24
Icarus Store
There’s a massive stirring in the city of Sydney. Pitt Street Mall is full of construction & noise, day in, day out. You would imagine this to be off-putting for the local Sydney-Sider but the opposite seems to be happening. Instead of foot traffic slowing and stores reporting decreased sales, we’re seeing the general public’s insatiable curiosity leading them into ‘almost finished shops’ with glaring 50-70% off sale signs.
Just like kittens, these shoppers are tenderly making their way through the new shops of Lend Lease and Westfield (still yet to be opened) as Pitt Street Mall takes a face-lift. It’s been in the making for many years, and while the 2 giants go head to head in a Jurassic tug of war trying to entice consumers, we have a subtle yet more tailored call to the design district of Sydney, known as Surry Hills.
This understated design district has a new player called The Icarus Store. Now if you didn’t know, in Greek mythology, Icarus, is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus. The main story of Icarus is about his intent to escape Crete by means of wings constructed by his father. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and thus, feel to his death. What I love about this character, is he dared to be great. He also was innovative, larger than life, and thought outside the square.
Which takes us to Nathan. Not unlike the character named – Neo out of the Matrix, Nathan knew there was something else to his life than an office job. In a moment of true revelation, and while on a holiday in New York City, Nathan started to see retail as a way to serve young men (in his home town of Sydney) in their efforts to look different, feel confident and have a more unique and quality driven wardrobe. So, with the help of his friends in creative and high places, Nathan stuck a deal with various unknown yet splendid labels and brands and planted them in Reservoir Street in Surry Hills.
Now this story may not be for everyone, as it’s localised. But remember, we have international products in this store.
Take ‘CB I hate perfume’ for instance. After four years with Kiehl’s USA, Christopher Brosius set out to make perfume on his own in 1992. Since then, he has won four Fragrance Foundation awards and been nominated for many others. Christopher opened the I Hate Perfume gallery in Williamsburg in 2004. The name reveals his disdain for overpowering department store perfume brands and their use of alcohol as a base for fragrance. His oil and water based perfumes have their own story to tell and capture a very special sense of place or experience. Each perfume is carefully compounded, blended and bottled by hand in his gallery workshops. We love it!
Then look at Loden Dager. This is a menswear collective based in New York designed chiefly by two Marc Jacobs alumni, Oliver Helden and Paul Marlow. Loden Dager debuted in 2006 with a rigorously unadorned collection of shirts, jackets, and pants. As the label has gained a loyal following — plus an Ecco Domani award and a partnership with Uniqlo — it has grown more adventuresome with its fabrications and influences. With a nod to a bygone era, Loden Dager’s designs echo fashion’s grey area between the masculine 1940’s, the mod 1960’s and the hippie 1970’s. The result is a sophisticated and approachable wardrobe for the student, worker, activist and everyman.
Swedish-born Patrik Ervell received a political science degree from UC Berkeley and fell into design after working as an editor at V magazine. Ervell saw a gap in the market and launched his own menswear collection in 2005. His designs are heavily influenced by the military and classic American sportswear, carefully tailored with luxurious touches. Ervell has received widespread acclaim for his minimal aesthetic and creative use of utilitarian materials, highlights include winning the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award in 2007 and being a runner-up in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2009. Check out the home page! http://www.patrikervell.com/ It’s totally innovative.
It was ridiculously hard to move throughout the store at the opening of Icarus. The environment design, which as you all know either repels or attracts the side street consumer, was understated and subtle, yet inviting. Masculine to a tee without taking sides of the ‘too dandy’ or the ‘too lumber jack’, we found Icarus to be modest, intelligent and savvy. The supportive crowd chattered and silently coded a nod of approval, as Nathan carefully selected the right ambient lighting, the right music and the right display of product. Even the accidentally broken bottle of ‘CD I hate perfume’ ended up wafting through the store making this another sensory experience for the opening launch crowd.
Icarus Store is located at 42 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills.
www.icarusstore.com – head over on a Saturday to chat to Nathan and his girlfriend Karen, who go beyond retail and actually take pride in customer service.
19
Top 10 men’s fashion brands … and why …
Which men’s fashion brands are the most popular in the world of style today? With a commitment to excellent design, tailoring and manufacturing, these leading menswear brands will give you a fashion fix for life.
1. Ralph Lauren
A luxury lifestyle brand like no other, Polo Ralph Lauren tops the men’s fashion brand charts (especially in the USA) in male wear. Ralph Rueben Lifshitz (aka Ralph Lauren) did not attend fashion school, but worked for Brooks Brothers as a salesman in the early sixties. In 1967, with the financial backing of a friend, Lauren opened a necktie store where he also sold ties of his own design, under the label “Polo.” In 1970, Ralph Lauren won the COTY Award for his menswear line. Around that same time he released a line of women’s suit that were tailored in a classic men’s style, which was when the first Polo emblem was seen. It was on the cuff of the women’s suit. Ralph Lauren, released Polo’s famous short sleeve mesh shirt with the Polo logo in 1972. It came out in 24 colors and soon became a classic. He also gained recognition for his design after he was contracted to provide clothing styles for the movie The Great Gatsby. The rest is history.
Today, Ralph Lauren is a US-based sought-out brand preferred by many men for its quality, design and chic, high-end fashion. In 2009, Ralph Lauren reportedly had a market value of $11 billion.
2. Diesel
Vibrant, bred in Italy and a firm favorite with men around the world, Diesel’s clothing is aimed at the young adult market, particularly its jeans, but the brand can now be found on everything from underwear to fragrance. Diesel’s innovative approaches to fashion and art includes endorsing young creativity by sponsoring the Diesel-U-Music Contest and the Sundance Film Festival as well as being the first clothing company to market their clothing in video games.
3. Calvin Klein
CK is a popular for its mad style amongst most fashion conscious guys. From sportswear, to denim and underwear, the CK brand is iconic and has made huge strides in the world of designer brands. Think of the fragrance line alone – ‘Eternity’, ‘Obsession’ and ‘CK One’ – each a stand-alone brand in itself. Calvin Klein’s underwear business, promoted in the 1990s with giant billboards showing images of pop singer “Marky Mark” – now actor Mark Warlberg – was so successful that the brand’s underpants became generally known as “Calvins” in everyday lexicon. As of 2008, Calvin Klein’s proceeds stood at $5.8 billion.
4. GUCCI
This Italian brand is a top men’s fashion luxury line which claims a wide share of the global market. The trademark striped webbing on their leather goods has been just one of many clever innovations that have come from the inspirational house of Gucci. Founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, the brand has gone through a thousand and one evolutions, from fame to shame, from true design to fighting knock-offs and from family roots to deep rivalry. “In the 1960s and 1970s, Gucci had been at the pinnacle of chic, thanks to icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Jacqueline Onassis. But by the 1980s, Gucci had lost its appeal, becoming a tacky airport brand.” Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. However a turnaround of the company was devised in the late 1980s and has since made Gucci one of the world’s most influential fashion houses – it was recently named one of the best classic garment dealers in the world and sported an ample $4.5 billion in earnings in 2009.
* Useless fact – Guinness World Records cites Gucci’s “Genius Jeans” as the most expensive jeans in the world. A pair of Gucci jeans that had been distressed, ripped and covered with African beads, when they debuted in October 1998 in Milan, were priced at US $3,134.
5. Burberry Prorsum
Founded by 1856 by Thomas Burberry, a 21-year-old former draper’s apprentice, Burberry Prorsum is today a deluxe British-owned fashion corporation, popular for its clothing, fragrances and fashion accessories. The brand’s distinctive tartan pattern, a type of plaid pattern, has become one of its most widely copied trademarks of all time including the Burberry Equestrian Knight Logo with the Latin word “Prorsum”, (def: forwards) developed in 1901. In 1911 the brand became the outfitters for Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, and Ernest Shackleton, who led a 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica. A Burberry gabardine jacket was worn by George Mallory on his ill-fated attempt on Mount Everest in 1924. In 1914 Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to adapt its officer’s coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare, resulting in the “trench coat”. After the war, the trench coat became popular with civilians.
The iconic Burberry black, white, red and tan check was created in the 1920s and used as a lining in its trench coats. Today, the Burberry Prorsum brand is well-known for using British celebrities in its advertising, including models Kate Moss, and most recently actress Emma Watson, who was named the face of Burberry’s 2009 Fall/Winter campaign. Burberry accrued sales of $1.125 billion in 2009, 25% of which resulted from the American market.
6. Nike
According to Greek mythology, Nike was the goddess who personifies victory and today, the Nike “swoosh” logo is universally recognised as a symbol of “triumph”. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight, Nike is the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment with revenue in excess of $19.2 billion USD in the 2009 fiscal year .
Positioned as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and expensive products, Nike lures customers with a marketing strategy centered on a carefully protected “urban fashion” brand image popular in the youth, chav and hip hop cultures, and via sponsorship agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams. Nike’s brands include Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Skateboarding and subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike also teamed up recently with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike+ product which monitors a runner’s performance via a radio device in the shoe which links to the iPod nano.
7. True Religion
This fast growing, trend setting and street edgy American premium clothing line, was established in 2002 by Jeffrey Lubell and co-founder Kym Gold when it debuted denim products from their LA base.
Recognized for its t-shirts, western styled shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants all containing the western vintage feel, True Religion is a premium brand – its jeans can range between US$250–$300. Recently the company has begun branching into new products such as footwear, headwear, handbags, swimwear, eyewear, and fragrance and today they have around 900 branded boutiques and specialty stores in 50 countries on 6 continents. Their 2008 revenue figures came in at USD $270 million and in 2009, True Religion generated world net sales of $311 million.
8. Abercrombie & Fitch
A US bred fashion brand, A&F is a booming men’s garment conglomerate that brought in $3.54 billion in 2009. The brand specifically focuses on casual wear and accessories for a target consumer ages of 18 through 22. With over 300 locations in the United States, the brand has embarked on international expansion throughout various world markets
The brand is today heavily promoted as a international near-luxury lifestyle concept. The company began cultivating an upscale image after the opening of its Fifth Avenue flagship store in 2005 alongside Prada and other upscale retailers, coming up with a fictional dictionary term – “Casual Luxury” – “[using] the finest cashmere, pima cottons, and highest quality leather to create the ultimate in casual, body conscious clothing,” and “implementing and/or incorporating time honored machinery …to produce the most exclusive denim…” This upscale image has allowed A&F to open stores in international locations concentrating on high-end retailing. To that effect, price points in international A&F stores are notoriously almost double the American pricing to promote an international upscale image. While the Casual Luxury “image” is continued, the trademark itself is not as widely used as before. CEO Mike Jeffries calls the A&F image a “movie” because of the “fantasy” that plays out instore. Even some of the A&F clothing is given a story: “You buy into the emotional experience of a movie,” Jeffries explains, “And that’s what we’re creating. Here I am walking into a movie, and I say, ‘What’s going to be [at] the box office today?’” (The Stylemeister: “Hmmm … sounds a bit cheeseball and try hard, Mr Jeffries.”)
9. Dolce&Gabbana
Recently celebrating 20 years of design, the original brand was founded by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, and is more formal and ‘timeless’ than it’s younger, more flamboyant little brother D&G – a slightly more casual line that follows an urban inspiration and attempts to set trends rather than follow them. The design house describes itself as “new luxury, authentic and unconventional – a style that expresses new forms of elegance, presenting itself as a modern classicism” and is known for its geometric and dark approach to fashion.
10. Armani
Ranked as one of the world’s leading menswear brands, Armani is an Italian luxury fashion which has a faithful male following who appreciate the clean, tailored lines of each collection. Giorgio Armani formed his company in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with the business making an annual turnover of $1.6 billion, and a Giorgio enjoying a personal fortune of $5.3 billion. Innovative and future forward, Armani was the first designer to ban models with a body mass index (BMI) under 18. The Armani Privé spring/summer 2007 fashion show was broadcast via MSN and Cingular cellular phones and after LG teamed with Prada to introduce the LG Prada phone, Samsung joined Armani to design the Giorgio Armani phone. Armani designed made-to-measure suits for Christian Bale’s character Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight. Soon, ads featuring “Giorgio Armani for Bruce Wayne” were released with pictures of Christian Bale wearing Armani suits. However, Bale later claimed in a GQ interview that the campaign was produced without his permission.
Armani has established approximately 2,000 stores worldwide with a yearly revenue of around $1 billion.
Other mentionables not on the list are Prada Pour Homme, Harley Davidson Clothing and Ed Hardy – each iconic, each with a distinctive male offering. Get out there, check them ALL out for yourself, you won’t regret the investment.
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Resources:
Annmicha Blugh, Break Studios Contributing Writer, www.mademan.com
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Investor Relations
Better Investing, The Leader in Investment Report: Nike
Burberry Brings Its Luxurious Brand
Fashion Design Schools: Giorgio Armani Profile
Market Research World
Harley Davidson Sets Lay-offs
University of Oregon Investment Group
True Religion Apparel Inc.
www.wikipedia.org
12
Active Sportswear – are you for real?
Given the massive focus on active sports wear due to the recent focus on the World Cup & Wimbledon – MSP is looking into semi-casual sportswear for blokes, which is proving itself to be more sophisticated than ever before. Active Sportswear also covers sports that aren’t so commercial such as fly-fishing, hunting, sailing, aviation and hiking. No offense fellas, we are aware these sports are dear to your ticker, yet in the light of their social popularity, only the select authentic few are passionate about them. (ps- aviation style/fashion to follow in next week’s blog).
Many moons ago, we saw that luxury brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton were venturing into the sports arena with the likes of Adidas and more, to create a semi-casual yet premium look, which quite frankly – worked. The price tag lowered, the ranges expanded, and men could move out of their gym gear and still feel like themselves (in sports clothing) and wear this to outings without having to feel like a tosser and dress in something appropriate that they weren’t comfortable in. Like? Yes.
So in ’style speak’ here’s what’s happening.
Denim textures are changing, there’s more of a rugged appearance developing, shoes are distressed more and more, (which reminds me of a funny story to tell you about a friend of ours and his new R.M Williams, and how he accidentally de-stressed them while stressing himself!), and there is a more sublimated depth to the fabrics.
Because MSP is all about keeping it ‘macho’ and ‘real’, I’m not even going to write about the deceptive trends that I see rising over the horizon when it comes to the faux fur that is being sewn into velvet jackets and hoodies, which will give you a ‘plush’ feel about yourself – it’s way too dandy for the likes of blokes that I chat to. But I am pleased to announce a more engineered nature to the sportswear that is emerging. Knits are being reworked in every manner by designers, and metallics are shining through but if you don’t want to wear your gold Nikes down the street, then that’s fine. We’re happy for you to do so in the comfort of your own home. But don’t be shocked when you see them on the shelves. Just slowly turn away, and walk to the ‘authentic and manly’ shelves and sigh quietly under your breath. You’ve escaped a bullet. Bond.
One area of sportswear that is sitting on top of the ‘uber-cool ladder’ is the virtual leather patches hanging over shoulders or on the elbows of jackets, the finer piping around pockets and the gloves that are needed in the southern hemisphere right now. What is going on with the cold-snap! Freak!
Men either can handle their clothing snug, or they need it to be loose. Depending on your body shape of course. Climate performance jackets are now multi-purpose and user-friendly. Much like an iPad. They’re adaptable, which is a big YES to the men who don’t want to look like they’re trying too hard in the fashion arena, and most are reversible which gives you a satisfying feeling that your money is well spent. Fleece tops are being reworked, but if you are like me, you’d prefer a sheep-skin jacket that is a little vintage. Some designers who are trying to innovate are taking the classic sheepskin and making it into something that is a cross pollination of a hoodie and a terry toweling cardigan. Don’t go there!
One area that I am really digging in this new emergence of sportswear is the 2011 adaptation of the cropped khaki or hiking pant. Snapping just under the knee, you’ll find the functionality when you’re doing your ‘crouching tiger hidden dragon’ the design gives you more flexibility and doesn’t pull at your crouch. We’re diggin’ it! The colours are still in dark and heavy shades, and we’re still feeling like men when we go hunting. Loving it sick!
6
Chillax dude … be casual about your stylin’
You like kicking back, you don’t like fussin’ too much with your gear, you couldn’t care less if the world’s haute couture designers and their creations were banned from the face of the planet (except that all those gorgeous models would also disappear from the catwalks …), you pull on whatever looks good and is within hands’ reach, and your wardrobe motto is “keep it simple stupid!”
You’re casual … dude!
Nothing wrong with that … you’ve just got better things to do than obsess about brand, fit and trends. However you’re not 100% clueless about your style.
Your brands are Levi, Worn Free, Swear and Volta shoes, Calvin Klein, Redwing, American Apparel, Abercrombie & Fitch, Armani Collezioni, Nudie Jeans and G-Star Raw.
To keep it casual, just make sure you’re on top of the best pieces to keep that look going:
28
Virtual Style: Men’s fashion on Second Life
I was poking around the web today when a very cool site nabbed my attention – An online gallery focused on the fashion of 3D men in the virtual world ‘Second Life’. Talk about stylishly trippin on fantasy.
Apparently SLmen.com is one of the major men’s fashion websites on Second Life, with now more than 3,500 unique visitors per day average (the numbers can rise to 6,000 on days when new posts are published) and an average 400,000 page views per month! SLmen is included in the “fashion planet stream“, which allows even more readers to see each of the post 600 posts published to date. Seemingly impressive numbers …
Each SLmen fashion pic is carefully created by designers living in Second Life, using best practices in photography and lighting in SL, as well as the best poses on the market (model poses can be purchased with SL currency – the Linden dollar – everything and anything’s for sale I guess in a hypothetical universe).
As well, most of the fashion items in the pics on SLmen are available for sale on Second Life and can be bought and tried virtually via a SLURL to the designer’s shop.
And here we were thinking that Second Life and existing in virtual worlds was a dying trend! Not to the apparently 18 million registered account users.
Although the MSP crew is more interested in living in the real world, we must admit that SLmen’s fashion is out of this universe … literally. Take inspiration from it and if you’re game (get the pun?), try Second Life and its fashion world for yourself. www.secondlife.com
23
Get racy with OntFront’s casual street style
Dudes, start your engines! If you love fast cars, this new men’s collection, ‘Shift Gear‘, will tickle your racing funny bone.
Beautiful black, stream-lined cars and lots of horsepower was the inspiration for Amsterdam-based OntFront’s fifth collection’. The menswear label, which prides its self on designing for the bad boy and the gentleman, takes on a streetwise approach that they call “sidewalk tailoring” with clean cut yet hardcore designs that emulate a fast city life.
For their fall/winter 2010-11 offering, head designer Liza Koifman drew her inspiration from the world of street racing and night life: “I’ve always had a love for the aesthetics of car design. Spyker, Lamborghini …The aerodynamic lines and forms of fast cars are the basis for this collection of OntFront.”
The 68-piece collection, which consists of jackets, t-shirts, jeans, shirts, and unique blazers, is primarily made with dark colours like asphalt and car tire black, with highlights in red and eggplant colour. The Italian and French imported materials are high in quality being both ‘water resistant’ and breathable.
We love the OntFront aesthetic, pity the label’s only available in The Netherlands and China … when, oh when will they find a distributor Stateside & Down Under?
To get a peek at more from OntFront visit www.ontfront.com.
Oh, and watch the launch video for the collection right here – quirky, yet quite engaging! OntFront – the \”ShiftGear\” Fall/Winter 2010-11 Collection Video
15
The Wrap on Scarves
It’s getting chilly down under (the MSP’s HQ), so we thought we’d give our fans a few tips on how to wear scarves this winter.
Scarves are versatile accessories that instantly lift your look and and add a touch of colour and dashin’ style to wardrobe and they keep you really warm against the cold, frost and wind. However, many dudes avoid scarves because they’re not sure how to wear them other than just plonking them on your shoulder … so … here are just a few examples to help you wrap that scarf with style. Enjoy!
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- The desert scarf conjures up vision of Lawrence of Arabia and old world elegance. It’s a great look if you can pull it off …
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- The casual over-two-shoulders look is versatile and classic.
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- Stripes … nice …
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- This square edged scarf looks great draped over both shoulders and adds bulk to your muscle!
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- The silk scarf is a lighter option for those warmer days.
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- The skinny scarf gives you a lean, hungry look. Think ‘Blue Steel’!
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- Try tying your scarf to one shoulder, it’s debonair and will make you stand out from the pack …
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- Really cold? The “complete wrap, no drape” will keep you warm, cosy and stylish …
19
Best Jeans for Men
Distressed, ripped, tattooed or all-dark and sleek – jeans are now very OK, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, in the office and out of it, as everyday wear in men’s clothing. They’re so ‘in’, that Yves Saint Laurent even once commented that, “I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all I hope for in my clothes.”
When it comes to jeans dudes, you don’t have to go super-tight, but at the same time, don’t be afraid of going to a tighter cut than what you might normally feel comfortable in. Slim tapered jeans look great on most men, but if you’re not game, a straight leg or boot cut will function just as well.
Jeans are accentuated best by the shoes you wear (see examples in the image gallery below) and by the top you choose to match the jeans with.
In summer, a simple tee will do, and in winter, try layering – wear a white tee or singlet, a jean shirt (open) and a dark biker leather jacket also open worn over the jean shirt – HOT!
When it comes to designer jean labels, True Religion, Levi, Rock & Republic, Diesel, even JAG, all offer edgy, progressive design inspired by rock & roll and bikers with an emphasis on modern silhouettes and sleek fits. And if you hadn’t thunk it already, the denim industry is a trillion dollar heavyweight that has a finger in every fashion label – and the ad campaigns for denim go through the roof – both in originality and price, as denim marketers try to catch your attention.
Ignore the hype and look for the best deals possible: You can get great specials on jeans (particularly at the end of a season), but without a special, a really good pair can be found for around $140 or so if you shop cleverly. This is not unreasonable, a good pair of jeans should last you a long time if taken care of properly.
Here’s a breakdown of the best jeans styles around and a bit of info on what you should pick for you!
Straight and Loose Fit
Straight jeans are cut the same width from thigh to hip and seem to suit most men, especially those a little heavier all round. Straight jeans also suit the older gentleman because they tend to be more classic and traditional but please, please gents DO NOT TUCK your shirts into your jeans unless you have a waist to die for. Big tums accentuated by tucked in shirts are not flattering at all; instead try a dark, untucked shirt with a u-shaped silhouette to make you look slim.
Loose fit jeans have more room on the bottom and thigh by about an inch. They have a tapered leg but it is a bit looser than the classic cut. Loose or relaxed fit jeans are the most popular for men because they generally feel more relaxed and they allow men to move more and be active.
Boot Cut
Western jeans are a similar fit to classic jeans because they have a slim fitting bottom and thigh, but instead of a normal leg they have a boot leg cut which simply means the jeans are tighter around the bottom of the leg.
Slim
‘Slim fit’ is exactly that – slimming and tapered all the way down from thigh to heel. Suited to the slimmer and muscled man.
Tight & Skinny
A trend that’s been around for a while (and that doesn’t look to be going away that quickly either) is the ’skinny jean’ – a blood constricting fit, cut throughout the leg. Tight jeans are particularly popular with teenagers and young adult males. This generation is currently in the midst of a jeans revolution. Skinny jeans are a part of the younger generation’s culture and way of expressing themselves and making their own fashion standards.
Carrot Jeans
Carrot jeans are for the brave. The very, very strong and courageous. This new, and growing trend made for the trend mad youth market is suited to the daring male fashionista. Apparently a brainchild of the Levi Corporation, the style was “inspired by the Tokyo’s underground subcultures and (is) a fresh attitude to an otherwise tired and drab denim world”. As the name suggests the jeans are baggy around the thighs – sometimes excessively roomy a la harem pants – and taper down to a narrow ankle. Not for me folks, not for me, but if you’re game, please rock the carrot by all means!
And finally, here’s a sneak peek at Mangano’s new denim for men ad campaign. HOT!
10
World Cup Soccer Style
The World Cup enthralls more people around the globe than any other event, sports or otherwise. Every four years, in pubs and corporate boardrooms, thatched huts and flophouses, fans of “the Beautiful Game” gather around televisions and transistor radios—and now, for the deep of pocket, iPhones and 3-D flat screens—to cheer for their heroes. They watch and listen by the billions, holding their breath at every corner kick, falling to their knees or leaping for joy at every goal scored. That this year’s tournament is in South Africa, where apartheid was the law of the land until 1994, only adds to the heightened sense of celebration—this is about a whole lot more than just soccer. It’s about humanity uniting for 30 days and millions of eyeballs focused on one collective … wait for it … goal. It’s almost tear jerking …
So what should you know about World Cup Soccer Style? Here’s the breakdown:
1. Bare Essentials:
Our World Soccer Stars have bared it all (bar their national flags) for Vanity Fair’s Annie Leibowitz. For the June issue of Vanity Fair, Annie Leibovitz set out to capture some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, Ghana’s Sulley Muntari, the U.S.A.’s Landon Donovan, Brazil’s Kaká and Pato, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, Serbia’s Dejan Stankovic, England’s Carlton Cole, and Germany’s Michael Ballack. Leibovitz’s portraits are, well, revealing. And underwear has never looked so patriotic. www.vanityfair.com.
2. Ballers in a Bottle:
Nike has unveiled its 2010 World Cup kits—or uniforms, for those unfamiliar with soccer jargon. The best part: They’re made from discarded plastic bottles harvested from landfills in Japan and Taiwan, that were melted down into yarn and then spun into fabric.
This will be the first time that all of Nike’s national teams, including Brazil, Portugal, and the Netherlands, will be wearing jerseys made from recycled polyester, which the sports-apparel giant is hailing as the most environmentally friendly and technologically advanced kits in football history.
With the recycled jerseys, Nike has diverted nearly 13 million plastic bottles from the landfill. Each shirt comprises up to eight recycled plastic bottles, a move that reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent compared with manufacturing virgin polyester. Besides saving raw materials, Nike also diverted nearly 13 million plastic bottles (or nearly 560,000 pounds of polyester waste) from the landfill—enough to cover more than 29 football pitches.
If the recycled bottles used to produce the jerseys were laid end to end, according to Nike, they would span more than 3,000 kilometers (roughly 1,860 miles), a distance that exceeds the entire South African coastline. How do you say “amazing” in all the players’ languages?
3. Bling:
What is any major sports tournament without some equally as glorious commemorative jewelry? For arguably the biggest sporting event in the world, the FIFA World Cup official ring has been created for die hard (and wealthy) fans so that they can share their love of the game. Believe me when I say these aren’t just some cheap game day gimmick. No sir, far from that.
The FIFA World Cup official ring ranges in price from $2,500 to $250,000. The ones at the upper end of that scale will be made from platinum and, I’m sure, will be jam-packed with stones. Two gold rings will be donated with one going to the FIFA organization for the MVP, and the other going to UNICEF.
4. Brand Games:
FIFA is venturing into the fashion world, with their own brand, fashion line and flagship stores. As the BIG game looms, five different fashion lines are being manufactured furiously, with an eye to bringing in more cash at South Africa 2010.
Official FIFA stores have sprung up in Singapore and Paris, with a number of other branches to open up in the future. The lines will also leak into fashion-type stores in the near future as well – so fret not if you’re desperate for Sepp’s mug on a polo yet can’t jet to Singapore or Paris any time soon. As of now we’ve only spotted four images of an unnamed line, but they look precisely what you’d expect: sporty.
However for all your world cup merchandise the best stop shop is WorldSoccerShop.com for your team jerseys, shorts, scarves, socks, caps, hats, balls, posters and even and retro gear a la Brazil 1958 and Cuba 1962. It’s every mad, crazy fans nirvana!
So gents, kit up in your World Cup team colours, start practicing your roar, and get styled up in time for South Africa 2010!
18
A Cardigan and Pullover Affair
Gents, as winter creeps toward the Southern Hemisphere (MSP’s home base), & the nights begin to have that wee bit of a bite, we feel it prudent to urge you all to cover up and do it in a casual, laid back and very sexy cool style – the cardigan.
For those of you with curious minds, the cardigan is a type of sweater (or jumper) that ties, buttons or zips down the front; in contrast, a pullover does not open in front but must be “pulled over” the head to be worn. The cardigan was named after aristocratic, flamboyant and stylish James Thomas Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan – a British military commander, following his service in the Crimean War, of which he spent most nights of the campaign aboard his luxury steam yacht, ‘Dryad’, in Balaclava Harbour. It during this war that the Earl was seen sporting a knitted waistcoat – the first of its kind – and the look became instantly became fashionable amongst the stylish set of the day.
Manly, elegant and a great way to show off your pecs, cardigans and even sweaters are often worn over shirts and inside suit jackets as a kind of less formal waistcoat or vest. Cardies are great ways to play with colour in your wardrobe so don’t always stick to traditional neutral colours like black or white. How about red, yellow or even electric blue? That’ll jazz up your style and give people something to talk about.
When it comes to material, wool and cotton combination cardies are the best – they keep you warm and let you breathe at the same time – and like any good wardrobe piece, pay good money for a quality piece that will last you for many years.
PS. The 7th Earl of Cardigan was a rogue to say the least – He married young and then scandalised society by leaving his wife and marrying his mistress, achieving still greater notoriety as he had been conducting an affair with her as his wife was dying. He fought duels often with various imagined enemies and despite his bravery in the field, was often censured for his cruel mistreatment of soldiers in his charge. After his retirement in 1866 he passed his time with hunting and shooting, with the occasional foray to London to speak in the House of Lords and to press for further official recognition of his glorious military career. He died from injuries caused by a fall from his horse on 28 March 1868, possibly following a stroke. Hmmm …
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