Archival Clothing has further expanded their collection of sturdy, American-made bags with the Archival Roll Top. They have become very well known for their well-sourced and high quality materials on all of their baggage. They have done an excellent job with their Rucksack, Duffle and Dopp Kit; naturally we are excited to see their thoughtful expansion.
Our Archival Roll Top is a comfortable, roomy, stripped-down backpack for keeping your belongings dry and safe in any conditions. Slightly larger than our Rucksack, the Roll Top is great for bicyclists, motorcyclists, and anyone else who regularly faces the elements.
Mjölk (milk) is a Toronto retailer based out of The Junction. Owners John Baker and July Daoust curate a selection of goods from Scandinavia and Japan with an excellent eye for function and design. A standout piece from their selection is the Concrete Shaving Kit designed by Lovisa Wattman.
The concrete shaving kit includes a shaving dish made from soft concrete, shaving soap, and a traditional beech brush with badger hair bristles. Iris Hantwerk employs visually impaired craftspeople to create beautiful handmade brushes. Each individual bundle of bristles are bound to hardwood handles just like they were made in the 19th century.
The arrival of Haven to Toronto not only adds to the roster of menswear retailers, but it also contributes to the cities still growing and malleable fashion identity. Toronto oscillates between high and low fashion, existing in the ambiguous gray area of style. We have yet to carve out a foothold for ourselves within the greater landscape of global fashion, relying on trends passed down to us from our neighbors to the south. Haven may begin to change things more quickly.
Purveyors of hard to find and meticulously crafted Japanese streetwear brands, Haven will also offer Toronto a lesson plan on style 101. As more and more Japanese brands begin to open up distribution to international retailers, the more outsiders (people who do not or have not been to Japan) get to appreciate the integrity and design of the clothes.
Haven has one of the most impressive line-up of brands, not just in Toronto, but also in North America. Junya Watanabe, White Mountaineering, Non Native, Sophnet, WTAPS, Neighbour, all top off a list of designers that measure in the high 30’s. Most of these brands will be accompanied by a hefty price tag and it would be understandable to be intimated by the number 400 attached to a shirt. But there is greater value to be reaped from these items: the appreciation of finely designed garments, intended not to last for a season, but for a lifetime. Fast fashion has been a blessing and a curse. The blessing, giving access to high design to a community normally alienated by the upper echelons of fashion, is beneficial. The curse may be slightly more subversive. With fast fashion, our choice as the consumer signifies that we will accept less in quality of our clothes. The market has become over-saturated with fast fashion design, and well-made items are not only harder to find, but now more difficult to appreciate in value.
Read the full article ahead.
Words: Paul is a freelance writer based in Toronto.
Photos: Inquiring Mind
If you’ve been keeping up with our Twitter feed you probably already know that we will be helping to host Diamond Atlas’ first concert/event series Fortune featuring performances by Southern Shores, Foxes in Fiction, and Teen Daze.
Fortune is a sound and visual showcase with a mission to create an incredible night of live music, visual art, and bring out a whole new group of show goers, music lovers and weirdos alike. The first Fortune showcase will take place on May 3rd, 2012, at The Garrison here in Toronto. We’re really proud to be a part of bringing forth amazing talent to our city and being able to work with Diamond Atlas.
In anticipation to the event we will be posting exclusive material on the blog, the first of which is this deep listening mixtape put together by Warren Hildebrand of Foxes in Fiction. It has become THE mixtape we go to when were looking to get some work done or just zone out and reconnect with the world around us. A truly beautiful landscape of transportive sonic wavelengths. Below is what Warren had to say about his motivations behind the work.
“This mixtape is a collection of some of my favourite instrumental and ambient music that I’ve come across in the past few years. I usually reserve a lot of this stuff for periods when I’m feeling especially stressed and strung out. As I’m sure is the case with a lot of people who enjoy this kind of music, I always find that binging on ambient music helps me to relax and retreat into my own mind and process whatever thoughts that I have endlessly rattling around in my head. I also tried to sequence all these songs in way that would work best for the kind of music that it is and the kind of energy each song has as to not be completely boring. I hope you enjoy these recordings as much as I do and attach your own memories and meaning to each of them.”
- Foxes in Fiction
Tracklist and an explanation about the philosophy of deep listening are after the jump.
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The PLUMEN 001 is the world’s first designer energy saving light bulb. It uses 80% less energy than the traditional incandescent light bulb, keeps down electricity bills and is better for the environment. It also lasts around 8 times longer.
The Plumen 001 was awarded the Brit Insurance Design of the Year in 2011, one of the world’s highest profile international design awards. It was awarded the prestigious Black Pencil at the D&AD awards in the same year. It has been recognized by renowned design collections around the world including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Finnish Design Museum.
We are very excited to announce our latest stockist, Roden Gray from Vancouver. Roden Gray will be carrying our latest from the HNDSM Jewelry Collection starting this season. We have been fans of Roden Gray for years as they are leaders in Vancouver with their Gastown storefront as well as globally through their renowned online store.
Roden Gray carries a large selection of well curated brands including Band of Outsiders, Chauncey, Comme Des Garcons, Common Projects, Junya Watanabe MAN, Nonnative, Robert Geller, Thom Browne and Wings + Horns. We are very pleased to have HNDSM added to the list.
Roden Gray
8 Water Street
Vancouver, BC RodenGray.com
The knowledgeable staff at Odin NYC put us onto Kyoku, a brand of body products marketed towards men. Kyoku was founded by Asim Akhtar who comes from a lineage of skincare/beauty experts. Kyoku was spawned from the time Akhtar spent in rural Japan where he noted the exceptional health and skin of men in the area.
Asim took key ingredients from a range of plants, vegetables and herbs in the area, which were combined with his knowledge and access to cutting-edge skincare technology to create Kyoku. The brand now boasts a selection of products for shaving, skincare and cleansing. Two of our favourites are the Razor Repair Balm and Facial Moisturizer.
The Kyoku Facial Moisturizer contains bamboo, avocado oil, green tea leaf, aloe vera, plankton, vitamin E as well as SPF 15 to keep your skin smooth and protected.
There are a handful of body care companies that we have become fans of including Malin + Goetz, Dermalogica, Kiehl’s and Aesop. They each have their strong pionts and we have been putting in our research to select what is worth adding to your daily regiments. Our most recent find is Aesop’s spray deodorant which has proved to be a very effective choice.
A spray deodorant for men and women, with an appealing vetiver scent. Contains zinc ricinoleate and a blend of essential oils – including lemongrass, clove and vetiver root – that inhibit the growth of bacteria, preventing body odor from developing. Additional essential oils assist with anti-microbial activity and disguise odor. Contains no aluminum.
Beyond The Black Rainbow looks really promising. Some people have taken to calling it 2001: A Clockwork Tron Enter the Sunshine Void for its obvious thematic and visual similarities to those movies.
“Set in the strange and oppressive emotional landscape of the year 1983, Beyond The Black Rainbow is a Reagan-era fever dream inspired by hazy childhood memories of midnight movies and Saturday morning cartoons.
Rainbow is the outlandish feature film debut of writer and director Panos Cosmatos. Featuring a hypnotic analog synthesizer score by Jeremy Schmidt of Sinoia Caves and Black Mountain.”
Karl Lagerfeld is an interesting cat. Watch as he interviews himself and drops some knowledge on work ethic, muses, personal style, and how/why he went into fashion.
