NIKE Dunk SE DeLorean 6.0 2010

I dream about the future a lot.  

So apparently did Philip K. Dick, H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Sirs Isaac Asimov and Arthur Conon Doyle. What is it that draws Man to look to what might be?  Why are wormholes, parallel universes, space-time continuums, and time-machines so mind-blowing and maddeningly alluring?  Is it that we yearn to know the extent of our own mortality... Or do we all just really REALLY want a Mattel hoverboard already.  

Whatever the reasons, the ideas, thoughts, hypothesis, books, movies and...objects that appear futuristic, to those of us futurists, hold particular appeal.  It's one thing to think about the future, but another to hold it in your hand, or, wear it on your feet.  If you're a casual reader of this blog, you'll know that I am fascinated by combinations of things from the past with things from the future, such as a perfectly-tailored suit with a hypermodern pair of kicks.  Chronicled first here, and then also here, I've introduced two visually stunning pairs of sneakers that give me a sense of what we might be bounding about in in the near and distant future.  They're sleek, well thought-out, devoid of trend, and would look at home on a space-ship in the year 2050.  

Fans of the film Back to the Future II, including myself, had been clamoring for years for the Air Mags, which, in 2011, Nike finally released.  Considered to be the holy-grail for sneakerfiles, these shoes sold out immediately at jaw-dropping prices via a special auction on eBay for all 1,500 pairs, with all proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.  A posting on that pair is forthcoming...

In the meantime, Nike sated its hungry fans with several BTTF2-themed kicks.  The Nike Hyperdunk Supremes in 2008 and 2010, the Nike Hypermax McFlys, and the Nike Zoom Tre AD, all served as precursors to the eventual unveiling of the Air Mag.  However, Nike also produced something very special, not necessarily BTTF2-themed, but still a member of the club: the Nike Dunk SE DeLorean 6.0.  

Inspired by the ill-fated automobile styled for more form vice function, the DeLorean, which gained cult status with its inclusion in the BTTF trilogy, Nike designers truly outdid themselves.  On sale the night of November 26th, 2010, aka Black Friday, at nine PacSun locations in the U.S., all 1,500 pairs sold out instantly.  I was able to track down a pair in my size from a DeLorean enthusiast in southern California, and here they are.  Of note, the silvery material of the shoe closely resembles the look of stainless steel, of which the DeLorean was made, and the rear of the shoes feature designs reminiscent of the rear window covering.  However, the surprise comes on the soles: exact renderings of the taillights.  While these sneakers are not necessarily futuristic themselves, they represent and pay homage to something that was.

Trad, meet the back to the future.

  

D&G RTW S/S 2012 Pink Tuxedo Jacket

Want vs. Need.

One of my favor(u)rite lines from any movie, oddly, is from Love Actually, the rom-com even the fellas can admit to liking.  It goes a little something like this:

Professor Snape: So, erm, what do you need? ...
Secretary in the form of lust-interest: No. I don't want something I need. I want something I want.

If one happens to have the means, or the delusional insanity, to spend on frivolous luxuries, I say one only lives one (or twice, according to Nancy Sinatra) so indulge yourself not with something you need, but with something you want.

Where this wants comes from is another issue, but over-simplistically, the brands I tend to frequent, Prada, Lanvin, Hermes, Chanel do an exceptional job of creating and perpetuating "want".  Maybe the want satisfies my original hypothesis for fashion? Let's review:

Who do you want to be?
Where do you want to go?
How do you want to feel?

Perhaps this want fulfills helping me reach who it is that I want to be, helps me get to wear I want to go, and helps me feel how I want to feel.

I recently made a want vs. need purchase. Because, honestly, who needs a blushed baby pink satin and silk D&G tuxedo blazer.  As background, the Spring/Summer 2012 line would be D&G's last, as the brand would be discontinued.  Releasing a statement that read "For the upcoming seasons, D&G will become part of Dolce & Gabbana, giving even more strength and energy to our collections," Domenico and Stefano said "To us, it's like going back to when we began our adventure; full of ideas."

When I saw this piece, I immediately concluded two things: one, I want this, and; second, I know of approximately zero instances in which I would be able to wear it.  Details, details. Slight problem. I have alluded previously that, for high end fashion, I am considered to be a big guy at 6'2" 205lbs. which makes finding pieces I want both troublesome and also very easy, either my size isn't even made, or it's always available. In this case, I lucked out, a 52 and only a 52 was available.  However, I wear a 52 for my shoulders and chest and for my long torso. The arms however were laughably long, but I did not have time for it to be tailored and bought it as was. Now, here is some customer service. I take the jacket to another country, to a newly-opened Dolce & Gabbana store, where to my chagrin, only women's clothing and accessories are sold. I walk up to the counter not optimistic but explain that since I bought the jacket at another location and it's the same brand, could they send it to be tailored..... Answer: Wow, you have one of the last D&G-branded men's runway items, not only can we tailor it for you, we'll do it in the store, today.

Because of the intricacies of the cuff stitching with the satin buttons with functioning button holes, it was decided to to slightly lift the sleeves from the shoulders. How that was accomplished, I will never know, but the result was a perfectly-tailored jacket which I don't anticipate wearing anytime soon. However, I was wearing some old ripped up Diesels and a tshirt to the store when I picked up and tried on the jacket, which according to the sales associates gathered around for my fitting, commented that the look went great as is.  Hmm...

SUITSUPPLY Plaid Double-Vent Wool Suit

It was time for a new suit.

Well, not really. I have 17 already, but who's counting? ::cough cough I think I have a thread caught in my throat cough::  I subscribe to the philosophy that a man can never have too many suits, besides, it's really all we've got.  So why not enjoy what little we have to work with?  If one wanted to get technical, for each season, multiple different types of suits exist. There are also technically certain fabrics that are appropriate for one season and not another.  This blog however exists in part because I whole-heartedly believe that the rules of style are meant to be broken and, to quote myself, when choosing how to present yourself, take these ideas into account:

Who do you want to be? (Think escapism....how far do you want to run away from the normal)

Where do you want to go? (Feel as though you are being transported to)

How do you want to feel? (It's intrinsic)

I purchased this suit in Washington DC when I was briefly back for work.  Washington DC, sartorially known for: Brooks Brothers on Capitol Hill; J.Crew on M Street in Georgetown and; maybe Coogi on U. Street. These aren't criticisms, merely observations after having gone to college there and worked there for several years; every city has it's "look". DC's is a navy not-particularly-fitted suit, light blue button down, rep tie (See: The Preppy Handbook), brown shoes.  DC is getting better though, especially M Street.  Roll call: Brooks Brothers now carries the entire Thom Browne-designed Black Fleece line, there is a Rag and Bone, Camper Shoes, and now, if one were to venture down toward the Four Seasons Georgetown, (and you should), at 2828 Pennsylvania Ave (calm down, it's still Georgetown), one finds Suitsupply.

To the uninitiated, Suitsupply is a relative young company, formed in 2000 in the Netherlands and still has relatively few worldwide locations.  But where it has set up shop, it's made an impressionable impact.  In the U.S. alone, Suitsupply has garnered such awards as "best place to go shopping for suits", by New York Magazine, "coolest new store" by GQ (whose taste has dipped sharply in the past few years), and was ranked Number 1 for suits by the Wall Street Journal.  Noted.  But I needed to see for myself. 

After hitting the old reliable upstairs back room of the H&M flagship downtown DC, which has truly excellent stuff, I decided to continue my search, which brought me to the newly-opened Suitsupply.  Walking in, I had never heard of the store and immediately thought it looked like a cross between the men's department in Top Shop and J.Crew, not necessarily a bad thing.  A helpful sales associate walked up and asked if I needed any help. I like to test people like this:

"Is this like Top Man?" I pondered allowed to no one in particular.

"What is Top Man?" answered the sales associate cheerfully.  I wrinkled my nose and kept browsing.  

The folks working in the back had their sartorial ducks in a row and were extremely helpful.  I have peculiar proportions which did not seem to be any problem at all for sales associates who helped me find my general size in the suit I decided on. The associate informed me that Suitsupply does all of their own in-house tailoring, so I said: duh.  They put me in front of a floor to ceiling window and away his little hands went with pins, I felt like Cinderella surrounded by singing birds and mice "...and I can do the sewing," etc.  After he was done, he called over the "master tailor" to give me the once over, and minimal adjustments were made.  The take-away from this experience was that they first asked me how I wanted the suit to fit, instead of just having me stand there and assuming how it's supposed to fit.  They delivered exactly what I wanted. A precision-cut jacket with perfectly-tailored pants which, with this type of plaid was very necessarily, lest the suit read very dated. 

On my way out I even came across an incredible burgundy velvet tie.  As I was being rung up, I inquired into the large coffee table books they had around the store.  The gentleman at the register informed me it was a compendium of all the print ad campaigns generally done since the company's inception.  I was surprised when the sales associate who had helped me before brought over an oversized bag containing a brand new copy of the book, which he presented with a smile and a firm hand-shake.  

And that's how it's done, Washington. 

Marni + H&M Men's RTW Spring 2012

                                                                           

Collaborative capsule collections between a House and a large retailer: what's the point?

No really, I'm critically asking, but not criticizing. Think: The Webster for Target, Jeremy Scott for Adidas (see my winged marble hig-top post), the yearly (insert designer) for H&M and to a lesser extent Thom Browne for Brooks Brothers (Black Fleece). They are curious things.  From a financial standpoint, ostensibly both sides of the collaborative sartorial coin stand to gain monetarily.  Gains come from increased market exposure to consumers who might have been otherwise priced out.  It perhaps provides a challenge to both sides to design for a certain price point while retaining the essence of the premium brand's character.  But does the premium brand suffer by going too downmarket? Does the mass market retailer suffer by embracing something faux-upscale, thereby rendering the rest of their merchandise not special? 

After politely acknowledging the self-referential irony and whimsy of the Versace for H&M collection, and just window-shopping, I was unsure about the Marni for H&M collection. Marni's quirky esthetic, the peculiar prints and color palette (mud browns, not-quite-navy, pea green, and is-it-red-or-is-it-orange) never appealed to me.  But presented with an opportunity to introduce the brand to new prospective buyers at an accessible price point, one never knows what direction the designer might take: go ultra avant-garde (unwearable), or play it very safe (boring).  I am referring only to the men's pieces, for the record.  

The Marni for H&M collection was mostly yawn and head-scratching-worthy. The half rain-jackets? I'll wear that when it's, um misting?  The long coat with 10 trillion pockets and Little Red Riding Hood hood? Uh, what. The prints looked like a child had made them with a stencil, etc.  And the socks? Well those were the answer to a question that nobody asked. There were two pieces (ok, the suit counts as two + a coat, makes 3), that I found to be clever, wearable, and interesting.  The long (actually navy) coat with sweater sleeves was new enough that it would stand out from a normal long quasi-trench, but normal enough that I could actually routinely wear it and pair it with normal clothing, i.e. a navy suit underneath.  The striped suit was also of interest in that it was made from an interesting almost selvedge-like material and had some interesting tailored details: seams along the inside of the arms, and along the outside of the pantleg in particular.  I chose the pants vice the shorts because, uh, I can't wear dress shorts to work. I tried on the light blue dress shirt with the navy collar. But even in my size, the fit was peculiar.   Oh, I bought these months after they came out on the sale rack for about 75% off.  I am a big guy so it appeared, fortuitously, that the only sizes that did not sell were the sizes that fit me perfectly.  Also on the sale rack were dozens of the atrociously-weird non-symmetrical colorblocked sweaters in every size. Even discounted to USD 19.95 I still said no thanks.  That was a miss there on that garment.  

The most unique piece from the whole collection for men. 

Looks best with the collar flipped up.

As always, the packaging it unique and come with the garment(s). 

So what's the point: does this collaborative capsule collection, whether purchased at retail and/or discounted prices cheapen the Marni brand? Does it elevate H&M's reputation for steadily-increasing quality tailoring, fit and finish of their "higher" end clothes? Probably not, and probably yes, respectively.  

But then again, to paraphrase Charlie Bucket, "It's candy*, it doesn't have to have a point." 

*fashion