Coach Set To Launch its First Menswear Collection at LCM AW15

American brand Coach known for it's elegant mens bags and accessories would be launching its first menswear collection during the forthcoming London Collections Men in January. Prior to this, Coach only had a full womens clothing and accessories line with knitwear and some outerwear for men adding to their accessories line. 

"London is the standard-bearer of classic men’s style but always encourages the next generation of talent," Vevers said. "Though Coach is American to the core, that juxtaposition is the essence of our brand: blending the established with the cool."

The 20 piece collection would be shown in a static presentation like the womens last season. 

Nasir Mazhar London Collections Men Model Open Casting Call

Photo: Phillip Trengrove

London based label Nasir Mazhar's shows are not only known for it's tribe of loyal followers dripping in head to toe Nasir Mazhar it also has one of the most diverse and interesting cast of models from all races. Their street casting method has moved a notch farther in hopes of reaching a wider audience by announcing it's open casting call on Instagram. 

If you, your boyfriend or brother have got an interesting look and are based in London or willing to travel at their own expense then send in portrait and full body shots to info@nasirmazhar.com 

The casting will take place in London and the show is in London. models must be based in the uk unless your willing to cover your own travel costs. Thanks

A photo posted by Nasir Mazhar (@nasirmazhar) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:59am PST

H&M Expands its Active Wear with a 2014 Fall/Winter Ski Collection

Continuing their intense focus on sportswear H&M have released their ski collection for fall winter 14. Although it's limited to a few bits and pieces it's nonetheless made up of interesting prints and the tonality of the colors is electric. Usually skiing is sort of an elitist sport and the major players asides the specialist brands were luxury brands like Moncler. It's interesting to see a high street retailer take on these big boys. Available now online. 

ELLE Speaks with OFF WHITE Creative Director Virgil Abloh

Sorry James Franco, but when it comes to the whole Renaissance Man thing, Virgil Abloh has you beat. A trained structural engineer, Mr. Abloh is also an architect, a gallery owner, a clothing designer, a DJ, and the creative director for Kanye West. (If the Mona Lisa hadn’t already been painted, he’d probably be working on that, too.) The Chicago native also considers himself be an Art Basel fan, and not just because the annual art show happens to be a beach side affair. “When I come here, I feel like I’m playing,” he said at the ibsider-loved boutique The Webster Miami, where you can shop for pieces from his current fashion label, Off White. ELLE

Paul Smith Opens New Store in Luxembourg

Quintessentially British Brand Paul Smith opens its first store in Luxembourg as it continues it Europe expansion. The store adds to the 4 in neighboring countries with 3 in Paris, France and 1 in Hamburg, Germany. Situated in the historic part of the city, the building's façade has been sympathetically restored with a design inspired by local vernacular architecture, which has then been covered with a light-blue textured render.

Paul Smith Luxembourg
3-5 rue du fossé
L1536 Luxembourg

Tel: +352 2686 4396

Monday - Friday: 9.30 – 18.30
Saturday: 9.00 – 18.30
Sunday: closed

Puma x Sibling Autumn Winter 2014 Sneakers

Puma puts purpose back into sneakers collaborations unlike adidas under the creative directorship of Solange Knowles with these collaboration from British knitwear specialists Sibling. The London based label puts its stamp on the Puma Challenge and Advantage silhouettes with chenille detailing. 

Most of the time, footwear seen on the runway during fashion week are ignored in favour of the clothing but it's nice to see interesting bits like this make it into commercial production. They will be available exclusively in the UK to online retailer oki-ni soon. 

Backstage Sibling AW14 via Dazed Digital

Xander Zhou Spring Summer 2015 Collection Lookbook

Chinese designer Xander Zhou has been a staple at London Collections Men since 2012 when he was sponsored by GQ China to show. We got introduced to the Industrial Design trained creatives aesthetic that saw him work with loads of innovative fabric in new ways. For spring 2015 the vibe from the show was youthful, pop and bling. Star Wars and particularly Darth Varder played a recurring theme with certain prints. 

There was a play on shirt collars and everything from oversized to funnel was put out there. There's also an interesting use of mesh for oversize coats, hoodies and crewneck tops. The shorts in the collection look a lot loose in the look-book as opposed to the runway where they were super tight. Everything looked amazing on the runway and even looks better in the look-book.Looking forward to the AW15 show at LCM next month.

Peir Wu Explores Casual Futurism for its Spring Summer 2015

Double breasted slim-fit rib sleeve blazer

Singaporean born London based designer Peir Wu for Spring summer 15 explores casual Futurism. A term that denotes the aesthetics and vibe that transcend gender norms, making the collection openly accessible to both male or female. Loads of technical details in the collection reveal the artisinal skills applied to garments. Most of the jackets are half lined and the hems are finished raw. Though the label is based in London, it's fabrication is global with rayon sourced from Japan and grosgrain wool from Italy. 

If there's one thing Wu is known for, its her knack for proportion and layering that rendered most of the garments sexless without any implication towards masculinity of femininity. An amazing collection in general, balanced and a fresh take on its sports inspiration. 

Relax-fit deconstructed half-lined blazer

Double breasted slim-fit blazer in Japanese technical wool

Swedish Retailer H&M Reiterates its Focus on Fitness with its 2015 Active Sports Collection

Source || GQ UK

Sports has been a big theme this year and is most likely to continue as the general populace, not just the fashion conscious, seek out a healthy lifestyle. In a previous post, I explored fashion's obsession with sports and how sports was the new cool, Swedish retail giants H&M are reemphasizing this.Their second offering expands from the well received debut last year. 

Despite competition from the likes of Gap, Adidas, Uniqlo & Nike there's still the heavyweight advantage H&M has being the largest apparel manufacturer in the world only second to Zara who are not interested in fitness sector. It has the benefit of budget friendly prices that would suit a lot of discerning customers who are keen on a healthy lifestyle but not willing to spend so much on apparel for yoga, jogging, zumba or going to the gym.

The 2015 collection includes a range of garments engineered to keep you cool or warm as needed and fit a variety of fitness activities. Whatever your interest,there's loads to choose from. Collection launches in January 2015. 

Can Wearable Tech be The Next Big Thing

Moto 360 Smartwatch

Wearable technology is expected to be the next big thing but sales lag significantly behind those for mainstream products. Despite a projected growth for wearable tech shipments to reach 45 million by 2017, only 1 in 8 people have wearable tech devices. Wealthy early adopters between the ages of 18 & 34 are the group of people its been able to appeal to. For wearable tech to succeed, they have to re-position themselves for a mainstream market as opposed to the niche they currently serve.

What could be the problem, marketing or design?

So far in the wearable tech space, smartwatches are the most popular but they failed to create a completely new product category. Their utter reliance on a smartphone makes most of their functions repetitive and outright redundant. Only the invasive Google glass has been able to create a new product category and work independently without the need to sync with a smartphone. 

Smartwatches fuse the traditional mechanical watch with software, making them ‘smart’ but to make any sense; they have to stream data via a smartphone. Take the smartphone out of the equation and a smartwatch is reduced to a mere activity tracker without offering a unique value proposition to consumers. 

Mophie x Opening Ceremony varsity jacket

Perhaps even with the lack of a unique value proposition, wearable tech can become the next big thing if the makers realize that they are prominent personality markers and offer a wider variety of designs drawing on culture & trends whilst pricing competitively.