CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

Back in the winter of 1986, in the picturesque Swedish ski resort of Åre, three talented skiers got together to discuss a few things that they had been thinking about, based on their own experiences. Putting the world to right were old friends Stefan Engström was a world-class mogul skier with several World Cup wins to his credit. Peter Blom was editor-in-chief of the country’s biggest ski magazine. Christer Mårtensson was an art director and designer. Before long, they were joined by a fourth person, former alpine skier and ski salesman Jonas Ottosson. First and foremost they want to know why no one making clothes that they wanted to wear? Clothes that combined excellent functionality with simple, cool design; not flashy, but still not boring ?

It turned out that the answer to their quandary was Peak Performance. The team’s ambitions didn’t initially extend much beyond making some clothes for themselves and their friends, in sufficient quantities to make a living from it. But the outside world wanted more. In the late 1980s, people were tired of extravagance and superficiality. Everybody missed the real thing that comes with genuine quality. A plaid flannel shirt was suddenly the answer, rather than neon and glitter. Grunge replaced synthesizers in the music industry and Peak Performance replaced a number of flashy brands on the ski slopes.

This season the gentlemen have turned their attentions away from the ski slopes, well it is coming to the end of the season and set their sartorial sights on golf attire. More to the point create a range which sees you effortlessly transitioning from the golf course to the city, the Peak Performance Men’s Golf collection fuses high tech fabrication with non-typical golf wear fabrics like Neoprene, mesh and jersey to create a clean and contemporary silhouette. The collection redefines the essential kit for the young, modern golfer. The range is designed for great movement. Offering redefined classics, which additional benefits including pieces which are water repellant, breathable with a soft touch and stretch enabling a full range of movement on the golf course.

Our favourite piece is the Hawick Jacket. Giving you a weather proof shell protection. A sophisticated bomber that consists of everything a progressive golfer is looking for. This sleek, lightweight, all black, three layer jacket serves you Hipe ACE waterproof technology and high breathability for every weather eventuality.

”We are aiming for the dedicated and fashion-minded golfer who demands the best when it comes to performance and style. We have merged classic designs, today’s innovation with influences from the city and created a sophisticated yet edgy collection. It’s perfect for high performance players that want to stand out in a unique way” says
Johanna Holmer, Designer, Performance Golf.

Jigsaw Menswear, in a relatively short space of time, has re-established itself as being a go to emporium for easy, no fuss, simple yet excellently stylish men’s apparel. Season after season it maintains a level of style in ignoring the hassle and fickle nature of fashion. This season, once again like a reliable sartorial milkman, they deliver, with a 21 piece Collection made from greige cotton canvas and inspired by the uniforms those bastions of blue collar elegance a welder, carpenter and engineer this is Raw State: a new capsule collection of workwear pieces, which in all honesty, your never gonna do a spot of DIY in, well you might but I wouldn’t recccomend it.

Attention to detail, as you would expect is exceptional, seams are twin needle and triple stitched, silhouettes are reinforced with raw edge patches and trims made from tumbled black alloy. Constructed in heavy duty raw cottons, each garment is laundered, doubled dyed, finished then back for a final launder.

Discover a process that reflects the patina found in authentic workwear, delivered in a contemporary collection. All in all restores your faith in good quality, honest to goodness a British Menswear, that won’t break the bank.

As part of several projects to celebrate their 15th anniversary, the Danish uber stylish casual wear brand Wood Wood, has worked with long time partner Neighborhood on a capsule collection released exclusively at their stores on Thursday.

The brand was founded in 2002 by a trio of designers, Karl Oskar Olsen, Lotte Bank Nielsen and Brian Jensen(see above), who wanted to collaborate with one another on a small range of classic pieces with a quirky twist. The type of clothing that they would like to wear themselves and carve out a unique niche with their playful graphics, ahhh that old chestnut. Since then it had grown and grown into a complete collection that successfully manages to mix elements of street wear but without losing any of its high end aspiration. Their individual approach to style has gained the Wood Wood trio, friends and fans in high places with collaborations in recent years with the likes of Nike, Barbour, Eastpak and Adidas, not bad, hey.

So for their latest instalment they have collaborated with the Japanese streetwear brand and partner Neighborhood. Neighborhood and Wood Wood has created a 5-piece capsule collection featuring striking graphics that speaks on the long lasting Japanese – Danish relationship. All styles are original Wood Wood items that have been given a characteristic NBHD make-over in the strong black and white capsule collection, consisting of a T-shirt, sweatshirt, coach jacket, baseball caps and canvas sneakers.