hand. I believe the drama would make Schiaparelli proud.