House of 950's Maiden Voyage

House of 950 is a new label started by my friend Eric Holbreich, a designer I used to work with, and his partner Alice Spies. I would describe their clothes as experimental, clean and minimal, awkwardly charming, and ultimately very wearable. I had a little chit-chat with co-founder Eric about starting his new line, his inspirations, plans for the future, and wishes of dressing the almighty Tilda Swinton.

House of 950's debut collection lookbook

Tell us about your line and why you decided to start it.

House of 950 is a collaborative workshop that focuses on garments that are often unisex and multifunctional. We think about the use of garment. How can people interact with it, how comfortable is it? We wanted to bring back the innovative craft where the make and finishings are just as important as the original idea. We manufacture everything in New York City so we can monitor the process and make sure everything is the highest quality possible.

Where are you two from and how do your roots influence the way you make clothes?

I’m from Indianapolis and Alice Los Angeles. Alice thinks about simplicity and comfort all the time she thinks that is what L.A. is all about. Indiana is a really clean, flat place with lots of trees and open spaces. I don’t feel comfortable in very fitted clothes, but I like everything to have a clean look.

Who/what else influences your design?

When we start designing a garment, we will have a general idea of what it should be. We don’t really draw, or if we do it is usually of a pattern piece. When we make the garment, that’s when we play with it, what could it be, could it be something else. We then think about what is missing in clothing that we think should be there, like a detail on the cuff, or a hidden pocket in the seam. We want the clothes to be convenient and recognizable but at the same time different and simple.

Tell me about the odd, graphic shapes that your clothes are made out of.

The shapes that our clothes make are usually related to the function of the garment, or the elimination of a conventional seam and the replacement with another type of seam. Most of the garments have no fixed closures. To close the garment a person has to first choose a way to wear it. The clothing allows the user to express their own idea of how they want it to look like. The Amish shirt for example has four different silhouettes. The user has the option to choose which one is right for their mood.

House of 950's Amish shirt

And the prints?

This collection we collaborated with the artist Alphonse van Woerkon. We transformed his portrait of Kiki Smith into a textile, and then turned it into a shirt. We didn’t want it to be a recognizable face, but we wanted elements of Kiki to show through. You can see her eye and her nose, but the panels of the shirt cut it. It makes it more abstract and interesting.

the Kiki Smith shirt, one of my favorite pieces in the collection

You deal a lot with interactivity and customer participation (in your presentations, the lookbook). Why do you think this is essential to your brand?

Our brand is about the customer. We want them to feel involved in the process as well as the company itself. We are building the House as a collaboration between us as designers and the customers. We don’t like the idea of being singular, or alone. Interactivity, I think, would be the perfect one word description of who we are and what we want to be. We created this idea called the Minute Museum, where the traditional museum is reversed. The people who come to the exhibit, are the exhibit themselves. We use this to allow the people to interact with the clothes as well as showcase the clothing on real people.

the drawstring jacket, which I had dubbed "the noose jacket"

Tilda Swinton comes to you the day before a big premiere and begs that you dress her. What will you put her in?

First of all we would die. Then we would pull it together and put her in the Portrait Shirt and the Thai-Tie Pants hands down. Then we would probably die again. We know she would look amazing wearing those two pieces!

Plans for the future?

We are going to keep doing what we are doing! We are just starting and we have a long way to go. Every day is exciting and a new territory for us. The idea of creating our own path and it working, is amazing. (and frightening!)

photographs via House of 950

Boxers, not for Boys

I love the idea of buttoned-up underwear. Irony is nice, but looking debonair in and out of your outfit is much more of a feat.

Gässling's Falsterbo button-up boxers, named after a posh area just outside Malmö

Malmö-based Swedish underwear designer Gässling makes underwear for men who have grown tired of teen-boy briefs and want something new. I applaud their attention to detail; for example, the care instructions are printed inside to avoid that annoying tag, and the waistband is covered in fabric for ultimate comfort.

photographs via Gässling

Maybe Miami

So about that trip to the Galapagos... how's about Miami instead? Onia had shared with me a few new campaign shots of their reversible Marko short board short, shot in Miami, and they're building up a feeling of claustrophobia knowing I'll have to remain within the northeast continental United States for the holiday break.

the clean elegance of stark white swimwear, perhaps made delightfully gauche with an aggressively all-gold Rolex

The white Marko shorts turn inside-out to an equally chic fine gray and white stripe, shown here. On a mildly chilly vacation eve, I'd say they're nice enough to wear with an un-lined un-structured navy blazer.

a peek at Onia's coming offerings: stripes, color, and archival Liberty of London prints

But maybe, just maybe Miami?

photos via Onia

Weekend in New England

Portland General Store is a line of men's personal care products made from sea- and forest-derived ingredients all custom-mixed in Maine. They had sent over a box of vials of what they call their "handsomely addictive" colognes, which came with quite an interesting and beautifully-photographed lookbook that embodies the feel of their goods, a bunch of shots of which I will share with you now. The scents all had that old-world classy charm of New England: the mini-cities and sprawling suburbs of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and everywhere in between. I poured a vial in the tub one bad day, and for a moment, I was back in Boston---with all the bricks, and the red leaves, and the warm soaks with cold wind outside, and I was at peace.

shaving soaps in whiskey and alpine

If I could find a vintage doctor's bag that said Boston University...

New England, I will see you again soon.

photos via Portland General Store

clothing provided by David Wood Clothiers and Bliss

The Lazy Suit

There is style in Singapore and it lives in the easy, minimal aesthetic of Sifr. I am completely smitten by their "lazy" series of pants, shorts, and a jacket, all in a comfortable rayon blend, which I have dubbed my "lazy suit" for spring 2012.

the Sifr lazy suit in khaki

I'm infatuated with the idea of stepping out of the house in last night's hair, the white t-shirt I wore to sleep, and slipping on the suede slippers that I wear around the house, looking all elegantly disheveled in my sweatsuit-comfy lazy suit.

the Sifr lazy suit in black

I plan on getting all three pieces---jacket, pants, and shorts---in their inky, near-black navy jersey, to wear as a pants suit, a shorts suit, and as separates.

Sifr lazy jacket in khaki and navy

Sifr lazy pants in khaki and navy

Sifr lazy shorts in khaki and navy

Sifr's Chris John Fussner and Suraj Melwani are inspired by the intricacy & finesse that goes into crafting iconic architecture, music, furniture, and art, and their attention to detail can be seen in the quiet details of this deceptively simple suit. Note the hidden zippers on the sides of the pants and the shorts, and the stitched permanent crease on both bottoms. Spring of 2012, please come soon as I am dying to live in my lazy suit.

Check out Sifr's current offerings here.

photos via Sifr

Color and Collar

Eleven Objects collar and vintage embroidered dress on Linh Thi

At an event at Union Pool in Brooklyn, I snapped a few photos of Eleven Objects' Linh Thi, who I thought, wore color beautifully and displayed an ease and elegance quite rare in a sea of contrived darkness and manufactured grit. I must confess I had to talk her into letting me photograph her in the Sambas, which she was somewhat ashamed of, but I though this particular sneaker-dress combination was quite charming.

Cazal sunglasses, fan, and dress, all vintage, collar by Eleven Objects, Adidas Sambas

aqua-tinted vintage Cazals

weathered Adidas Sambas

queenly

Eleven Objects' collars, originally made for women, have been featured in The New York Times and Style.com. In the first men's collection, designers Linh Thi Do and Christine Rhee were inspired by vacation photos of their fathers in the 70s, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and more recently, fashion blogger Steve of Hard Liquor, Soft Holes, of the grandly gauche style and signature gift bow concealing his identity. Here are photos from their lookbook:

the ferocious ones of the bunch

The one in white perforated leather would beautifully top off a minimal outfit.

lemon yellow pony hair good enough to eat

lookbook photos via Eleven Objects

An Audience with Assembly's Armas

Assembly may well be my one favorite shop in New York. It is expertly curated with exceptional pieces from lesser-known designers from around the world, and is stocked with its eponymous collection of elegant, softly tailored basic pieces that are unique in their own quiet way, yet wearable enough to have you reaching for them season after season. Allow me to share with you the interview I had with Greg Armas, the man behind Assembly New York---about the collection, the coasts, and cupro.

Assembly New York Spring 2012

The silhouette for Spring 2012 seems a little more masculine and a little more fitted than the previous collections. What would be the reason for this? There still seems to be some drapery on a few lapels, and in the soft fabrics used, but overall, it seems to generally be more manly.

white linen jacket with a voluminous draped lapel

They are very confident clothes and I wanted to convey sexuality.

classic menswear twisted at the trousers: cream 3-button pinstripe suit with the pants cut on the bias

I noticed that you knotted the shirts in a couple of the looks, and you do this on your shirt as well. What inspired this?

the rollup shirt, knotted at the waist

I was inspired by old Spanish farmers and French field workers.

There is a near-absence of black, and even shots of mint green in the collection. Why the choice of palette?

high up on my wishlist for next summer: the mint green tuxedo shorts

I replaced the defensive black with a more engaging rich navy. The mint green was fabric I just couldn’t let go of once I found it.

the bomber and baggy tie pants, both in navy cupro

I see a lot of the use of cupro in your Spring 2012 collection. Could you tell us about this fabric and why you decided to use it?

I sourced west coast fabrics this season and cupro twill has a good weight, like presynthetic rayons.

I really like the turquoise-nugget bolo tie against this "shifted" shirt in natural rayon

You are from LA, but you're now based in New York. How do these two cities play into your design process and how you curate your shop?

For design, the Spring is typically west coast and the Winter is more of an east coast concept. Maintaining as much of the amount of light I grew up with on the west coast is very important to my sense of well-being.

What do you like to wear?

Assembly New York designer Greg Armas at the ENK Menswear Trade Show

The farmer-inspired knotted shirt: Greg wears it well.

I wear the same thing all day and night for sure, and like to be casual. As long as I'm in my boots…

battered Paul Smith boots

How do you design?

Backwards. Vintage is the reference for technical attributes and history for aesthetics.

Assembly New York causes me to reconsider the relevance of the vest.

Who wears your clothes?

Happy people.

white double-breasted, single-button suit worn with a chunky white turquoise necklace. When I'm happy, I wear white.

What is in the future for Assembly New York?

We are launching women’s for Fall 2012 and I want another shop, major moves...

lookbook photos via Assembly New York

'Bunds and Bondage

Rajo Laurel, one of Manila’s most successful womenswear designers, has recently launched a men’s line with some interesting pieces that are distinct and striking, but still very masculine. Here are my favorites:

silk cotton shirt with grosgrain detail

This silk cotton shirt with satin detail reminds me very much of a shirt my friend BJ DIYed and wore to fashion week ages ago.

I would love to have this lattice cummerbund in black to wear with a tuxedo shirt and loose tailored shorts in ivory for a convoluted summer black-tie look.

images via House of Laurel

The Perfect Swim Shorts

The perfect swim shorts for me are short, fitted, and nondescript enough to let my fictitious gleaming solid gold Rolex or steel Patek Philippe Nautilus and glistening tan do the talking. Onia makes classic, timeless swimwear that tick all my boxes. My favorite is the Calder, the shortest style with the button closure:

Onia Calder swim shorts in red

My top pick would have to be black,

but the beige could also be a viable option. I appreciate the hidden drawstring waist.

in navy

The subtle floral on this pair appeals to my penchant for prints, but are subtle enough to suit my muted summer mood.

Guys who prefer their swimwear significantly more modest than gogo-length would love the Alek, Onia’s updated board shorts.

The Aleks have the shoelace closure you’d find on typical board shorts, but aren’t as long and loose and skirty as the American beach wear favorite.

Onia swim shorts are available online and at Steven Alan, By George, and American Rag.

photos via Onia