Die, Workwear!

Carmina appears to now have an online store. It was previously a bit hard to order their shoes, as you’d have to be in Spain or Paris, where they have boutiques, or near one of the few stores in the world that carried their products. You could also order over the phone, but sometimes that was not the easiest. Now, however, they can conveniently be ordered online.

For their quality-to-price ratio, Carminas are pretty excellent. Calf leathers are around $500, and shells are around $750. In the past, the brand used to go under the founder’s family name, Albaladejo. They were a bit unattractive and inelegant, but decently well-made. In the past few years, however, they’ve really stepped it up with sleeker lasts such as the Rain. Shoes are still Goodyear constructed and they have shells in more interesting colors such as deep greens and blues. Definitely a strong option if you like Continental European-styled shoes.

In searching for some travel slippers, I recently came across La Portegna, a small Spanish company located in Madrid. The founder, Jose Urrutia, has strongly nostalgic and romantic ideals about traveling. Part of this was passed onto him by his grandmother, who travelled to Africa with Ernest Hemingway. Part of this is also from his own travels around the world, which he did alone in his early 20s. 

His company aims to create products that supports his idealism. He sells some random leather goods, such as belts, but most of his products are orientated to make travel more of “an experience” and not just a destination. There are dopp kits and multipurpose pouches, as well as some pretty handsome duffles. They all seem like they would make traveling feel a bit more romantic. 

I think most appealing, however, are his laptop bags and travel slippers. These are all handmade out of vegetable tanned leathers and canvas, and they’re pretty nicely designed. The laptop case, for example, has a few pouches for your cords and hard drives, and the travel slippers can either come with or without a penny loafer strap.

I was close to buying the travel slippers, but the shipping charge is unfortunately quite high ($60 to ship slippers?). I confirmed with the shop that this is indeed how much they charge, and there are no distributors in the US. Monocle had them for a more reasonable shipping cost, but they’re all sold out in my size. You snooze, you lose, I guess. 

I’m sure everyone reading this blog is familiar with Rose & Born, the menswear store in Stockholm that Lawrence at Sartorially Inclined has written quite a lot about. The shop carries many of your top-tier-brands, but also features their own house line of suits. These come in three models: a structured British cut, a soft-shouldered Italian/ American cut, and a fashion-forward trim cut. Basically covers all of your bases.

Their FW11 lookbook has just been released online, and it includes a pretty incredible video (included at the end of this post). I think it’s altogether rather nice looking.

(via SartInc’s Twitter)

A friend of mine wants more suits that he can “take apart” (ie wear the jackets and pants as separates). I generally find this very difficult to do, especially if you’re on a limited budget and constrained to off-the-rack garments. Suits often have a certain drape and sheen, and if you pair them with odd-trousers, you’ll just look like you spilled something on your pants and had to change.

Men’s Ex, however, showed some pretty compelling ways you can dress down a suit. In both cases, the gentleman changed into some chinos, and in one, he put on a down vest. It’s hard to tell from this distance what material the suits are made from, but they certainly seem to be a heavier cloth (one may be flannel wool?). I’m normally skeptical of wearing chalkstripe jackets as odd jackets, but it seems to work here.

Lastly, just for fun, I included some photos of Cuincelli’s home collection. I’ve been trying to decorate my new apartment in Moscow, but things are providing difficult. I really want to avoid IKEA, but I haven’t come across any interior design stores that are both appealing and affordable. My guess is that if there’s a “Cucinelli home collection” in Moscow, it will be even more out of my reach. Ralph Lauren Home had simple chairs for $8,000.

I’ve always thought of Hackett as a British version of Ralph Lauren, but I’ve heard that they once had a rich and more original design heritage. I don’t mean that in a bad way of course. Some people call Brunello Cucinelli an Italian version of Ralph Lauren, after all.

For FW11, they continue much in the way they have been the last few years - wonderful looking quilted jackets, flannel sport coats, and fall appropriate knitwear such as shawl collar cardigans, Fair Isle sweaters, and thick turtlenecks. Like Ralph Lauren, Hackett is great at striking a balance between sportswear and tailored clothing, and their lookbooks often feel a bit like town mixed with country.

Unfortunately, Hackett doesn’t distribute in the US, so you have to be in Europe to buy their clothes. It’s really too bad, because I think they’d make a killing here.

Mark Cho of The Armoury emailed me some very special photos some time ago after I interviewed him about his new role at Drake’s of London. The photos were of Drake’s operation - both on the manufacturing and retail side - and I was quite pleased to be able to get a behind-the-scenes peek at one of my favorite companies.

I’ve included the photos below. The first set is of their manufacturing site, where they create each season’s new collection of ties. In the back, you can see the rolls of fabric that they’ve specially designed just for their lines, as well as spools of thread they use to sew their ties together. On the workbenches, there are no machines, as all the ties are made by hand.

The second set is of their retail operation. Most of us buy Drake’s through the internet, but those lucky enough to be in London can visit Drake’s store and peruse designs that aren’t readily available online. Finally, the third set is of Michael Drake, Michael Hill, and Mark Cho at the last Pitti Uomo. Drake’s attends both Pitti trade shows in order to meet with buyers. The last photo, in fact, is of them meeting with Yasuto Kamoshita, the creative director behind United Arrows.

I have an interview with Michael Hill, the head designer at Drake’s, tomorrow and it will be published at StyleForum. It should be a great interview and I’ll let you know when it’s up.

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In the picturesque region of Umbria, known for its beautiful villages and Medieval architecture, Luca Caprai founded a small Italian knitwear company named Cruciani. The company is relatively new - only about thirty years old - but in that short period, they’ve created an impressive brand that rivals Avon Celli and Malo. Garments are made from the company’s original line of yarns, some of which are made from fibers seven times finer than human hair, and construction is incredibly well executed.

For FW11, there are some jackets and basic v-necks, as well as two roll necks - one chunky cable knit and another in an intrecciato weave. Perhaps most interesting is their crossover mock neck collar sweater, where the design only allows one of the collar’s points to open outwards.

Most of Cruciani’s pieces are prohibitively expensive, but you can often find them at Yoox for between $150 and $200. Still a bit of cash to drop on a sweater, to be sure, but for the quality and design, it would be hard to find something better.

The great thing about Europe is that travel can be quite cheap. I may be in Berlin next month, and I’m thinking about stopping by Vienna on my way home to Moscow. A flight is just $80 with taxes (without taxes, $12), which isn’t too bad at all.

One of my motivations is to stop by Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe, a venerable cloth merchant that started over 145 years ago. The store has remained unchanged since its opening, so much of it feels like a step back in time. Inside are high-end cloths for suits and shirts, including a range of wools, cottons, moleskins, cashmeres, tweeds, and linens. They’re mostly imported from England and Italy, but some come locally from Austria.

In addition to the fabrics, there is a large selection of men’s accessories. At one side of the shop are colorful, handmade Italian umbrellas. Under the canopies are full stick shafts that end in tan wooden handles - much better crafted than the cheaper metal umbrellas you commonly see today. At another end of the shop are ties, handkerchiefs, and scarves, all in wool, cashmere, or silk. The selection is said to be wide, and the patterns range from basic to funky.

I hope to visit Napoli sometime to have some bespoke jackets made, and I’m thinking about sourcing some of my cloths here. Who knows if this is better than just going directly to the English mills, but I suppose you just have to go to find out. I can’t imagine stopping by the store won’t be a treat in itself, however.

To get a look at Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe, check out this special video Monocle made. The store is featured about five minutes and thirty seconds in.

It’s always a pleasure to get a behind-the-scenes look at how things are made. In Kiton’s latest FW11 catalog, they take us through one of the Italian wool mills they work with. This particular mill is located in Biella, a region that has been known for centuries for its fine textiles. Given the caliber of Kiton’s garments, it’s probably safe to assume that this is one of Italy’s best mills.

It takes multiple steps to transform raw yarn into woven fabric. At this mill, the process begins by storing bobbins of yarn underground at a constant temperature of 18 degrees Celsius and a humidity level of 80%. These conditions ensure the yarns’ workability until they’re ready to be sent on through the successive stages of manufacturing.

The warping process begins by unwinding the yarns and transferring them to beams, which will then be placed into the weaving looms. The worker prepares this process by twisting two threads together in order to make them stronger. On the warping machine, odd threads are separated from the even threads in order to sequence the threads correctly.

With the warping process complete, workers prepare the weaving looms. The beams, which are now filled with threads, are carefully inserted into combs and reeds. Each individual thread must be inserted into a reed, in a loop of the head, and in a tooth of the comb.

The beam is now complete and ready to be loaded onto the loom. On the loom, warp threads (longitudinal threads) are woven into weft threads (transverse thread), forming whatever pattern that has been chosen for that particular fabric. Once the fabric has been woven, it is discharged from the loom and sent to the finishing stage.

At the finishing stage, the untreated fabric is washed and dried in several ways, depending on what the final results need to be. This will determine the fabric’s appearance and how it feels to the hand.

Of course, quality control occurs throughout this entire process. Thread counts are verified, the strength and regularity of the yarn is checked, and pieces are continually inspected for defects. Special attention is given, however, after the finishing stage, just to ensure that everything has been made to the highest quality standards.

Once completed and inspected, the fabrics leave the mill and move along the rest of the production chain. Clothing companies select fabrics for their designs, manufacturers work with fabrics to produce those designs, and the finished garments are sent to stores. People always remember the designers and retailers in this system. If you’re a special kind of enthusiast, you may also think about the tailors and manufacturers. Few, however, ever think of the mills, but they determine the first thing we experience when we touch a garment. As Kiton shows, these mills have their own beautiful production processes to be appreciated.   

Over the weekend, I discovered a new and interesting outfitter called Merrow British Clothing. Unfortunately, there’s little information about the company; their website says little and Google yields nothing more. They also only sell one product - a vintage styled smock inspired by alpinist jackets from the ’50s and ’60s. 

Though there’s not much on their website, the one thing they do sell is very appealing. The smock looks much like the ones worn by Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris in The Heroes of Telemark, a 1965 film based on a true story of a Norwegian heavy water sabotage during World War II. These jackets were issued to Scandinavian army cadets up until the 1980s, and you can sometimes find them in army surplus shops and eBay. 

Unfortunately, as the details stay true to the original, so does the sizing. The smallest measures 50 inches around the chest, which is about right for a Norwegian man in the army I suppose. 

I’ve emailed the company to get more information. It may be interesting to see if they’re coming out with other designs and if they plan to make this smock in smaller sizes.