Displaying items by tag: Trade Shows

This was the coat getting the most attention during the AW20 trade shows. From Florence to Paris, I saw many men’s buyers and press trying this on and oooing and aring with the best of them.

Left & Below - Descente x Gloverall Down Duffle - £1300

Descente Ltd. is a Japanese sports clothing and accessories company, formed in 1935, when Takeo Ishimoto started the company in Osaka as Ishimoto Shoten. The company logo depicts 3 basic skiing techniques - traverse, schuss and side-slip. It’s another one of those under-the-radar Japanese brands producing minimal yet beautiful product.

This tie-up with Gloverall will be for the Japanese market foremost, but we can all enjoy its tech fabrics in the signature, classic Duffle coat style. I’ve gone for Gloverall’s signature ‘stone’, but it also comes in navy with this striking high-vis orange lining.

Made from a uniquely developed CEBONNER® Horns Nylon fabric, it has a natural wool-like feel and features high water repellence. The Parahood system, uniquely developed by Descente, stops the water pooling inside the hood as it is compactly stored. A ‘Para-zip’ is easily accessible ensuring the hood can be released rapidly in one movement plus it features the internal hiking straps first showcased in Gloverall’s SS20 collection.

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Maybe it was the summer season, or a sign of the times, but Copenhagen was noticeably quieter in terms of visitors and brands. Both major trade shows, Revolver and CIFF, felt emptier than previous seasons with many brands, both large and small, missing.

Regardless, there was still plenty to take note of and get us excited for the SS20 menswear season. So, here goes:

Trends

Strings Attached

A womenswear trend from a few summers ago, there’s been a distinctive uptake by guys on social media of the humble string bag. Despite all your worldly goods being on display, the string bag is the cool reusable shopper. These from Danish brand, Épice, are the designer version with the price to match. Established in 1999 by the Danish designers Bess Nielsen and Jan Machenhauer, it offers also a range of printed bags and knitwear made in Italy. Around €70 for a bag.

Left - Épice string bags

Real Fun Fur

It was inevitable that the fun fur movement would touch menswear at some point. But, for those worried that fun-fur/vegan just equals more plastic in the world, new Scandi coat brand, Bobby Rocky, uses woven wool - no sheep were harmed in the making - to create a range of coats. This full shaggy overcoat retails for around for a reasonable €600.

Right - Bobby Rocky wool fun fur

Brands

Freiknock

Wishful thinking, designer, Joohyung You, looks at peace between North and South Korea for the SS20 season. This former footballer, who played for German teams, launched his label Freiknock in 2013. This season sees cute peace bears, North Korean propaganda imagery and tailoring inspired by the wardrobe of Kim Jong Un.

Left & Right - Freiknock

Maium

The Dutch slang for water or rain, this raincoat brand has ingenious side zippers that allow the jacket to go up over your bike. Maium’s rainwear is produced from recycled plastic bottles, does not contain any harmful substances and is said to be manufactured under fair, safe and healthy working conditions. Around €135 for a coat.

Left - Maium raincoat

Agent

The third season from this New York based menswear brand. Creative Director, Terrence Williams, previously a shoe designer with Creative Recreation, with experience spent at Thom Browne, teamed up with English designer, Joshua Fronda, “to develop a playful modern adaptation to subculture classics which became Agent”.

Left - Agent

Ejder 

Based on Old Street roundabout, this multi-brand retailer is pushing its own brand label of  £60 tees and tops amongst its list of independent designer brands and trying to keep up with the ever-evolving streetwear consumer.

Left - Ejder 

Pseudonym 

A graduate of Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Singaporean designer, Zheqiang Zhang, won the ‘Euro Fashion Award’ in 2018. His label, Pseudonym, is a mix of stunning silk scarves and trench coats incorporating further striking designs.

Right & Below - Pseudonym

Uncle Bright

With a store in Copenhagen, Uncle Bright mixes 50s Americana with the philosophy that all garments are created to be worn with a functional yet stylish purpose

Uncle Bright says it is happy to wallow in nostalgia and never looks forward for inspiration. Most worthy of note is the handmade footwear. Manufactured in Spain at a factory with more than 100 years of experience, every single boot goes through minimum 200 different stages in production.

Left  & Below Left - Uncle Bright

Collaborations

In our modern age you have two hipster artistic choices; Van Gogh or Frida Kahlo? Well, Amsterdam based brand, Daily Paper, has teamed up their Dutch icon, Van Gogh. Knowing their irises from their sunflowers, this capsule collection in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is a painterly hit on shirts, jackets and jeans.

Left & Below - Van Gogh Museum X Daily Paper

See Paris Menswear Trade Show Report - Here

Firmly established as London’s main menswear trade show, Jacket Required offers a chance, midway through the main buying season, to gauge the health of wholesale. While noticeably quiet on the first day - it could be the heatwave - brands were reporting a case of quality over quantity when it came to visitors and buyers. Here’s what caught the eye at Jacket Required for SS20:

COLLECTIF

Introducing menswear for the first time, Collectif, is a specialist in new vintage. Established over 19 years ago, with its origins in Camden, and now with 3 shops in London and 1 in Brighton, Collectif is offering authentic rockabilly menswear looks inspired by the 60s and 70s. Mod style knits and rocker leather jackets come in affordable price points like polo shirts for £39 and a checked wide collar shacket for £50.

UPDFG

While the name doesn’t mean anything specifically, UPDFG is based in Milan and is a made in Italy skate-wear label.

BOITA

Founder Adam Boita was doing some research into his family name and found that Boita comes from Piedmont in the northern Italy. The ‘boita’ is a kind of box used in agriculture to spray the vines and orchards in Italy. Inspired by this, the product comes in eco-conscious ‘vegan friendly’ leather, made in China, will full provenance, retailing for £249.

YSC

After a soft launch, last year, YSC - Your Sample Collective - is a new British menswear brand of British Caribbean origins reflecting the everyman with a quality that would comfortable sit in a luxury department store, but without the price tag. New for SS20 is Portuguese seersucker and an easy to wear hybrid bomber with contrasting back panel all made in London.

AVIATION 88

Never under estimate novelty in today’s fashion landscape. Aviation 88 takes the classic flight jacket and turns it into a generous back pack for £150. Top Gun!

ATLANTA MOCASSIN

Atlanta Mocassin is a Portuguese-based footwear label established in 1987 specialising in moccasin type slip-ons. Hoping to push their men’s styles into the UK market for the first time, these are locally handmade in the north of Portugal use the finest materials in car shoe and casual loafer styles. Prices around £130.

AFENDS

With CBD being the flavour of the month in nutrition and beauty, it was inevitable that hemp would start to become more common as a resource for clothing. Australian label, Afends, says “no tree or plant species on earth has the commercial, economic, and environmental potential of hemp.” They want you to join their ‘Hemp Revolution’ in their loose basic styles, all proudly displaying their hemp origins.

R.M. WILLIAMS x MARC NEWSON

Australian made Chelsea boot specialist, R.M. Williams has teamed up with product designer, Marc Newson, on a pair of contemporary boots in a full range of colours. Retailing for an entry price of £275, they have the back tug ingeniously knitted into the side elastic.

GORAL

A Sheffield based footwear manufacturer has launched its own brand of luxury trainers under the family name, Goral. Handmade with 200 manufacturing steps, the standout is the ‘Boulsover’ in Dunlop green.

FROM THE FIRST

Based around the fashion Chelsea boot, From The First, is a British brand making in Italy. Built on the concept of combining classic Italian traditions, whilst celebrating the authentic, laid back feel of early American rock ‘n’ roll culture, these boots could easily be double the price with a designer name attached. Retailing for around £400.

MEPHISTO 'JUMPER'

After a 12 year hiatus, Mephisto relaunches the ‘Jumper’ in a wide rainbow of colours. All made by hand with natural materials in that solid Mephisto way.

The Berlin trade shows are a decent barometer of Northern Europe’s fashion direction. While not known for being particularly experimental or distinctive markets, it’s a good point to see what is selling in more mainstream menswear, post Pitti Uomo, from larger and smaller brands alike. Here are the menswear trends, brands and collabs. to take note of for SS20 from Berlin:

TRENDS

The Branded Utility Sandal

Lead by Teva, with touches of the Japanese, Suicoke, the activity, utility or trekking sandal - take your pick - is replacing the slide as the cool summer men’s footwear of choice. This geeky style was championed by many brands including Hunter, Slydes and Hi-Tec; all showing their own versions of these sandals which require some serious foot game in the pedicure/foot maintenance department. 

Far Left - Hunter

Left - Slydes

Right - Hi-Tec

Transparent Trainers

This was a trend first seen at Pitti Uomo. Transparent ripstop nylon used in the main body of the shoe allowing see-through and visible sections throughout. Not sure whether you’re supposed to wear with or without socks?

Right - D.A.T.E.

Ukrainian Brands

The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, is fast becoming a hot spot of creativity. Brands such as ‘Deep Naked Denim’ with their hoodies with additional arms to tie around the waist and revealing jeans and ‘Keep’, an accessorise brand using paper-like materials which you can self graffiti and customise are drawing attention to this part of Eastern Europe.

Left - Deep Naked Denim

Right - Keep

Baggy Trousers (Jeans)

We’ve been waiting with baited breath for a new style of jean that will resonate with the mass men’s audience. Enter the baggy 90s jean last seen on Marky Mark.

Lead by Pelle Pelle, an american brand founded in 1978 and now being designed and handled in Denmark, who prides themselves with having been the first urban brand to intentionally design and release the baggy denim pant worn by the stars of 90s hip-hop.

Unfeigned, a Spanish menswear brand, featured higher waisted denim with deep side pockets following this looser aesthetic.

Left - Pelle Pelle 

Right - Unfeigned

NEW BRANDS

APRVD

You’ve got to give this Korean brand credit - pardon the pun! - APRVD says it “secures a wearable aesthetic that combines the utilitarian energy of street style with an artistic spirit upholding the highly qualified production experiences over the decades.” No, me neither, but its play on credit card design is priceless! Soz.

DESTIN

Following on from the Paris Trade Shows - see more here the linen shirt continues to segue itself back into fashion. These colourful shirts, some with matching scarves, are made in Italy by Destin and retail for around €90.

PERKS

A private label manufacturer and a Portuguese take on a helvetica shoe brand, Perks’ parent company Evereste is 75 years old. This family business is branching out with this, their own label, showcasing their quality sports shoes and smarter leather shoes all proudly made in Portugal.

ISNURH

A young Danish menswear label, ISNURH is a Copenhagen-based menswear brand with a detail-driven approach. The founders, Kasper and Oliver, have created not only a ready-to-wear label collections, but also collaborations with different artists, and bespoke garments made in a tunnel located in Silkegade, Copenhagen.

JET SET

This Swiss skiwear brand returns with its luxe and loud take on 80s style. Originally founded in St. Moritz in 1969, and now under the creative direction of Michael Michalsky, JET SET’s new logo is comprised of letters in a dynamic contemporary font set against an angular orange-and-black placard and references the label’s Swiss-German heritage in a bold and confident colourway. 

LION BRAND SPORTSWEAR

Move over preppy Polo Bear, the abbreviated LBSW, founded in the USA in 1954 by Antonio Rosenbaum, is inspired by ‘Ivy League’ sporting competitions. The original LionBrandSportsWear supplied not only casual wear but also sports equipment for these Ivy League athletes.

After more than 65 years, and now owned by Bastiaan Roessen and based in the Netherlands, LBSW is being relaunched by introducing “'The 1954 Polo Shirt’. This authentic slim fitted polo shirt from 1954 is made from 100% piqué cotton and signed with their embroidered Lion logo.

COLLABORATIONS 

LEE 101 X TIMBERLAND

While both originally part of the giant VF Corporation group of brands, though Lee has been spun out with its other denim cousin, Wrangler, into the Kontoor Brands group, it doesn’t mean they still can’t work together. Timberland’s outdoor, active and environmental credentials has been mixed with Lee’s denim heritage. The result is something fit for the American Frontier both visually and practically.

YMC X FARAH

YMC has worked their usually quirky aesthetic into Farah’s reliable menswear to celebrate the latter's centenary. Lots of colour and things like appliqué stars play with Farah’s American roots. Founded in 1920 in El Paso, Texas, they originally produced chambray work shirts for the cost of 35 cents. Inflation allowing, these fun pieces will still be at Farah’s successfully affordable price points.

See Paris Menswear Trade Shows SS20 - Here

The big news from Paris was the arrival of CIFF, the Copenhagen trade show’s latest off-shoot. Joining Tranoi, Man/Woman and Welcome Edition, CIFF transplanted itself to a car garage in the back streets of Paris and brought with it the youngest and most cutting edge of designers from all over Europe.

This fractious and competitive Parisian trade show scene makes seeing the new season’s catwalk shows, plus all the trade shows, a juggling act. Here are the major trends and brands for SS20 from Paris catching TheChicGeek’s eye:

TRENDS

Refreshed Linen

This rather Michael Portillo of fabrics is getting a youthful reintroduction. Thanks to the return of the shirt, and the promotion of its environmental credentials, linen is returning in a more contemporary way. Bright colours and oversized, billowy shapes is offering a refreshing reinvention of linen and making it feel desirable and cool for the new SS20 menswear season.

Top Left - Man1924
Bottom Left - Delikatessen

Right - Péro

Luxury India

While many think of India as a place for colourful yet cheap forms of clothing and textiles, Paris welcomed a couple of Rajasthani labels based on pure handwork in western shapes with the premium price tags to match.

Left - Péro

Péro, meaning ‘to wear’ in Marwari, the local language of Rajasthan, offered a colourful and quirky take on summer dressing for SS20. Using local materials and skills, Péro was launched by Aneeth Arora, a textile graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and a fashion graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi. She calls herself a ‘textile and dress maker’ and what fascinates and inspires her most is the clothing and dressing styles of the local people. The new SS20 collection features cute cartoon characters in a palette of pink and green linens.

Rajesh Pratap Singh, currently based in New Delhi, belongs to Rajasthan in India. A graduate of the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi, too, he worked in the fashion Industry in India and Italy for two years before introducing his own line of men’s and women’s clothing in 1997.

Singh has created his unique signature style that subtly draws from his Indian roots to craft artisanal garments that stand apart due to their faultlessly clean lines, careful detailing and international silhouettes. Singh is closely associated with Indian fabric mills. Textile experimentation spans both the very high tech as well as the traditional in the form of intensive handlooms. Singh has five standalone stores in India and the SS20 saw  the introduction of classical white tailoring with contrasting pinstripes in striking fuchsia pink and orange.

Future Nigeria

With Nigeria’s growing population set to overtake the USA’s by 2050, according to a United Nations report, and it is forecasted that over half of the expected growth between 2017 and 2050 is likely to occur in Africa, then it makes sense for focus to turn to this part of the world.

Left - Orange Culture

Promoting Lagos Fashion Week, it is only held once a year in October due to the lack of seasons, two designers, Orange Culture and Emmy Kasbit, represented their burgeoning menswear scene.

Adebayo Oke-Lawal, who has been designing since the age of 10, started Orange Culture in 2011, after having worked with several Nigerian designers. The label is more than a clothing line Adebayo insists. It is a “movement” that covers universal silhouettes with an African touch to a creative class of men, translating into a heady mixture of Nigerian inspired print fabrics, colour and contemporary urban street wear. All pieces are manufactured in Lagos, from ethically-sourced fabrics from local Nigerian fabric makers.

Founded by Emmanuel Okoro, Emmy Kasbit makes use of local artisans by bringing traditional staples to the modern age with the use of indigenous fabrics mixed with sartorial classics to create timeless pieces for the new African Man. 

He was a fashion focus finalist at Lagos Fashion and Design Week 2017 after which he was awarded the recipient of the Fashion focus fund formerly known as Young Designer of the year. 

NEW BRANDS

Dr S

Dr S is a new, independent, upstart brand born and bred in East London. On a single-minded mission to upcycle, recycle and repurpose reclaimed materials, Dr S is obsessed with regeneration. Each bag is made of over 80% upcycled materials- from discarded offcuts to forgotten rolls found in the storage rooms of cooperating fashion studios.

Bike inner tubes make handles, while seatbelt are reconfigured as body straps.

La Perruque

La Perruque develops artisanal, minimal and timeless leather goods with a focus on functionality and refined details. The products are all handmade in their workshop in Malmö, Sweden, but they are soon to up sticks and move to Paris and open a retail store which will also function as a workshop.

The leathers come from the best international suppliers, they share a supplier with Hermès, and promise their accessorise will age beautifully and get a nice patina over the time. The leathers are natural and have not been covered by a synthetic top finish. It means their colour will evolve with time and sun exposure.

Sunflower

From Copenhagen and the hands of Ulrik Pedersen - previously at NN07 - Sunflower wants to provide something longer lasting within the men’s clothing market. The method of production is as important as the final product, with an instance on sourcing the best quality fabrics, technical innovation and make.

SS20 sees metallic pinstripes and a focus on considered separates for those who still want something smart while imbued with Scandi cool.

Tolu Coker

Brixton based, this British-Nigerian fashion designer is offering hand-finished and artistic unisex pieces inspired by ‘politics of identity and social climates’.

Following several successful stints at Maison Margiela, J.W. Anderson and Celine, the London- born designer graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martin's Design school in June 2017 with First Class Honours.

The young designer was recently shortlisted as a finalist in the ASOS Fashion Discovery 2018, and is a triple-award winner of the globally-acclaimed ITS 2018, where she took home a hat trick of awards across both Fashion and Artwork categories - The Diesel Award, The Vogue Talents Award and The ITS Time For Coffee Award. 

COLLABORATIONS

John Booth X Sunspel

Fashion loves an artist of the season and the Scottish born, John Booth, with his colourful signature FA Cup-earred men is SS20’s. Following on from a recent collaboration with the Scottish accessorises brand, Begg & Co., he has now teamed up with Nottingham’s Sunspel. Offering a large collaboration of T-shirts, swim shorts, camp collar shirt and jacket in Booth’s palette of clashing primaries, it is a refreshing injection of colour in Sunspel’s reliable stable of basics.

See Berlin Trade Shows Report SS20 - here

Depending on how you look at it, Copenhagen's shows are either late or early. It’s the end of the men’s calendar and the beginning of the women’s. Copenhagen has two main trade shows: Revolver and CIFF. Revolver is more condensed and in the upper mid-market of men’s and women’s brands, while CIFF runs the full spectrum from East London’s finest to affordable and wearable mainstream brands and designers.

Here are the trends and brands to know for AW19:

Left - A display at CIFF AW19

TRENDS

Practical Harnesses

Seen on the red-carpet thanks to Abloh’s Louis Vuitton, the harness, with attached pockets, is the natural successor to the bum bag. The cross-body straps and practicality, makes it look fresh and incorporates better into an outfit. This is about sports and travel while being hands-free. New brands offering these styles are “BumBumBag” from France and “Taikan” from Canada.

Right - New affordble accessories brand from France, BumBumBag

Recycled Cashmere

This was a trend that I noticed at Pitti Uomo. The economics of recycling relies on the material having a higher monetary value and cashmere is one such raw fibre. Danish brand Pullover, www.pullover.dk is collecting old cashmere knitwear, taking it to Italy, removing all buttons, care labels and necklabels and separating into colours.

They then shred the fibres, mix with virgin cashmere to spin new yarn. The final garment contains 70% recycled cashmere and 30% new.

Left - Danish brand, Pullover's display of the different cashmere makers going into its recycled cashmere jumpers

The Cool Quilted Slipper

The Millennials and Generation Z aren’t leaving the house, so the cool slipper is where the money is in young footwear ATM. Something fun and affordable, these quilted versions look young and comfortable. Brands such as Woolrich, The North Face and Crocs each showed their versions.

See new brand “Coma Toes” in Berlin

From Left - Woolrich, The North Face

Return of the Brogue

If minimal Scandi footwear brands like Vagabond are reintroducing the brogue then you know it’s the direction footwear is going in. As we see a contraction in sports shoes, we’ll see a swing back to leather shoes and in particular brogue styles.

Left - Vagabond brogues

BRANDS

Sneum

Christian Sneum worked at Valentino for 12 years before launching his own, eponymous label. New for AW19, it’s a dark take on western/army wear including accessories and footwear offering exaggerated details in classic menswear styles.

Left - Sneum, new brand by a former Valentino designer

Dear Vanessa

This Dutch label is inspired by the name Vanessa. Interestingly, the name was invented by the author Jonathan Swift for Esther Vanhomrigh, whom Swift had met in 1708 and tutored. The name was created by taking “Van” from Vanhomrigh's last name and adding "Essa", a pet name for Esther. A soft palette of pastels comes in waisted coats, knitwear and trainers in this feminised feeling men's collection.

Left - New Dutch brand inspired by Jonathan Swift's invention of the name Vanessa

Asportuguesas

The vast majority of wine bottles no longer contain a cork, so what has happened to that centuries old Portguese commodity? Asportuguesas is a new footwear concept using the harvest from these oak trees. The world’s first cork flip-flops brand, it uses a 100% natural raw material that is born in a tree and is retrieved every nine years, without the tree ever being cut.

Left - Cork soles giving Asportuguesas a sustainable base

Haervaerk

Meaning “Vandalism” in Danish, Haervaerk is a Gorillaz-type, gaming looking label of brightly coloured unisex clothing. Their uniform is metamorphorsed by the oil sea, wet asphalt and the rusty containers that litter the Danish seafront. 

Niels Gundtoft Hansen, the lead designer, grew up in Denmark and is imbuing the collections with a Nordic identity. Originally hailing from Copenhagen, Hansen studied at London’s prestigious Royal College of Art. His 2016 graduate collection won the Only the Brave award at ITS – the International Talent Support contest in Trieste Italy. Marie Munk, as well a Danish graduate from the Royal College of Art, became partner in Hærværk in spring 2017.

Collaborations for AW19

Nicholas Daley for Fred Perry

Rising British menswear star, Nicholas Daley, has been tapped up by Fred Perry for this first collaborative collection. As well as working with adidas Originals for AW19, Daley offers his mixing of styles influenced by his Caribbean and Scottish backgrounds. Think madras camp collar shirts and bold tracksuits inspired by his father’s nightclub.

Cottweiler for Reebok and Allegri

Matthew Dainty and Ben Cottrell of British brand Cottweiler have worked with the Italian outerwear maker, Allegri, and Reebok for two further collaborations, this season. This is a continued relationship with Reebok featuring a new slip-on loafer and the 10 raincoats with Allegri are inspired by the deep sea and its underwater world using their respected fabrication.

From far left - Cottweiler X Allegri, Cottweiler's loafer for Reebook

All fashion roads lead to Paris. While the Paris landscape is fractured with many smaller trade shows and showrooms competing for people’s time, it’s also the place where orders are written and retailers and people finally commit to the season. Word on the street was brands were deciding to forgo Florence’s Pitti Uomo for showrooms in Paris to justify the time and expense of doing the men’s fashion week circuit.

Left - Outside one of the Paris trade shows, Tranoi

Here are the trends and brands to know from Paris for AW19:

TRENDS

Reworked History

British fabrics are having a huge renaissance, none more so than for the AW19 season. E. Tautz has reworked the traditional black and white tweed into a vortex design that is both contemporary and respects the qualities and attraction of this type of fabric. Charles Jeffrey Loverboy turned up the dial on tartan with bold blue and red. This is a designer making the transition from the conceptual to beautifully cut and made pieces.

Right - E.Tautz tweed

Left - Charles Jeffrey Loverboy tartan

New Day-Evening

People are beginning to yearn for dressing up again. Tired of sportswear and the grunge aesthetic, this is a new idea of wearing something more dressed at anytime of the day. British designer, Bianca Saunders, captured this perfectly with extra ruched shirts a dark palette.

Left - Bianca Saunders AW19

Cuddly Chubby

Following on from Mary Katrantzou’s chesterfield sofa coats and Anya Hindmarch’s chubby hearts, it’s the men’s turn for something to take the cushion in a world full of sharp edges. This is from Virgil Abloh’s second collection for Louis Vuitton which was inspired by Michael Jackson. Overinflated much?!

Left - Louis Vuitton AW19

Tech Futures

Heat bonded pockets and steel poppers are some of the details on menswear to make it perform and look high-tech. Mammunt Delta X is a new label, it debuts this SS19, from Swiss heritage mountaineering company Mammut. Using their 150 years of outdoor expertise, it is offering something younger and more urban to satisfy the insatiable thirst for element protecting products.

Left - Mammunt Delta X AW19

BRANDS

J-B-J

Jupe by Jackie has become come something of a cult label known for its hand embroidery. Established in 2010 by Dutch fashion designer Jackie Villevoye, Jupe by Jackie uses master embroiderers from the Indian province of Uttar Pradesh to work her designs onto items of clothing. J-B-J is a new, younger brand, from Jackie’s son, offering the signature embroidery on T-shirts and more casual pieces.

Left - J-B-J yeti, all hand embroidered

Norden

Made from plastic waste, Norden is a new outer label made entirely of single use plastic. Their “U-Trust” verification program provides customers with comprehensive certification designed for a high level of transparency. The Fiber Print technology validates the authenticity of the products, with complete analysis of all fabrications to support the certifications. All of the garments are free of fur, feathers, leather and all other animal by-products. There’s even an internal water bottle!

www.nordenproject.com

From Left - Norden - All made from plastic waste and include a water bottle

Robyn Lynch

Part of London’s Fashion East show during LFWM, Dublin designer and recent MA Westminster graduate, Robyn Lynch, referenced old football supporter footage from the Irish television channel RTE in her first collection. This tone-on-tone, normcore collection took the best of Ireland and injected sports and technical details. This sleeveless Aran sweater with side adjusters is a perfect example of this.

From Left - Fashion East debut collection from Irish designer, Robyn Lynch

Knickerbocker

Finding stylish American basics is much harder than you think. Those grey army sweats which make any man look like Steve McQueen are very subtle to get right. Knickerbocker says it is a “factory born brand” and is transparent about its manufacturers which are mostly in Portugal, but do include the USA.

The standout item is the sailor-like hooded grey sweatshirt to wear On The Town a la Frank Sinatra!

www.knickerbocker.nyc

See the SS20 Paris Report - here