Suitsupply Landed in Milano

Deconstruct a Suitsupply garment piece by piece, and the label’s truly uncompromising ethos comes quickly into sharp focus. The brand is resolute, intelligent. And the quality of its finery isn’t just a fleeting impression: a respect for craftsmanship is entrenched through and through in its DNA. Seams are manually-sewn by skilled hands, cuts are meticulously researched, tailoring is superb. The marque’s garments speak of a finesse and refinement that may just as well have come from a Savile Row atelier.

Today, quality is all-too-often compromised in the face of fashion. Men’s style has become on the one hand fast and disposable and on the other too-precious and rarified: it’s either attainable yet ephemeral or haughty and unwelcoming. But Suitsupply manages to defy the system to create garments that are enduring, fashion-forward, rigorously made and surprisingly affordable. As a result, it is a brand that is both resolutely bespoke and pleasingly democratic. Its workmanship is of the finest calibre, and its pieces are up to snuff among even the finest names in menswear. Its materials are sourced from exactly the same stock as others whose asking price is dramatically more, and its excellence is every bit their equal.

Suitsupply is smart sartorial. It’s enough to examine the curves and textures of one of the label’s classic, enduring designs or to run your fingers over the fine stitching to understand. In an age when it is not merely pretty clothes that make the man, but rather that which is behind the clothes, Suitsupply is a well-rounded erudite, worthy of consideration from even the most discerning. It is ambition. Careful consideration. Power. Savvy. And a bellwether for the modern man.

Tag Christof – photo courtesy of 2DM Management

Pitti Uomo 81

The sun shone upon Florence during the 81st edition of Pitti Uomo Fall/Winter 2012-2013. Despite the economic climate that has engulfed the past few seasons, a bright optimism pervaded the renaissance city, which took stock of the men’s fashion just before the Milan fashion week (January 14 – 17). At the Fortezza da Basso, the 16th century fort which plays host to the best of ‘Made in Italy’ and international fashion, we joined the chorus of tastemakers who had all invaded the city for the same reason: to get a taste of the vanguard of men’s style in the new year.

Having precious little time to visit, we made sure to mark a few favourites on our map. In the central pavilion nestled in amongst numerous brands, we stopped at Jeckerson, where high colour trousers – all made with organic fabrics and low water vegetable dyes – seemed to fight against the monotony of a monochromatic look. Meanwhile on the ground floor, Manuel Ritz presented perfectly tailored jackets with bright details that looked both comfortable and versatile.

The retro style of Vintage 55 attracted our attention in the Cortile della Ghiaia, while the Lyceum – the area committed to the emerging metropolitan expressions of international creativity – gave us a look at the Parisian brand Bleu de Paname, which uses only French materials and Japanese denim to produce its sober yet original collections. A high standard of quality and functionality set apart Digel, the classic German label, with its clever “iSuit” featuring an integrated smartphone charger. Handy!

At the Arsenal, a vintage flavour dominated SOHO’s showcase, and the boxes housed the brilliantly made t-shirts of Japanese purveyor Riding High, the brand made in Japan devoted to crafts and simplicity as its “standmate” The Superior Labor.

Despite the fact that they were facing one another Swiss Chriss and Masons offered two totally different takes on style: the former was minimalist and high-style while the latter was set up as an old-fashioned food market with with real and fragrant cold cuts and vegetables. Next, in New Beat(s) we discovered colourful sneakers inspired by the silhouette of the desert boot from Denmark’s House of Montague, on their first outing ever at Pitti. In Urban Panorama, we met Uniform and its rockin’ vintage 80’s atmosphere, complete with its bold ‘U’ logo.

Last but not least, we had just enough time to get to the Sale della Ronda, the rooms whose pavilions were dedicated to ‘touch’ and everything visceral. The project collected pieces that marry traditional garments with unconventional and more contemporary approaches. Here we found Department Five and Peter Non that presented its collection of hand-made shoes enriched by wool tapestries created by designer Renata Bonfanti. We also came across the experimental and unique vision of London’s Savile Row b store, which draws inspiration from musical icons such as David Bowie and Joy Division. Also in this area we found Pedaled perfectly suited to active people, who live their lives in the open air.

Continuing its process of renewal process, Pitti Uomo 81 focused on high quality in craftsmanship and took no umbrage at paying more attention to the needs of the most demanding niche of customers. In this way, ‘made-to-measure’ and personalisation seem to be the key ideas menswear labels are using to fight conformism and homologation.

Our tour (de force) at Pitti came to an end a little too soon, but before leaving Florence we couldn’t miss the live Waterproof performance arranged by Pirelli. The event, to celebrate the Pirelli PZero raincoat, took place in the Tepidarium, a glass house from the late 19th century. The evocative scene included a rainbow of colourful balloons suspended over guests, tall mannequins dressed in PZero raincoats and huge umbrellas with video projections and bowlers – which recall men the style of Magritte’s men. Electronic music and excellent food accompanied a nice end to our time at Pitti.

Lola Montes Schnabel / Carte Blanche

Last month she made a splash at The Hole in New York’s Bowery. And for Milan Men’s Fashion Week, we’ll see her in a decidedly more comfortable state here in Milan. Lola Montes Schnabel, the multitalented and pedigreed artist, has conceived a fantastic new capsule collection together with Sportmax for the third edition of its Carte Blanche series, whose previous headliners were Kim Gordon and Christophe Brunnquell. The initiative is art in motion, and a surprisingly direct injection of art into fashion.

The collection of 1,000 numbered pieces will include 3 foulards, a top and a shopping tote. All present an interesting twist on classic watercolor technique, as the originals were all painted on paper explicitly destined for diplomas. (Smart fashion?) The effect looks to be stunning – one of the foulards in particular looks like a mini reproduction of one of her massive canvases art critics drooled over in New York. Of the pieces the says, “my designs come from the unconscious, sometimes I watch them grow without knowing where they’ll end up…”

The collection will be presented the 16th of January at Sportmax’s flagship store on Via della Spiga, from 5:30pm, and Montes Schnabel herself will be in attendance.

Sandra Suy / Elle Netherlands

2DM’s Sandra Suy mined the constellations for a look at our prospects for 2012 for Elle Netherlands January issue. And despite the ups and downs the year will inevitably bring, our outlooks on love, luck, and money at least all look pretty hot thanks to Sandra’s penchant for pretty. Signs become accessories, total looks. And don’t they all sound great in Dutch? Schorpioen! Maagd! Leeuw!

And Elle Netherlands itself is looking pretty good lately: its art director Tara van Munster having just won the honor of Mercur 2011 Art Director of the Year. Well deserved.

And as a nice bonus, we’ll see each of these illustrations once again in each of the coming issues of Elle this year: each will be spotlighted in its own month, starting with Aquarius (Waterman in Dutch. Nice.) in the just-hit-newsstands February issue. 2012 is already looking pretty nice! It’s written in the stars!

Dank je wel, Sandra!

Vicky Trombetta / Lurve

A new issue of Lurve is out. And you know how much we like those. This newest “Black” issue is probably the best yet in the fledgling journal’s repertoire, and features a fantastic shoot of star model Mélodie Monrose and several other gems.

2DM’s Vicky Trombetta shot the men’s fashion editorial Boys in London, alongside stylist John McCarty, with hair and makeup by Naoki Komiya and Lotten Holmqvist all at Julian Watson. The fresh, clean work typical of Trombetta nails Lurve’s energy on the head and warms with jumpers and jackets from the likes of Lanvin, Raf Simons, Dries van Noten, Jil Sander, Acne and Lou Dalton. with models Matthew from Elite, Gabe from FM, and Josh, Tidou and O’Shea all from Select.

Guest Interview n°33: Mia Moretti

It-girl and acclaimed DJ Mia Moretti has it all. The California girl with the sunny disposition and deep Italian roots cut her music mixing roots with the late, great DJ AM, and has gone on to become one of the most sought-after DJ’s of her generation. She’s also become quite the style icon, racking up points in fashion magazines and inspires with her always fresh looks. And despite her celebrity, Mia is refreshingly upbeat, and down to earth… there’s that California sunshine!

Photographer Piotr Niepsuj caught up with Moretti while she was in Milan recently for Tommy Hilfiger. We were able to catch her for a quick interview and spoke about her roots, California, her taste in music, and DJ’ing in 2020. We hope she comes back for a real party soon.

It’s legendary that your first gig ever was at The Standard in Hollywood. (Killer.) What’s been your most memorable gig since?
Playing inside the Louvre opening for Janet Jackson.

Your sets are eclectic, to say the least. So, what are your major musical fountains of inspiration? Perhaps even albums that shaped your taste in childhood…
Growing up we listened to the Beatles, Elton John, the Gypsy Kings, Bob Dylan, The Moody Blues, Janis Joplin & The Grateful Dead At Home. This definitely gave me a pretty heavy love for classic rock, but I would say the largest influence that shaped my own DJ style and that I still reference in my sets today came from living in Los Angeles from 2004 through 2008. Between my friendship with Cut Chemist, who has an endless knowledge of funk & soul, and the emerging electro scene at the time, spearheaded by Dim Mak Records and their close relationship with Ed Banger Records, I was able to develop a broader musical knowledge and delve into a wider range of genres.

You’ve also become known for your crazy good sense of style. Influences? Favorite houses/designers? Style icons?
I don’t think too much about fashion. I always just go with my mood,  and I wear what I like, rather than following a trend. I’m drawn to Italian designers because their clothes fit my body so nicely, almost every time I put on a Dolce & Gabbana dress it fits like it’s been made for me. I respect anyone who wears their clothes instead letting their clothes wear them. When you put something on to go out you should be shimmying out the door – if not, go back inside and change.

“Mia Moretti” is such an Italian name! Where are your roots in Italy? Have you spent much time here?
My grandmother is from the north and my grandfather is from the south, they met during the war and my grandpa promised my grandma he would come back for her… And he did! I studied in Verona with a Comedia dell’Arte troupe at the Opera House when I was in college and I’ve only been back a few times since. My last visit (for Tommy Hilfiger) was so short, I’m hoping I can get back again soon.

And your hometown of LA? City of Angels… city of dreams… even though you’re a world citizen, are you still a California girl?
Yes, I think I’ll always be a California girl. As tough and mean as New York will try to make me, it just can’t rob me of my sunny California disposition. My parents also raised me in a very relaxed household, so that’s a huge part of who I am as well.


Your thoughts on DJ’ing without a MacBook?
It would be nice to play on vinyl again. Every now and then I leave my computer at home and play a set on just my 45s. I still collect 45s when I travel, so it would be nice to have an excuse to buy more!

And what about DJ’ing in 2020?
Isn’t that what the robots are for?

Desert island scenario. You’ve got a turntable, speakers, and one album. What is it?
Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde

O Come All Ye Hackers!

Over Red Stripe tall cans in KK Outlet’s cozy Shoreditch space last night, we swooned over some seriously cool sweaters. But these were no run-of-the-mill charity shop finds: they’re handmade hacks with tons of personality. Artist Andrew Salomone has hacked a portable knitting machine from 1980 so that it can be used just like a desktop printer. Input a nifty design, and presto! Nan’s knitting needles are done for.

The show’s centerpiece is something of a shocker, and takes the level of awesome heretofore thought possible in a festive jumper to brave new heights: behind a handily knitted, snow-covered house is an entire light show replica of the legendary Slayer Christmas Lightorama. The ultimate holiday house on the ultimate holiday jumper, and a pleasantly over-the-top slice of American suburbia to rock around the city this holiday season.

The California native, Brooklyn-based artist knows how to make waves with his work: his Cosby inside a Cosby inside a Cosby sweater (which unfortunately didn’t make an appearance) was featured on Good Morning America, and he’s more recently aligned himself with the #occupy movement (and has helped keep some happy activists toasty warm). For O Come All Ye Hackers, the artist together with KK Outlet will also be making a few new pieces based on user-submitted artwork (visit their website for specs).

Catch some sweater action (and maybe even the artist) or pick up one of Salomone’s bespoke sweaters until December 22 at KK Outlet in Hoxton Square.

20 Years Of Dazed

20 years! 20 years since Dazed & Confuzed was launched as a black and white fanzine and morphed from left-field counterpoint into the industry of cool epicentral position it now holds.

20 years of iconic shoots and covers and parties where the best and the beautiful have preened, pouted and completely known they where were everyone dreamed of being.  One party several years ago in New York was so utterly bacchanalian that, put it this way I thought I was going home to Harlem and woke up in Williamsburg…

20 years is maturity, it’s adulthood, the year before the golden key of graduation and the party to celebrate Dazed’s 20th anniversary was fittingly elegantly mature. Hosted at Somerset House, downstairs corridors were lit with lightbox strips of back issue covers, while rooms were curated into installations of editorial artistry by former Dazed photographic director, Emma Reeves: some were jagged angular shapes, some more traditional hangings, but I think my favourite was what I called the dark room where one solitary image was blown up to cover the room in it’s entirety with a walkway between.  The image was so evocative of something wondrous that Alexander McQueen would create that somehow it felt absolutely like an homage to Dazeds past: to the time of Katy England netherworld lyricism, of their work together where shows funded on a shoestring would captivate us with hints of lone wolfs, snow trapped ice queens and toy box captives.

Here I absolutely understood that the print world of magazines, with it’s visceral pleasure in turning the page is not the same as the visual enjoyment I get from reading online, that there is a different stimulus and reaction to the two; and while digital is our future this exhibition was somehow an amazing epitaph and celebration of all things print.

2DM stylist Tamara Cincik attended the London bash celebrating Dazed’s 20th anniversary last week. We dug into our archives in Milan to find some of our favourite covers from the mid-nineties. Vintage Dazed!

Hero 6 / Bruna Kazinoti

Issue six of British boy model magazine HERO has hit the ground running with a lovely London party last month. The fattest of the volumes from the title so far, its cover is graced by quite the striking photo of roughed-up Teen Wolf actor Colton Haynes. The magazine seems to have hit a stride lately, as it begins to pop up on all shapes and sizes of newsstand.

2DM’s Bruna Kazinoti fills some major pages, with an editorial featuring Igor Stepanov (we’ve seen lately in places like Topman and GQ) and Omari Dixon (Bruna recently shot him for the pages of Re-bel and he was also in the last issue of Ponystep), both from Select. With styling by Christopher Preston, Bruna’s taste for the bad boy really shines through.

Number 6’s art direction is as strong as ever, and the issue is even more loaded than its forebears. And as HERO continues to carve out its place in the world of style, we’ll be watching. Next up is lucky number seven…

Roger Deckker / Fantastic Man

Illusionism. Sorcery. Magic. Gentlemen and ladies alike the world over recognize David Copperfield as a master of all three. Not to be confused with the legendary Dickens character (from which he borrowed his name), the debonair trickster is a Las Vegas staple and has advanced his craft far beyond mere smoke and mirrors. The man is legendary for having levitated a Ferrari. (Need we say more?) For a lengthy interview in the Fall/Winter issue of Fantastic Man, 2DM’s Roger Deckker (quite the accomplished gentleman himself) shot the definitive magician to reveal his surprisingly keen sense of the sartorial.

Deckker also shot famed and ever-so-quirky interior design demigod Ricky Clifton for this issue. Roger captured the personality of the dapper New Yorker–who is himself a master of capturing others within his lavish interiors–extremely well, and here demonstrates a mastery of portraiture.

Elsewhere in this issue of the always well-done and pleasantly literate journal are profiles of the indelible Raf Simons–unequivocally one of today’s most influential designers–as well as a look at the Covizzi brothers, chats about fine cocktails and subdued and well-made China style supplement. It is, as always, a weekend read that deserves attention from cover to cover.