Red Wing Shoes Amsterdam

www.redwingamsterdam.com

More images of the new store after the jump

This July, the American work wear shoes brand Red Wing Shoes is opening its first Dutch store in Amsterdam, in one of its famous “Nine streets”. Following in Berlin’s footprints this store will exclusively sell leather shoes and accessories.

Red Wing Shoes has been an authority in work wear shoes since 1905. Their leather boots are universally known for their indestructible quality. The brand uses its own leather, and both this raw material and the shoes themselves are still manufactured in the town of Red Wing, on the shores of the Mississippi river. Red Wing made a cross-over to lifestyle a few decades ago and has since become a staple in both the European and Japanese street scenes.

The collection of the store will consist of a wide assortment of Red Wing shoes, complemented by shoe maintenance items, belts, gloves and other accessories. The brands that represent this part of the collection include American Optical, Duluth Pack, Heritage Leather Company, Royal Republiq, Tanner Goods and The Hill-Side.

The store is a joint initiative between Red Wing Shoes and Tenue de Nîmes in Amsterdam.

www.redwingshoes.com

Newly opened at the beginning of May this year, The Rugged Standard is the physical shop created by the website Superdenim.co.uk. With a blend of niche and overseas labels, the emphasis is on premium denim and workwear with a strong heritage of craftsmanship. Take the video tour.

Manchester based men’s shop and online retailer Oi Polloi reveals part 3 of its season’s lookbook. Featuring the likes of APC, Edwin, Filson, Heritage Research and Superga, all available from Oi Polloi, this volume focuses on the casual, conscious and classic.

More images after the jump

Sportswear International talked to Jason Denham, founder of the Dutch denim brand Denham, about the label’s recently opened second worldwide store in Tokyo and the expansion plans for Japan and the rest of the world. Here, Jason Denham also talks about the major themes for S/S 2011.

Denham has just opened a shop in Tokyo, which is the brand’s second store worldwide, after its first stand-alone store in Amsterdam, the 495 shop. Why did you pick Tokyo as a location?

First of all, we think Japan and also Asia on the whole is a very important market in the future, whether it be trend wise or in economic terms. Furthermore, you can find great factories here which use innovative techniques for washes. We already produce a large part of our collection at local laundry facilities. We still have a smaller team in Tokyo than at our headquarters in Amsterdam of course, but we will put a lot of effort in enlarging our presence here — this will happen step by step. I also have a very personal relationship to Japan because I have been travelling there for 15 years now and I love the culture and the taste-level of Japanese people. It’s an honor for me to open a store here now, especially in my favorite district of Tokyo, Daikanyama.

Is the store similar to the store in Amsterdam?

It is similar in terms of the idea of presentation. Like our HQ store in Amsterdam which combines the shop, design studio and showrooms all under one roof, the denim house in Tokyo also gives space to the shop as well as a little design studio with a workbench, just in a smaller concept.

Continued with more images of the new Denham Tokyo shop after the jump

What is the retail and expansion strategy for Denham?

We are already very successful in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the UK and Italy. We believe strongly in private retail. We would like to have stores in the most important cities of the world. At the moment we are looking for locations in Paris, London and Düsseldorf. We have also recently set up offices in London and Paris in order to settle there more permanently. Next to our private retail plans, we also want to grow with shop-and-shops. In February, we started with a shop-in-shop at Selfridges in London, which already is a fantastic success. And of course wholesale is also very important for us — we need good partners. That’s why we are very selective. Right now we work together with about 300 retailers worldwide.

Read the rest of the interview at sportswearnet.com

Images via Denhamthejeanmaker.com

A new and exciting addition to Brussels’ fashion retail scene is ‘Hunting and Collecting’. With a menswear offering including some of our favorite labels and products from Common Projects sneakers to Petar Petrov jeans, Hunting & Collecting is of a new breed of concept boutiques aiming to curate and offer alternative emerging culture: fashion, design, art and lifestyle for the sophisticated customer.

Occupying a 300m2 space over two levels, the shop carries a constantly rotating selection of more than 30 exclusive brands for men, women and children. The store also provides footwear, accessories, design objects, and press dedicated to modern culture. On the lower level, a newly refurbished gallery space holds regular exhibitions, showcasing the latest works of artists and designers.

Here’s the lookbook of their spring/summer mix available through the shop or their website.

More images after the jump

William Rast, the premium denim and contemporary sportswear brand, cofounded by Justin Timberlake and his friend Trace Ayala, unveiled its fusion of a Hollywood lifestyle with Tennessee roots in three California stores that opened Nov. 1, heralding the launch of 40 to 50 units by 2012.

Working with the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee, William Rast transported the rugged Americana found in Timberlake and Ayala’s home state of Tennessee to Tinseltown for an aesthetic dubbed New America. In the 1,850-square-foot store in Century City, the design offsets matte black shelves filled with jeans retailing for $165 to $245 with wide planks of plywood, which were seamed together to create high tables and an angular arch stretching above shoppers’ heads. Vintage dress forms show off the $350 men’s houndstooth blazer, $229 women’s jean jacket and $250 vest dotted with grommets.

For its New America, William Rast also reworked the U.S. flag via the Bauhaus art movement by removing the 50 stars and replacing the red and white stripes with black and white streaks. The avant-garde emblem is interpreted as a white neon sign hanging against a black wall, a mural and the irregular black streaks painted by artist Colin Roberts on the plywood panels.

More images after the jump

(Via wwd.com)

An informative look at Cheap Monday‘s behind-the-scenes.

The concept behind Mister Freedom is the brain child of French expatriate Christophe Loiron. Since 2003, MF’s brick building at Beverly Boulevard is filled with a huge inventory of vintage clothing, footwear and accessories for men and women from the 1850’s to the present alongside Loiron’s original creations. The 3200 sq ft retail space also offers rare textiles, vintage books as well as antique props for deco. This extensive eclectic collection of vintage items is collected around the world and updated regularly with new finds. Oh, and let’s not forget Mister Freedom also collaborates with Japanese manufacturing experts “Sugar Cane & Co” (of Tokyo based “Toyo Enterprises”) for a full line of clothing, made in USA and Japan.

Mr. Freedom/Loiron was kind enough to answer some questions for us:

DM: How and why did you start Mr. Freedom?

CL: I have been scouting flea markets for a long time and digging through ‘trash’ since I was a kid.. I’ve always appreciated old things. They have soul to me, tell a story and are often intriguing. I love real stories and there is always one associated with a vintage piece. There are like a book. You can like the cover, but what gets you is the story.

After a while I realized that you could actually make somewhat of a living doing it, and that beat a 9 to 5 for me. I opened my own ‘found objects’ thing. Mostly clothes and an eclectic selection of things that inspired me. Textiles, props, books etc…I had made friends in the design field early on, working at American Rag and having a vintage store in Kyoto for a while…Since fashion didn’t interest me, I started catering to people who were more into archiving, research and inspirational pieces.

When the hunt became a little monotone for me, i started making things that I wanted to find in the rags. I learned how to ‘recreate’ the old (graphics, washes, fade, silhouettes etc…) that was getting too hard to find, or just had not yet existed. MF was the result of years of trials, a mixture of vintage and things I was making.

What’s in the name?

I found an original promotional pamphlet of the 1969 William Klein movie a while back. Loved the graphics and the red/white/blue pop art treatment. Hadn’t seen the movie then, but liked the name. Thought that if you could pick your last name, Freedom would be a good one! I value my own, and went for that went I opened my showroom.

Where or how do you source your goods?

Big secret! I get asked everyday! “Where do you FIND all this stuff???”

It’s a full time job mixed with an obsession of finding things wherever i go. I can’t travel without hitting a local flea market or hitting antique or recycled stores. I went to Cuba for 3 weeks on vacation, and couldn’t help looking for Guyabera shirts and other Batista era left over clothes…Seemed all the white tropical stuff is gone though.

I’m constantly on the lookout. I’m often up at 3AM on Sundays, for flea markets. I don’t do EBay either, I need to see and feel before I buy.

Continue reading + more images after the jump

How did the collaboration with Sugar Cane & Co. come into life?

Toyo buyers had been coming to MF for a few years before I actually met them. They had been buying vintage military and workwear from me, along with some graphics that I was making. One day we hooked up and they asked me to make a pair of jeans as collaboration. It was my first time making an actual garment from scratch. The ‘MFSC 7161′ Denim Utility Trousers were born almost overnight. I invented this story about a worker in the 30s who needed a new pair of work pants, so he stitched himself some dungarees with scrap pieces of denim he had laying around. Very ‘primitive’. I wanted to stay away from a ’501′ style 5 pocket (who needs to sing NY NY after Franky?). So I thought of a USN style wrap legs and pockets, and threw in some obscure detailing. I stayed up all night to make the first prototype…The factory that had to make the production was crying! There were about 550 pieces of those made…

For the next season, Toyo asked me for a more complete collection. So I came up with the story of this Merchant Marine sailor who went on a worldwide tour in 1936, and had his clothes custom made by the local Naval Base Tailors where his ship anchored. I did 3 seasons with that story.

The latest collection is based on the life of 3 brothers, a motorcycle family and club…Spanning from the early 30s to the late 60s. It’s called “Speed-Safe clothing for Modern Riders”…It’s hitting MF mid October 2009. I still really dig naval things, but since everyone has been on that band wagon lately, I decided to switch method of transportation for a while…

Obviously you’re inspired by vintage pieces – do you also look for modern references when you design?

I’m a hermit and have NO idea what other people are making, nor what’s in demand. I don’t read magazines and I am not interested in trend forecasting. I make what I want to wear at a specific time, and if people like it great, otherwise I have clothes I like! I never go shopping for new stuff, and don’t go around to new stores to check out what’s out there.

If I travel to an unknown destination, I don’t want to know what to go see from a guide book. I’d rather miss 10 local landmarks, preferring the pure joy of stumbling upon one on accident. So I keep in the dark.

I spent my childhood in Africa, and there’s a saying that kinda goes: A monkey who imitates a lion is still a monkey. I don’t like copy cats, and there are plenty of those around. I’d rather make mistake doing my own thing.

What role do you think denim played in the whole vintage/heritage movement we see in recent years?

It’s that phenomenon of the rich man who wants to look poor, and vice versa. Beat up denim and old school work clothes for “them that got” and the status giving monogram bag for the others…No-one is happy where he is, it seems. The old story about the grass being greener…

I also think guys are turning away from the ‘androgynous’ look, to a more masculine one. Wearing denim/workwear doesn’t make anyone a tough guy, but I think women must be happy of that change! I’m sure that, should the option presents itself, they’d rather go out with Brando or McQueen than Boy George…

Anyways, we’ll see how long that lasts, but right now it’s more visually pleasing for all, imo.

Which are your favorite denim shops?

I would be the worst guide if I had to take someone shopping! I very rarely shop in ‘new’ stores. The less I know of what people are doing or what’s selling, the better I am. Not an ego issue, I’m just not interested, really. I find plenty inspiration watching an old movie, flipping through old b/w photos or old magazines. And I also only wear denim I make, beside vintage stuff. Not because I find it better, but because I like to see how it evolves. I often end up using my own denim as a wash target for the MFSC Japanese production.

Store?…I have yet to go but I heard that Self Edge in SF (and their new NY location) is a killer spot. My favorite stores would not be just denim (I love good mixes) but Jantiques in Tokyo has to be THE shop to visit when I go to Japan. I also like the RRL store in LA, because they are friends, and we send people looking for something specific back and forth (they carry vintage also).

What, in your opinion, makes a great denim shop?

I think it would be a mixture of old and new. With mostly raw denim and some vintage pieces. I am definitely not a big fan of fake wiskering, as good as the washes are. I would rather buy a pair of jeans with 100% of life left in it, instead of having a factory take 75% of it with hard washing, and blow a knee after 3 months. Personal opinion. It’s a choice at MF, we don’t have new “aged” denim. We miss a lot of sales that way, because not everyone has the patience to break raw denim. But the results are so much better than factory washes that we stick to that policy.

So…what lies in the future for Mr. Freedom?

A lot is going on right now. I have a lot of collaboration ‘requests’ from the big boys. I keep them all hush hush until release date.

I am also trying to set up a good local manufacturing system for MF original designs. Not easy but I believe in local economy, so it is worth the efforts. If I could find the key places/people to make all my ideas/prototypes come true, without getting into the garmento circle, I’d be happy. Working on it, the old school way.

Mister Freedom – 7161 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA.

“Part of their Re-denim project, Italian denim brand Replay join forces with Italian artist Canedicoda. Buying a Replay premium jeans customers will have the chance to have their old or brand new denim painted by the artist, who will share the client’s wishes and create its artwork performing live in the store. Denim will turn into artist canvas and the result will be a limited edition artwork for the customer to wear or to keep. Dates: Paris from the 3rd to the 5th of September, Barcelona on the 25th and 26th of September”.

Here’s a video showing the master performing his magic.

Good news for Londoners and those visiting – cult Japanese Streetwear brand, A BATHING APE has re-opened their only European store in London’s James Street. The new store commissioned by BAPE founder NIGO, has been designed by interior design firm Wonderwall, which have collaborated with BAPE during the years on the brands various stores throughout the world. The New York, London & LA Stores are the only retail environments outside of Asia.

The brand new store has been re-built within its former premises using aluminium, stainless steel, & neon materials to create a spacious retail environment within 750sq ft reflecting the BAPE aesthetic for clean lines with certain playfulness.

More images of the store after the jump

They say “don’t judge a book by its cover” – well yeah, ok, we know better than that. And so do Acne Jeans; Just take a Look at the “covers” they conjured for packing their goods, and you’ll notice they put as much effort into the packaging as to the products they offer. Some packaging items even share the same buttons, laces or textiles with the clothes they are supposed to carry. Job well done guys!

More pictures after the jump…