Clerkenwell Design Week...

Living in Clerkenwell does have its benefits, apart from it being a beautiful little place it also is the home of Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW), annually held at multiple locations throughout Clerkenwell.  It’s now firmly established itself as the UK’s leading independent design festival.

This three day festival host’s an array of the world’s most notable design, architectural and creative names.  One of my favourite locations used for CDW is the Farmiloe Building which is a ridiculously elegant former Victorian glass-works, which is the perfect backdrop for the exhibitors.  Alexander McQueen also notably used the Farmiloe Building for one of its men’s collections in January. 

Regardless, of this being a design festival and nothing to do with the usual stuff on the blog.  I had to give it a mention as the level of craftsmanship and creativity that is visible here, is inspiring.  Below is a selection of photographs of things that caught my eye.

If you haven't already, register online and see it for yourselves.

www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com

Acqua di Parma Colonia...

We all have a favourite cologne, or a trusted go-to scent which makes us feel as elegant and sophisticated as any well tailored suit could.  For me, my fragrances of choice for the last 4-5 years have come from the great, Acqua di Parma.  More specifically, I used to favour Colonia Intensa but for the last year I have been wearing the original Acqua di Parma cologne, Colonia.

I have always gone for summery, citrus scents and Colonia is exactly that.  It’s a fresh and clean fragrance with its main ingredient being citrus fruit from Sicily, lavender, bergamot, verbena and Bulgarian rose.  I must admit, the first time I picked up a bottle of Acqua di Parma was not because I had been recommended it, but actually due to the distinctively simple and beautiful bottle design which caught my eye, from there it’s been a love affair ever since.  

To find out more about the bottle, I share with you a few sentences from Gabriella Scarpa, President of Acqua di Parma. 

“The cone-shaped Colonia Bottle, inspired by the Art Deco style, is a perfect expression of the brand and its values of timeless elegance, understated luxury, and craftsmanship.  The heavy glass and the white label bearing the logo, still applied manually, offer a subtle but clear hint about its crafted contents.  An extremely elegant and assertive, discrete and sophisticated fragrance, an elegant choice characterized by the typical understated luxury masterfully conveyed by Acqua di Parma.”

Gabriella Scarpa, President, Acqua di Parma

Acqua di Parma have also recently opened there second Blu Mediterraneo SPA at the Gritti Palace Hotel, Venice, which from the photo below looks rather opulent, my only request is that they open one in London...Please!

  

Colonia retails at £47.00 for 50ml

HANCOCK...

The brand Hancock came to my attention just under a year ago, where the brand had been showing there collection from the Hospital Club (Covent Garden) during the inaugural London Collections: Men.  I was impressed by the outerwear with its luxurious simplicity and confident colour palette as you will see below, and subsequently I got chatting to the Gent’s behind the brand, Mr. Gary Bott and Mr. Daniel Dunko at their stand.  

I have met Gary quite a few times since then and I am always excited to chat to him about the brands adventures and all things new going on at Hancock.  I asked Gary for a quick word on the brand that he and Daniel created to allow for a better insight:

“Both Daniel Dunko and I came from Mackintosh where Daniel created that brand in 1996 and I helped launch in the UK in 2003. Following the sale of the company in 2007, we decided to leave and create a new label that utilised the original rubber bonded cloth Thomas Hancock perfected from 1825-1843 with his business partner Charles Macintosh. Daniel has 28-years of traditional coat making experience and together we have established our own factory, global retail partnerships such as Barneys New York and United Arrows, manufacturing for luxury private label, collaborations (to be announced June 2013) and recently won a Wallpaper* Design Award. So we're very happy with what we've been able to achieve in our first year but still have a long way to go. Our label is not based solely on handmade outerwear. We see Hancock as a luxury lifestyle label and this year will launch accessories to include bags and footwear. Furniture is next.” Gary Bott – Hancock

All of Hancock’s garments are hand-made from its factory in Scotland, where two generations of expert coat-makers work with vulcanised cloths such as wool flannels, cashmeres, silks and cottons, which are then bonded using a rubber manufacturing process at an original Victorian factory in England.  A while back Gary actually showed me a video of Daniel creating one of the garments which showed the process of distributing the rubber evenly across the garment…and let’s just say it looked ridiculously difficult.  This video really did help me understand the level of craftsmanship that goes into creating one of these garments, showing me that Hancock truly embody the word craftsmanship!

 (The rubber process as mentioned above)

 (The Hancock stand at last year's Pitti)

(Hancock's collaboration with Globe-Trotter)

Hancock is a name to watch this year! For more Hancock information visit: www.hancockva.com

Gieves & Hawkes AW13...

I don’t often post about the release of a brands lookbook, but when I viewed the forthcoming AW13 collection by Gieves & Hawkes a few weeks back, I decided that it needed to be given a full feature due to the exceptional tailoring on offer. 

This collection is also intriguing as it is our first insight into what new design director, Jason Basmajian has created for his first full collection with Gieves & Hawkes.  Personally, I’ve enjoyed many aspects of previous collections from Gieves & Hawkes but I cannot remember the last time I loved a whole collection as much as this one.  I feel like Jason Basmajian has hit the nail on the head with his first collection at Gieves, providing beautiful tailored suits, with enough quirks and standout pieces to keep the understated Gent along with the more adventurous dandy equally excited about this one.

 

For AW13 there will be two menswear lines, the first being the mainline and the second being a new capsule collection which has also been referred to as the “royal collection”.  This “royal collection” needs some mention as I did get rather excited about it.  There was a standout check coat, a sublime three-piece Prince of Wales check suit, which featured an interesting lapelled waistcoat, which seem to have gone missing from mainstream tailoring of late.  Other highlights included the strong showing of shoes, the accessories were beautiful, the subtle use of chambray…but I guess most importantly for me the colour palette was bang on, and styled brilliantly. 

Anyway enough of my goings on, have a look for yourself, below are a selection of my favourite looks from the AW13 collections, which will be available in store from September. 

Images 1-3 - Gieves & Hawkes Mainline

 Images 4-6 - Gieves & Hawkes Capsule Collection

www.gievesandhawkes.com

Loro Piana and the World Wool Record Bale...

Loro Piana are synonymous with the words quality, craftsmanship and innovation and when I hear the name Loro Piana I think of all that wonderful cashmere and wool that they produce. This thirst for acquiring the finest wool led Loro Piana into establishing the World Record Challenge Cup back in 2000, which was set up to find the finest, high quality wool and give recognition to the year’s finest bales.  

Each year, the best Australian bale and the best New Zealand bale, produced in the previous year, are selected.  A jury then certifies that each bale respects specific characteristics of weight, length and tenacity. The Challenge Cup is then assigned to the finest produced between the two.  Subsequently, when the fiber is the finest EVER produced, it earns the title of the World Wool Record Bale. Loro Piana have always gone on to purchase this record bale, treasuring it as an icon, also in the view of the fact that until a finer wool bale is purchased, the previous one cannot be turned into fabric.  

This year, New Zealand beat Australia for the finest wool produced in 2012 and set a new world record in the process.  Breeder, Anna Emmerson of the Lindis Ridges farm obtained the prize with a massive bale of 90-100kg of wool (10.6 microns). 

Loro Piana’s dedication and pursuit of the best raw materials and also its responsible sourcing is something that we should all know about.  This level of quality is extraordinary and I would presume relatively unparalleled in the market today.  I think that this is a great idea which Loro Piana started back in 2000 and just shows how much they strive to find the greatest quality.  In a world full of fast, disposable fashion, it’s great to see quality purists that want to offer the very best for the consumer today. 

Gentleman Arthur & The Bespoke Gentleman Tie collaboration...

The brand, Gentleman Arthur creates beautifully handcrafted ties and I have been a big supporter of the brand ever since I first featured them back in November 2011.  Fast forward 18 months and I’m excited to tell you that a couple of collaboration ties between this blog and the brand are now ready for sale. As an avid tie wearer, I think this collaboration worked perfectly, and the fact that the ties are all made by hand was obviously right up my street.  

So, basically what we wanted to create was a tie that represented the two countries where we both reside, Gentleman Arthur being from San Francisco, USA and myself from the UK. I wanted to take patterns that are popular in this country and then use the pattern in a slightly different way.  I’m a big fan of dogtooth/hounds tooth check fabrics, so this was something that I wanted to incorporate into the design of the ties, so Gentleman Arthur created a great interpretation of this by blowing up the size of the check and then using this across parts of the tie.  We are calling our rendition of the hounds tooth the American Hound.

I really love woollen ties but as we wanted the collaboration to release before the summer, we decided it wouldn’t be the best fabric to use for a summer tie. So, the brand found this lovely linen which is a perfect summer weight and is also still visually appealing with the grain of the fabric that runs through the ties.  They were then created by using a wood block print design.  When it came to colours, I wanted one tie to be quite classic, this can be seen with just the blue check running through the tie, and then the other tie being a little more daring and playful with its more brash orange/green check pattern.  

This being our first collaboration I am really happy with the results and I hope you are too.  It has been a really pleasurable experience working on the project with Gentleman Arthur and I am happy to let you know that there is definitely going to be further collaborations with the brand in the coming months.  This collaboration embodies many of the things that I am passionate about, firstly craftsmanship, these ties embody this word completely, being made completely by hand and secondly as I love ties, it’s a perfect accessory for me to get my teeth into.  

If you do love these ties they are available on the Gentleman Arthur website: www.gentlemanarthur.com and are priced at $80 (shipped worldwide).

The studio images of the ties are courtesy of Gentleman Arthur whilst the photos of me were taken by my friend and photographer, Luis Pereira.  

The 'Sartorial' Artist...Sam Shuter

Now, I can’t really tell you that I’m the most knowledgeable person when it comes to artists or even art for that matter, but I can be inspired when I see something rather up my street. The artist, Sam Shuter, lives and works in Toronto and creates wonderfully unique pieces.  They are unique because of the subject matter that she chooses to paint, which is…SUITS!  To find out more about this emerging talent, here is an interview with the girl herself. 

Firstly, I love your work...I don't think I have seen someone paint my favourite subject matter 'suits' in such a creative way, how did you get into painting in the first place?

Thank you!  Painting was something I did to chill out, I used to doodle more than anything and then I began creating abstract paintings... and one day I decided to put one of my doodles on top of another painting I had created and voila!   I was hooked.   I love the "busyness" of all of the colour, matched with the outline of the suits... sort of symbolizing the "go getter", among other things.

Your use of colour is great, is colour a big influence on your work?

I am greatly influenced by colour.  If I see a combination I like, I make note of it right away.  Sometimes I bring different swatches together until I'm feeling their flow.  Most of the time I just go for it and I'll add onto the canvas if I feel like something is missing.  I'm really into colour balance too - it’s important; I don't want to overwhelm anyone including myself.  It depends what the focal point is, sometimes I like when the drawing gets lost into other elements of the piece, other times I want the figure to stand out the most, straight n' centre!

What interesting things have you been working on currently?

First and foremost, I am working to develop my latest series of watches called "Times like These". 

I am also in the midst of working on a couple more pieces from "The Introduction"; it seems I'll always be "introducing" something!   I have a lot of opportunities on the table now to collaborate with some interesting companies as well and work on some unique projects over this coming summer. Ultimately, I won't be able to participate in everything. It’s important for me to create an agenda around organic influences, and not over-saturate my work with things that aren't in line with my art. I have a group show in a couple of months, and I am having my first big solo show this fall.

Do you use live models or do you just paint using a picture?

I come to my drawings in so many different ways. I've doodled on restaurant napkins after being inspired from seeing someone on the street through the window. I've flipped through magazines, looked on blogs and even had some friends pose for photos.  I have plenty of material, but not all I find inspiring. I went through a very static phase, and then I went through a busy movement phase.  It depends a lot on my mood. Live models would get so tired!

 I love the idea behind one of your photo's 'it's going to rain' how did you come up with this concept? (PICTURED BELOW)

"It’s going to rain" with the umbrella is totally unlisted! It’s one of the first pieces I ever created with a suit, based off of an old photo of Neil Patrick Harris. It’s one of the first pieces I ever posted on my blog, but it’s not listed under my "Series" page online.   Good eye!  

 What influences and inspires your work?

Everything! Mostly colour. I'll feel a burst of energy and it'll ignite a desire to combine certain colours.  These colours create a mood. I usually combine that mood with that of the object's pose, or vice versa. I am also really inspired by symmetrical lines and details. There are many stages during the creation process.  I start, I love it.  I hate it. I love it again, I hate it again and then I start to appreciate the work more as I enter into the "final touches". But it’s hard to know if it is ever really "finished”. 

A unique and inspiring talent, I hope you fellow Sartorialist’s enjoy this artist’s work as much as I do.  To see more of Sam’s work head over to her website: www.iamsammo.com  Word on the grapevine is that Sam could be over in the UK sometime soon, and I’m sure Savile Row and Mayfair will inspire her even more.  I’m a fan and I hope you are too! Below, is a recent picture of Sam, creating one of her latest works.

A visit to Penhaligon's Perfumers...

Mayfair is obviously filled with many beautiful stores, but there’s been one store that has been catching my eye for the last couple of months and that store is Penhaligon’s on Brook Street. Whenever I walk past the store I always seem to peer in the window, which led to me thinking that I should probably find out more about the place and the brand. 

Penhaligon’s was established in 1870 by William Penhaligon and is an English perfume house, offering perfumes, luxury fragrances and gifts.  I must be honest and state that I had only ever smelt one of Penhaligon’s 34 distinctive fragrances and that was there fragrance ‘Sartorial’ which was inspired by the workrooms at Norton & Son’s…I believe that my reasoning for smelling this fragrance was purely to down to the name itself!  Anyhow, I popped into the Brook Street store to try out their fragrance profiling experience, which is basically where you smell many different fragrances until you find the one you like the most.  

I was rather excited with anticipation for this profiling experience, as I have never received this sort of fragrance service before.  I was greeted by Kristin, who was on hand to guide me through the experience.  Firstly, a glass of water was provided, which is actually used to clear the palette not just to quench your thirst and then it was onto the fun stuff! I smelled many a scent on a piece of card and was told to keep hold of the one that I liked the most, you also don’t know which one your smelling which helps to stop making a biased decision.  Anyway, I eventually got down to a few I really liked, and subsequently the eventual winner.  I was rather excited to hear from Kristin which one I had chosen.  She told me the fragrance that I had chosen was called ‘Blenheim Bouquet’ which is one of the most established of the fragrances that Penhaligon’s offers and was first introduced in 1902.  The fragrance is citrus based and opposed the rich, heavy floral’s that were popular at the time.  I was also told that the fragrance has been popular with the likes of Winston Churchill and a certain Tom Ford.  I must admit, I was rather impressed with this outcome and to my association with these other gent’s who also shared my fondness for Blenheim Bouquet.  Although, I was subsequently told that this is the most popular men’s fragrance that Penhaligon’s offers, so I wasn't so unique after all!

I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I would wholeheartedly recommend you go and find out what your favorite fragrance is! Thanks to Kristin and Harriet who were on hand to make my morning rather enjoyable.  

For more information visit: www.penhaligons.com

Photo's - The Bespoke Gentleman

The "Guethary" collection by J.M. Weston...

Now, summer is fast approaching and although it doesn't much feel like it with the current Arctic blast that we in London are experiencing, you may have started to contemplate your summer wardrobe and suitable attire for a planned holiday/trip to warmer climes. So, this is why I wanted to share with you the new “Guethary” collection from the exceptional French shoemakers J.M. Weston. 

Michel Perry, the house’s artistic director, has taken his imagination for a stroll along the French coasts of the twenties, in search of the holiday destinations bustling with the Parisian jet set of the age.  From this, Michel Perry then took the recurring elements that resonate with the French shoemaker’s aesthetic: the sparse architectural lines of the South West, the muted shades marking the composition of the urban landscape, and the serene energy of everyday life.  Subsequently, this has created two styles, the first being a soft ankle boot and the second, a tennis shoe.   Michel Perry’s most striking nod to the Basque country lies in the addition of a natural woven cord around the sole, which references the espadrille which was famously worn by the regions inhabitants.

I do love the striking yet subtle simplicity of the tennis shoe, which J.M. Weston is calling ‘a shoemaker’s tennis shoe’.  The “Guethary” collection has the right balance of elegance, functionality and stylish simplicity whilst still being made in the finest boot making tradition that the shoemaker’s are known for.  I also particularly love the use of colour on the tennis shoes, which I think makes them even more desirable and were inspired by a postcard from Michel Perry’s childhood in which navy blue, green and yellow boats gently rocked in the port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.  

Tennis shoes, available in blue, green and yellow (pictured above).

The “Guethary” collection will be available in J.M. Weston stores from the end of March and priced from £375.

www.jmweston.com

ALICE MADE THIS...

If you don’t know, ‘Alice Made This’ make simple, refined and most importantly beautiful cufflinks.  I'm not a man that wants to showcase a pair of ‘blinged out’ cufflinks on my shirt cuffs, just an elegantly simple design that sits in harmony with the entire outfit, which is probably why I like these ones so much.  The cufflink brand was created, by Alice (no surprise there) Walsh in 2011 where she has created a collection of precision metal turned cufflinks using the materials: stainless steel, brass and copper.  The process ‘precision metal turned’ is predominantly used for making high tolerance parts for use in the engineering and aerospace industries, so I guess this makes these cufflinks quite unique. 

Each design is produced in limited edition batches of 1000, with the edition number hand written on the box. One of the reasons why I wanted to feature ‘Alice Made This’ is due to the brands devotion to manufacturing the cufflinks in the UK, where she hopes to highlight the skills and expertise of materials and manufacturing in Britain.  With this approach to the manufacturing process, each design differs in its forms and materials.  

As wedding season fasts approaches, many of you gentlemen may be considering a suitable set of cufflinks to go with your wedding day outfit. I would whole heartedly recommend these cufflinks as I think there style would fit perfectly, as I believe they showcase ‘timeless style’ which is what I think you want to achieve from anything you wear on your wedding day. 

ALICE MADE THIS cufflinks are currently available through the Alice Made This website, Mr Porter, Liberty, Harrods and good friends of ‘The Bespoke Gentleman blog’ Opumo, amongst others and retail from £85-£95.  

www.alicemadethis.com

www.opumo.com

It's TRUNK time, one year on!...

Some of you might remember my feature on the independent menswear store Trunk from early last year. Well, I had such a great time visiting Trunk the first time around that I'm back one year on to share with you some photos of the wonderful new product on offer.  It’s seems like lots of exciting things have been happening at Trunk, namely the launch of their online store last year and the major coup of scooping the Drapers Award for ‘Premium Retailer of the Year’  for 2012 and from what I hear 2013 looks to be another busy one, with some exciting plans in the pipeline.

Blazers by Beams+

Trunk window display (layering heaven)

Blazers by Boglioli

To me, what Trunk does best is it offers a ridiculously well curated product offering, which is so well thought out that it gives you the feeling that a lot of time has been spent creating the perfect blend of brands that sit so effortlessly together.

Mats Klingberg, owner of Trunk has created a wonderful shop that seems to be getting better and better.   A true clothing treasure chest…hat’s off to all the team at Trunk, namely, Mats, Daniel and Hugo. I leave you with a selection of photos I took from the shop along with my top five picks, it was very difficult to limit myself to five, but it had to be done!

The Bespoke Gentleman’s Top five picks from TRUNK.

1.) Boglioli windowpane check blazer (although anything from Boglioli in Trunk looked pretty damn good)

2.) Lightweight cream/navy DB blazers from Beams+

3.) Nigel Cabourn camo work jacket

4.) Suede penny loafers by Alden

5.) Green/Blue striped knitted tie by Drakes

Socks by Merz b. Schwanen 

 Shoes by Alden

Ties by Drakes

For more information visit Trunk at: www.trunkclothiers.com