anthonymcgrath405 / 09/01/2014

London Collections:Men Show Review Autumn/Winter 2014 Pt I

London has well and truly established itself as a destination on the menswear calendar as a Fashion & Style capital. So as that international Fashion circus of journalists, retail buyers, celebs and, well yours truly, all conjugate in major cities in the name of observing the trends and future wares of some of the biggest & most talented fashion brands in the world, Clothes-Make-the-Man brings you all the best reviews, titbits & opinions over the coming weeks. Enough of this, first up on the London Schedule is the exhibition as I, rather out of character, arrived early. So I took myself off to have a look around, which in the past have proven to be a greater source of inspiration than many of the show, this season was no exception. With the likes of a Common People, Lyle & Scott and Universal works all offering GREAT Collections for Autumn including collaborations with Jonathan Saunders and the aforementioned Universal Works for Lyle & Scott, all managing, very well, I hasten to add, to produce very creative collection all the while managing to be highly commercial.

An example if Jonathan Saunders for Lyle & Scott

Onto the shows for me, my lad and first up is TOPMAN. You never quite know what to expect from TOPMAN Design and this season was no exception, the show can be summed up in three words Mature, Desirable but above all Wearable. With a very muted colour palette of Black, Navy, pale blue and flashes of Russian Red. If those guys over at TOPMAN HQ are planning on targeting an older the customer, they won’t have a problem enticing him. Plus with the dulcet tones of John Copper Clarke and the downpour of rain in the finale, it brought me right back home to my Northern roots.

TOPMAN Design

Next on my hit list is Gieves & Hawkes and the subject of yesterday’s textual Conversation, Mr Jason Basmajian, who just so happens to be the house’s new Creative Director, making waves in all the right places. Jason, informed us his profile that he was going to offer us an, “Elegant,textural, tailored, rich, Savile Row revisited, British twist”. Which quite simply summed up the collection.

Gieves & Hawkes

Now, talk about ends of the spectrum and what is becoming a real USP for LC:M is how it manages to go from the tradition and finesse of Savile Row to young designers offering the height of creative inspiration. One in question being the wonderful Richard Nicoll, who from season to season just seems to be getting stronger and stronger when it comes to his Menswear. Only four seasons in and Nicoll’s presented to us, what can only be described as a riot of Colour. If I had to fit it into a tweet, I’d say, A modern interpretation of the urban man’s wardrobe.

Richard Nicolls

Last, but by no means least of today’s round up, is Christopher Raeburn, who was one of a number of Designers who picked up on the Polar Explorer vibe in their collection, it was a seriously cool show which Mr Raeburn laid on. You were left thinking, did he know something about the weather for next season that we didn’t which was rather apt as we read about our freezing American cousins who were experiencing record low temperatures.

Christopher Raeburn

anthonymcgrath405 / 16/12/2013

Bloggers Create – The Tateossian project

Bloggers Create/Anthony McGrath from Tateossian London on Vimeo.

To our loyal readers who also follow the mundane trappings and rambling of myself via our numerous social media channels, you will have seen some interesting mussing over the last few months about BloggersCreate and some good natured banter between myself and a couple of other bloggers.

Basically the story starts a couple of months back when the jewellery brand Tateossian commissioned five of the UK’s leading bloggers, Dan Hasby-Oliver, Last Style of Defense; Craig Landale, Menswear Style, Luke Todd, FashionBeans,Callum Watt, Maketh-The-Man and yours truly to design a limited edition bracelet which would then be unveiled as part of London Collections:MEN in January. Until recently I’ve been under strict instructions to keep the entire project top secret and even now I can’t discuss my creation until the official unveiling on 6th January.

The Design Process

Hmmmm very interesting, says Anthony as he’s briefed on the Project.

I think we’ll need more. Exclaimed Anthony.

Adrienne, Head of Press for Tateossian is Lost for words, for once, as Anthony declares he wants more Gold !

To be Continued ….

anthonymcgrath405 / 06/12/2013

All I want for Christmas – The Best of the best Christmas Jumpers

Next Friday, yes thats right, Friday 13th, its Christmas Jumper day where by you paying £1 for the “privilege” you can wear a Christmas jumper of your very own choice. Now to assist you in making the right selection and ensuring your participation in partaking in this worthwhile cause, we’ve done the detective work so you don’t have to. Just so you know Christmas Jumpers are big business these days with many retailers recording sales in record numbers with, many styles ALREADY sold out ! Take a little look at the below gallery which should have something for everyone’s taste, maybe.

I’ve gone with this to kick us off, from the highly questionable, but a lot of fun, funkychristmasjumpers.co.uk. Yes you can wear matching Christmas jumpers, if you so wish. This unbelievably successful website, stocks both his and hers, so come the big day you can be totally co-ordinating !!!!

We’ve turned the dial round a bit and toned it down with this knit from Superdry available from House of Fraser. A Fairisle jumper isn’t just for Christmas and you won’t feel out of place wearing it at any point during the year.

Whether your spending the Yuletide in Aspen or Ardwick, this Ralph Lauren Seasonal knit will have you looking your best, whether your on the slopes or slopping off for a little cat nap to escape the eating, drinking and making merry.

This fine piece of festive knitwear must surely win the prize of most Christmassay of Christmas Jumpers ! And the winning brand is………. (drum roll please). None other then blinking New Look, for the love of old St Nick.

Another tasteful lil number and from another American stylish Powerhouse, this time Tommy Hilfiger but exclusively for a very British Retailer in John Lewis.

Keeping in the vein of tasteful is this example from Banana Republic, which strikes the perfect balance of Festive without being OTT and ensures this knit won’t be languishing in the back of your wardrobe for another 364 more days.

Right so lets turn that dial up to 10 on the Christmas Richter Scale. You’ll get the point with this Holly Jumper from River Island so make sure your not being prickly come the season to be jolly.

Some might say I’m finishing on a bit of a Turkey, but hell not me ! This Turkey of a jumper, in the best possible way, by Joules, needs no trimmings.

anthonymcgrath405 / 29/11/2013

Get your Jeans on – The Return of Brutus Denim

Whatever good came out of the 1970’s ? Well, for starters an amazing era in music, with Disco, Soft Rock, Motown and Funk all emerging round about this time. Let’s not forget incredibly iconic film such as Star Wars, The Godfather, Rocky, Jaws, Superman and The Exorcist. Plus, The Sweeney, Raising Damp, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Love Boat and if we weren’t watching TV we were playing such groundbreaking computer games on our Atari consoles as Space Invaders, Asteroids, Snake, Pong or Breakout. Which brightened our days during the Cold War, The Oil Crisis and the Power cuts. But nothing compared to the fashion, oh yes who can forget the fashion of the 70’s ? We had such enduring style icons as Burt Reynolds, Tom Jones and John Travolta and two things dominated Fashion Hair and lots of it and Denim, in all shapes, cuts, and washes.

One brand during this era were renowned for their daring denim and impossible styles, BRUTUS ! The Brutus legacy first started in 1971 with a 4 patch pocket flared brushed jean. With pioneering new techniques in denim production, Brutus were the first UK brand to buy Japanese denim and produce selvage; this created huge demand and worldwide publicity. At their height, Brutus were selling 5 million pairs of jeans a year outselling both Levi’s and Wrangler. Their campaigns were photographed by David Bailey and they even had a number 1 hit with their TV advert song; ‘Get your jeans on’.

During the mid 70’s, the brand reached cult status with their award winning Ad campaigns, produced by the infamous ‘Saatchi and Saatchi’. The brand is currently featured in the prestigious V&A museum for its iconic relevance to British culture.

So after the successful revival of their iconic ‘Trimfit’ shirts, this for Winter13, Brutus follows by re-launching the very thing that rose the brand to fame 40 years ago; DENIM. Staying true to their roots, Brutus deliver an impressive new denim collection alongside 20 new tartan checked shirts, inspired by their 1970’s archive pieces.

anthonymcgrath405 / 27/11/2013

A Travelling Troubadour – Troubadour luggage

With the Holidays fast approaching and of course with that comes the though of having to travel, whether that be plane, train or automobile, but whatever I truly hope its further afield to escape the promised worst Winter since 1947, yeah thanks The daily Express ! So comes the notion of having to pack up your belongings and preparing to travel as though it were a expedition to the Himalayas rather then a boring across up a motorway.

If this is you and lets face it the chances are the answer is yes, then have a little look at Troubadour. A London-based modern menswear brand that designs and creates handcrafted leather goods, featuring seven understated pieces – from a wallet to a weekend bag – composed of 100% naturally tanned leather made in the hills of Tuscany by small multi-generational family businesses. Troubadour aims to create timeless products that would be as at home in 1880s Buenos Aires and 1920s Manhattan as they are in 21^st century London.

Founders Samuel Bail and Abel Samet spent years in pursuit of a well-designed, high-quality overnight bag that could transition seamlessly across their everyday travels, be it a quick business trip or a casual weekend away. So, after much careful deliberation, they decided to embark on a journey to create their ideal bag.

The goal was to produce a classic, durable bag that married function and style – one you’d happily carry with you for years and years, one that would age beautifully and hold within it the many stories of your life adventures. It was from this idea, along with the many talented artisans whose handiwork is responsible for these products, that Troubadour was born.

The Troubadour name pays homage to the stories surrounding the artisans who create the products, as well as the stories these products will witness in life’s travels, taking its name from traveling minstrels – storytellers – of days gone by.

The Design Process

To be Continued ….

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