anthonymcgrath405 / 25/07/2014

One of Spain’s best kept secrets – Massimo Dutti Autumn Preview

Massimo Dutti mightn’t be a name you are too familiar with, you really do need to change that situation, but you will be familiar with one or two of its stable mates from the retailing giant parent company the Inditex Group, a bit like A Spanish Arcadia Group, who also own Zara, Pull & Bear and Bershka.

The brand was established in 1985 in Spain, and was originally limited to menswear. In 1995, it launched its first womenswear collection, with a variety of styles from casual to sophisticated and timeless. Massimo Dutti now has 11 stores in the United Kingdom and it is present in 65 markets including Europe, America and Asia with over 680 stores.

The menswear collection speaks to the contemporary, urban man. This brand shares a concept by all of the collections and based on the quality of materials and the combination of textures and styles. Which is reflected in all it produces, from starting out as a shirt maker and moving on to create men’s clothing lines from the most tailored to the most casual in all pieces of the collections. Recently the brand has refreshed its tailoring concept which aims for a more exclusive and personal service, with individual personalization of buttons, linings and lapels are also a part of the personal tailoring service giving the garment an exclusive touch.

The brand does cater to a multi variant in stylish taste running the whole gambit from casual to tailoring, even to last year launching an equestrian range, plus this is all housed in a premium, aspirational environment. Their stores are more like the homes of the rich and famous, you’ll find exclusive coffee table arty books next to designer furniture, giving the feel of more like a Manhattan Loft apartment rather then a store.

MASSIMO DUTTI DUTTI AUTUMN 2014

anthonymcgrath405 / 23/07/2014

Flower Power – The men’s Floral trend

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There is a misconception that Flowers are just for the fairer sex, in that, us men should shy away from anything of a floral print nature. Oh contraire by dear masculine friends, as for Summer of this year, all things flowery are everywhere. Our dear clothing retailers from high end designer to high Street wonders are embracing their inner flower power and in all honesty it must be shifting as retailers can’t get the floral trend pieces on the shelves quick enough for us. So as alway we do the hard work so you don’t have to so here are some of the hottest items from this Summer’s brightest trend.

Long sleeved shirt by Banana Republic

Men’s jogging bottoms by Franklin & Marshall

Floral swim shorts by Polo Ralph Lauren by Harvey Nichols

Liberty print floral baseball cap by New Era at Selfridges

Floral tie by Liberty

Floral patterned socks by Paul Smith at Harrods.com

Floral patterned sweatshirt by Acne

Floral plimsoles by YMC at Steranko.co.uk

Floral print blazer by Gucci by MrPorter.com

Floral Rucksack by Bershka

Ditsy floral pattern polo shirt by Native Youth at House of Fraser

Fancy going matchy matchy this Summer then check out this lil floral combo by Farah

anthonymcgrath405 / 22/07/2014

Looking for something a little more exotic ? – the Puma ‘GV Special’ Exotic

In the 70s and 80s, PUMA tennis shoes were exactly what players needed for grand slam level play. They were launched at a time when the Formstripe was still fresh and new, a rising crowd-pleaser on courts around the world. PUMA unleashed a full court fury with its tennis shoes: all white leather, occasional coloured Formstripe, and soles that conformed to the foot once broken in. They were made in Europe, high quality and tough to replicate. And it quickly put PUMA at the top of its game and attracted some of the world’s best players. Among these players was Argentina’s Guillermo Vilas.

In the 1970s, Guillermo Vilas smashed through winning streaks. He quickly secured his ranking as PUMA’s hero with skill, style and charisma. On the court he was a solid left-handed base-liner, dominating any surface and serve sent his way. Off the court he was the ultimate playboy, winning over ladies faster than you can say ‘tennis.’ He wore PUMA trainers during his best years. When paired with that long hair and those tube socks, he became bigger than the game itself and remains a bonafide legend. In 1981, he paired with PUMA to create a shoe that matched his own winning style: The GV Special.

This iconic ‘Archive Tennis’ style part of the ‘A Touch Of Class’ concept to celebrate PUMA’s rich history in the sport, gets an overhaul this AW14 with premium Ostrich leather, putting some fierceness back into the famed tennis sneaker whilst also serving a nod to 80s terrace culture.

anthonymcgrath405 / 21/07/2014

The Cornerstone of your Grooming Routine – Cornerstone grooming range

You know that feeling, why didn’t I think of that ? Well with Cornerstone this is a perfect case in hand. The concept of it is simple yet brilliant. Basically, entrepreneur Oliver Bridge launched Cornerstone in June this year, having raised £175,000 from a group of angel investors and teamed up with leading packaging designers, dermatologists and web developers to bring the idea to life. Cornerstone was born out of Oliver’s personal frustrations with the discomfort and expensive nature of wet shaving – he felt that combining quality products with modern technology would be a powerful way to disrupt the men’s shaving market.

The range offers a flexible, regular delivery of its razors and shaving products right to your home. It’s a simple, more convenient way for men to shave. The journey begins at cornerstone.co.uk where customers are asked two questions:

(i) How often do you shave?

(ii) Which products from the Cornerstone range would you like in your box?

Cornerstone uses these answers to suggest a regular delivery schedule tailored to the customer’s personal shaving routine. Before each scheduled delivery, the customer receives an email to alert them of their upcoming delivery, giving them the chance to change their product selection or the delivery schedule of their Cornerstone box, as well as allowing them to cancel or pause their plan at any time if they’re not ready for their next set of products. This way, customers avoid build-ups of the products that they use less often, and are never committed – they can cancel or change their plan whenever they need to – giving control and flexibility.

The range consists of Pre-Shave Face Scrub – blended with volcanic sand and cedarwood to help release ingrowing hairs, reduce shaving spots, unblock pores and lift dead skin cells. Shave Gel – blended with ginger and eucalyptus, protecting and rehydrating skin to help reduce shaving irritation. Razor Blades + Aluminium Razor Handle – sharp, durable razors mounted on a lightweight alloy aluminium razor handle. Each razor has five blades, an aloe vera moisturising strip and a flexbile head for precision and control. Post-Shave Balm – blended with mint and honey to cool, refresh and moisturise skin after shaving. The Cornerstone range was developed in partnership with expert dermatologists and manufactured in the UK. The razor handle was designed in London and produced in the UK, and the razor blades are manufactured in Germany.

One of the great attentions to detail I love about this range is if you refer a friend to Cornerstone they’ll send you a razor handle personalised with your initials as a thank you !!!

Talking of which Cornerstone have are offering an engraved shave set to one of our amazing readers and each entrant a runner-up prize of a £10 Cornerstone gift coupon (once the winner has been announced!). Is this something you’d be up for? I bloody well think so !!!! All you have to do is sign up to our Instagram account @ClothesMakeMan between now and midnight (GMT) on Sunday 27th July. Its that simple !

anthonymcgrath405 / 16/07/2014

Thomas Harvey, Aquascutum – Textual Conversation

Thomas Harvey, Aquascutum

Aquascutum is a brand with an enviable heritage and renown for its understated elegance. A cornerstone of the British fashion industry for over 160 years. Playing an intrinsic role in the history of waterproof garments, the Aquascutum brand has been lauded for fine craftsmanship, designer fabrics, and attention to detail in their pursuit of being the pinnacle of style.

The brand’s evolution began in 1853, John Emary, owner of a tailor shop in Regent Street, invented a revolutionary waterproof cloth. The cloth proved to be such a success that the company was aptly renamed Aquascutum – ‘aqua’ meaning water and ‘scutum’, which translates as ‘shield’ in Latin. Talking of Shields, Aquascutum supplied trench coats (hence the name) to our boys during both World Wars.

Now it wasn’t long before the chic and sophisticated nature of this protective piece of clothing caught the eye of many a Hollywood star and starlet, Greta Garbo and Sophia Loren parading their Aquascutum raincoats to great effect.

So with a history that encompasses clothing the likes of the Queen Mother, Winston Churchill and Humphrey Bogart, the stalwart legacy of Aquascutum continues to influence its fashion collections today

Enough about the History of the brand, we wanna know what’s going on now in the 21^st Century. Well, for Autumn we see an iconic Ad campaign(see images below) Shot by renowned fashion photographer Alasdair McLellan and featuring award winning British actor Damian Lewis, yes, aka Nick Brody !!!and enigmatic British supermodel Eliza Cummings. McLellan photographs the couple in elegant black and white portraits under the atmospheric iron arches of Macclesfield bridge on London’s Regent’s Canal. The romantic and cinematic environment captures the two in intimate stolen moments.

The gentleman in charge of helming the contemporary and creative output of this historic house has a resume that covers diverse brands including Marc Jacobs, Duckie Brown, Reiss plus of course Aquacutum, the house is in safe and protective hands with Thomas Harvey. So lets learn a little more about this man.

The Flagship Menswear Store on London’s, Jermyn Street

If you could only wear the clothes of one brand for the rest of your life who would it be ?

If I was to be restricted to buying from just one place, I would go bespoke and use Richie Charlton, who cuts the suits I currently wear when I’m not wearing Aquascutum. The key to building a good wardrobe is buying staple pieces from different brands, as depending on which category you’re shopping for, your go-to brand should change.

If you only had one day to live what would be your biggest regret ?

I try not to live my life with regrets, if there’s something I want to do then I generally try to find a way to make it happen.

What inspires you ?

People, travelling – we try to design clothes at Aquascutum for real people so we always ask ourselves when designing whether your average gentleman on the street would feel comfortable in what we offer.

What would be the one thing you would rescue if your house was on fire ?

My Grandfather’s war medals and uniform

Who is your style icon ?

Douglas Hayward – he’s the person I looked up to in the early stages of my career and helped dress many inspirational people over the years

What style advice do you live by ?

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Be comfortable in your own appearance, where you can, buy quality staples pieces over fast fashion items that won’t last.

If you could collaborate with one brand who would it be?

We collaborated with Anthony Gormley and Esquire to create an electroplated suit in 2009 when I was at the brand previously. It would be interesting to do more projects like this, where the boundaries of art and fashion collide. I also really admire Andreas Gursky’s work – I like his photography and it would be interesting to see what influence or twist he could give on Aquascutum

If you could give your teenage self advice, what would it be ?

Travel more, see the world when young and do as much as you can to gain as much vaired experience as possible.

What piece of clothing should everyman have in his wardrobe ?

A well cut navy suit dressed up or down, it works for all occasions.

Tell us what your favourite hotel in the world is ?

Blackberry Farm in Tennessee – I spent last New Year’s here. It’s the perfect place to forget about the world – from time to time I like to get out of London, and immerse myself in country life.

What piece of clothing would you relegate to Room 101 ?

Club check baseball caps!