Back in 1984, Peter Askulv created the outdoor company that HE needed. A brand that represents the great outdoors, Nordic ruggedness and a strong regard for the environment. Specialising in backpacks and coats for outdoorsmen, climbers and ruffians alike; Klättermusen is as Swedish as Swedish gets, far more than Volvo, IKEA or even ABBA.

Based in Jämtland, Northern Sweden; they create outerwear and bags that are perfect for the hard Swedish weather and allow you to just go and get out into the wilderness. The company originated from around a campfire, where Peter’s friend convinced him to turn his hobby of making backpacks with the spare time he was left with on paternity leave into a business.

As a climber and hiker himself, Askulv created the gear that him and his friends needed for their wild journeys as it wasn’t available on the market then, and is still in short supply today. With the name translating to ‘Climbing mouse’; this outdoor company is doing things right. Not just with the name either – they’re leading the pack when it comes to sustainable production. Back when Klättermusen was just a one-man band; being sustainable was the only way. Re-using materials to create more products and Peter’s background in Biology set the company on a course to become one of the pioneers and have worked with only 100% cotton since 2006. They phased out PFOA (Teflon) in 2008 and now use old left over fishing nets to create their products. Does this brand get any cooler?

Dead Profit is a contemporary British urban menswear brand founded out of a pursuit to create relevant and high quality menswear with a conscience and a heart. The concept and vision, comes  from a pair of life-long friends aiming to combine their skills and create a modern menswear label offering streetwear staples with a considered and graphic approach.

The way founder Anton Amoo sums it up: “Dead Profit symbolises the struggle after receiving your salary at the end of the month, being stuck in this vicious cycle: in a constant battle to make a living, provide for one another and ultimately define yourself in this existence. We are all different in our own ways but Dead Profit is so much more than a clothing company, it’s a way of thinking, a method of living, it’s a lifestyle. Along with these connotations, ‘Dead Profit’ is our life ethic, commitment and drive.” 

Each print and design has a dedicated story and rationale to reinforce the brand’s unique ethos. The derelict building print, conveying a sense of abandonment, rejection and neglect providing an insight into drive and roots of the brands inception. The knuckle-duster print is their way of showing the fight to survive, almost as if you’re fighting to be the last man standing.

Finally their unique face design, the ‘Dead Profit’ face, is built through the roots of the duo, conceived in a kitchen two years ago, the face shows the passion, and determination with the constant reminder as to what they believe in and where they come from. The quality of all Dead Profit products is paramount, offering high quality construction throughout the brand development. The manufacture and product development comes from life-long friend and support Asif Dassu, who has over 30 years of experience in the industry and has created for leading brands. The brand’s broad and current market research led them to manufacture high quality. Using innovative fabric finishes and applications with cutting edge, state of the art technology, they are able to develop the brand in meticulous detail.

The Goose isn’t probably the first, or even the second, animal to spring to mind when you think of creatures known for their style, none the less, El Ganso, Spanish for the Goose, certainly isn’t letting that get in its way when creating stylish and ever so dapper attire for that tricky to achieve smart casual mode of dressing.

Established in Spain in 2004 the concept behind it was simple: to produce the clothes we’d spent years looking for at reasonable price. Since then the brand has seen its expansion into places from Mexico, Portugal, Italy and of course the UK.

For their Autumn 2015 collection it has been conceived, designed and made in Europe combining a spectrum of different elements, functionality, character and elegance reside in a range balanced between formal and casualwear. El Ganso’s new season tailoring offers a more deconstructed fit, a natural and relaxed look. The wide selection of jackets includes everything from plain to cater for the more reserved of taste to window check via herringbone, tartan and embossed textures, for those of a more adventurous nature.

A key element to the essential layering look for this season, their new knitwear range favours an autumnal colour palette of muted tones, allowing the tailoring to be the focus. Product is available in a variation of fabrics and rounding off their collection, creating the perfect wardrobe for preppy style.

Our Picks of the El Ganso for Autumn 2015 

With the world of e-commerce and on-line shopping becoming more overcrowded than Oxford Street on Christmas Eve, it’s increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd and get your message across to the poor, old, oversaturated consumer.

One website that has achieved this holy grail in its native France is Rad. Rad company was established in July 2012 in Paris by the quartet of David Smadja, Anthony Serero, Simon Amzalag and Julia Serero, as an international online product discovery platform that hosts the latest trends in urban fashion.

Defining their point of difference to the congested, populous of other websites. They work with different artists from around the globe who create exclusive designs that they host and sell on their website. Their focus is on hipster clothes and accessories and likens itself to the online equivalent of Urban Outfitters. With a great sense of humour, some might say a little unusual for a French website, but certain not Clothes-Make-the-Man, Rad definitely have their tongue firmly placed in their cheek when it comes to the themes for their product selection. Hipster Churchill, Baron Von C3P0 and out of character glimpses of the Hulk, Wonder Woman and Batman & Robin, this is website, not only worth checking out but for bearing in mind for more thoughtful and slightly off the wall gift ideas for the season to be jolly.

Having recently expanded into the UK and Germany and the aim is to hit the U.S. within two years, Rad have some really rather Rad-ical plans ahead for themselves.

Long gone is the image of Tweed as being restricted to the apparel of old men, Farmers, American Tourists searching out their ancestry in the Emerald Isle and Geography teachers. In recent years we’ve seen Harris Tweed team up with everyone from TOPMAN to Nike and The North Face. Donegal Tweed turned certain financial ruin complete round to working with Fashion heavyweights the like of Jimmy Choo and Burberry. However, you may have not heard ofand we’d forgive for not knowing of the lesser known Dashing Tweeds.

Founded by Guy Hills, who’s love of tailoring pushed him to create men’s suiting/cloth with a twist. The brand has recently launched a flag ship store on London’s, Sackville Street which opened in the last year; they have also been nominated for UKFT awards –for ‘ Textile Brand of the Year 2015’. Dashing Tweeds have collaborated in the past with converse, Hudson, Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys club and have created cloth especially for Louise Gray, Hardy Amies, Holly Fulton and Henry Holland.

Collaboration, not surprisingly, is a key ethos to the Dashing Tweeds brand and it seemed like a natural progression to work with British brand Fred Perry, synonymous with the iconic sportsman and his cotton pique tennis innovative tennis shirts. Fred Perry has its heart in British sportswear and streetwear and Dashing Tweeds is a company with the aim to make traditional British country sportswear urban and modern using fabric development and technological yarns. Both companies share a sense of sporting tradition, yet are sold in the arena of forward looking fashion. Fred Perry are interested to continue their story of fabric development with the creative designs of Dashing Tweeds who are keen to bring their textile designs to a wider audience. Dashing Tweeds have developed a unique reflective tweed cloth for Fred Perry designed in their East London studio and woven on the Scottish borders.

The collaboration consists of a 4 piece capsule collection of men’s travel bags and caps. Dashing Tweeds have also designed a Harrington Jacket adding to this unique range using the finest British reflective tweed specifically designed and woven for this one off exclusive collaboration.