Selected Homme Spring/Summer 2011

The brand Selected Homme is represented by two strong lines: Selected Homme and Selected Jeans.

Selected Homme is the exclusive line grounded in the classic art of tailoring. The lines vary from a formal business look to a trendy expression.

Trend
Elegant with an edge. The classic look is combined with modern details to create a personal style. The expression is sophisticated and bold – for the man who goes for a striking take on the classic look.

Formal
Cool business. The collection is exclusive and represents the classic business expression. Elegant and masculine in a well dressed and traditional way—for the choosy man who uses the suit as a professional attitude.

Selected Jeans is the casual line of the brand. The style is laid-back and various from an understated sporty expression to a raw image.

Jeans
Raw attitude. Forget everything about looking nice. The style is relaxed and raw—masculine in the random way —for the guy who deliberately goes for the messy rock image.

Casual
Classic casual. Relaxed in a cool way. The expression exudes an understated attitude, a nice and well balanced man who knows how to look well dressed, yet relaxed.

About Selected
Selected is part of Bestseller, a family-owned clothing company founded in Denmark in 1975.

The Selected brand was launched in 1997 for the menswear market and the presence of the brand in 25 countries around the world reveals the strong foothold Selected has gained on the market.

See the collection here.

Photos & text Copyright Selected.

Frost Birgens Spring/Summer 2011

What is interesting about the Frost Birgens 2011 spring/summer collection is that, at first glance, it depicts the average kind of guy.

But when you take a closer look, it actually portrays the average kind of guy who wants to be different from the rest of the crowd!

Consistent with current trends, the knee-length long johns play on the idea of leggings. The johns are ideal for the guy who does not want to wear shorts above the knee.

Additional trendy items are the rugged boots, the rolled up pants above the ankle, and a touch of asymmetry.

Danish designer Jacob Birgens launched his label in 2007.

See the look book here.

Photos Copyright Frost Birgens.

“Go Wild in the Country” with Rene Gurskov

The darker side of Laura Ingalls as a boy.

Traditional Amish handicraft meets urban trash.
Where snakes are absolutely free!

The wild little girl of west translated into a modern boy.

The contrast of well behaving and going crazy.

Pretty traditional clothing trashed by a fight in the mud.

Mama’s homemade coat of many colours.

Dad’s handyman belt as a skirt.

Gender bending the beautiful countryside.

The songs of bow wow wow.

The “go wild” collection explorers the contrasts of yesterdays living and modern Buzz.

Is the countryside still alive and creating?

The collection has a puffed cozy side and a harder trashed urban side.

In the right mix – this country boy looks both cool and cute.

Check out the collection here.

Photos & text Copyright Rene Gurskov.

The “Uncle Sam” Collection by Asger Juel Larsen

The autumn/winter 2011 collection tells the story of blended cultures and living in unpredictable times.

The collection focuses on elements of the dress and culture of North America in the 1860’s, in the period of civil war—reflected in the name of the collection: “Uncle Sam.”

The collection is dark, grey and dusty and exemplifies his idea of Gothic America.

Have a peek at a few more shots here.

Photos by Ellis Scott & text Copyright Asger Juel Larsen.

Boy scouts and Beatniks: Junk De Luxe Newspaper

Army is this seasons favourite colour, appearing as a balancing element to stabilize multi-zipped nylon jackets and bold stripes running wild.

Suit jackets, slim and short, both sartorial and casual, made out of crumpled, coated fabrics accompanied by loose work wear pants and sexy, short sleeved, army shirts.

Fresh and cool! Fine washed and worn leather jackets are matched with denim
shirts and stone washed jersey “sweat pants” with rock-chic effects.

Quirky combos, shapes and input for the new JUNK boy scout allows him to be “anarchistic modernistic” – and less “stereotypistic”.

Fashion changes, style remains!

Read the entire paper here.

Photos Coyright Junk de Luxe.

“Boy Scouts and Beatniks” at Junk De Luxe

With its own distinctive original style the Junk De Luxe designers playfully challenge all the codes and canons of the masculine wardrobe.

Everything is mixed together for a personal look and inspiration is drawn from army and sportswear in the seventies, pop art in the sixties and new wave in the eighties.

With a slightly retro flavour, Junk De Luxe is still faithful to its vintage roots and the beatnik culture.

In an experimental wise mix, a succession of colourful and discordant combos is presented: skinny silhouettes for daily looks where fitted, raw, washed out cotton trousers are combined with used tie-dye jerseys and camouflage army jackets.

Army is this season’s favourite colour, appearing as a balancing element to stabilize multi-zipped nylon jackets and bold stripes running wild.

Suit jackets—slim and short, both sartorial and casual, made out of crumpled, coated fabrics—are accompanied with loose work wear pants and sexy, short sleeved, army shirts. Fresh and cool!

Fine washed and worn leather jackets are matched with denim shirts and stone washed jersey “sweat pants” with rock-chic effects. The JUNK dissident rocks hard, but with class…

In the classic line of the collection, every garment is designed to stand on its own as a unique piece rather than being designed according to trends or fashion clichés. But new quirky combos, shapes and input for the new JUNK boy scout allow him to be “anarchistic modernistic”—and less “stereotypistic”.

Fashion changes, style remains!

See the collection here.

Photos Coyright Junk de Luxe.

S.N.S. Herning—the Collection: TAG 1011

The collection of knits from S.N.S. Herning for the season AW10 is called TAG 1011.

The main idea for the collection is to explore a bit the practice surrounding the tagging of clothing—in our case: knits.

Normally, the nametag is sought for with some interest—since this is what tells you directly what “brand” made the garment.

We prefer to think about S.N.S. Herning as a trademark rather than a brand—and when we place a nametag in the neck of a knit, it is only there to tell you that the garment was knitted in Herning, Denmark.

(So you could say that tour real trademark is to strive to keep alive a locally based tradition for making knitwear.)

Our signed hangtags testify to the meeting of the artisan and machinery in the manufacturing of every knit.

No knit from us will ever be radically new, since we always limit ourselves to using the building blocks from within our own history. The genesis lies in the recombining of letter to new words.

Simple and understated functional aesthetic ensures the longevity of every garment. Like always, it is just more of the same: Trademark, artisan, genesis.

TAG1011: See the collection here.

S.N.S. Herning—Knitted in Denmark since 1931.

Photos & text Copyright S.N.S. Herning.

S.N.S. Herning—A History

The registered trademark S. N. S. HERNING was founded in 1931 by SØREN NIELSEN SKYT (1899– 1972) in Herning, Denmark.

As a young man, he made a living by selling knitted garments of his own making. In the late 1920’es, he learned about a technique of knitting with “bubble” patterns that increased the insulating abilities of garments.

Relying on these techniques, he began manufacturing the so-called FISHERMAN sweater, which was intended to protect its wearer from the rough weather at sea, and to be robust enough to withstand the wear and tear from the hard work.

All our FISHERMAN sweaters are still being knit-ted after the same recipe as that of Søren Nielsen Skyt—with strict rules for the layout of the bubble pattern, the cut, the measurements, and the finishing etc. Something about the design and feel of this garment makes us shy away from making even the slightest of changes to it.

Design is perhaps even a misleading word. The look of the sweater is quite directly derived from the function, and it is probably this simple and understated functional aesthetic that ensures the longevity
of the garment.

Eighty years have passed since the release of our first FISHERMAN sweater. Even if the production has had its highs and lows, we never stopped knitting it. And to this day, the FISHERMAN sweater remains at the core of our entire production of knit-wear.

More knits have naturally been added to our repertoire over time—but they all relate more or less directly to our original knit in terms of functionality, aesthetic, underlying technique, texturing, or simply that hard to describe feel.

All knits can be thought of as members of a family - sharing the same forefather.

Remaining true to a few simple principles of trying our best to make fine knitwear that will outlast the mores of fashion has been at the heart of our company for generations. Our trademark was first registered with the two fishermen in a dinghy in 1948—and even if we do not exclusively knit for fishermen, we kept the old beautiful logo as our trademark to always remember our origins.

Keeping alive a locally based tradition for making knitwear, though, is our real TRADEMARK.

Artisan
ALL knitting at the S. N. S. HERNING mill is done with aged machinery from the German producer of knitting machinery, STOLL. Even if the actual knitting is a purely mechanical process, nothing would be achieved without adding the knowledge of the artisan operating the machine. To celebrate this fact, all knits leaving the S. N. S. HERNING mill bear the handwritten signature of the artisan who knitted the item.

Rather than making anonymous mass-produced products, we like that you can actually trace the origin of individual items back to the man in charge of the machine knitting it. The signed tags testify to the

meeting of man and machinery in the making of every single knit.

This idea of tracing origins was also the reason why Søren Nielsen Skyt initially decided to use his own initials and the city where the production was done as part of the registered trademark for his knits.

In his early days, this idea was very common: make your product stand out by identifying the name of the producer, and the city where it was made. Named people and cities would over time grow a reputation for making specific and unique products—like Herning did for producing knitwear.

Since then, the overall tendency—put quite simply—has been that of standardization. Production changed its character from being locally based—to being performed at large-scale sites, in effect eradicating all traces of where the products were actually made and by whom.

A very basic idea of artisans being proud of their crafts and leaving their individual marks on unique products—seems to have been almost lost in this transition.

No two knits leaving the S. N. S. HERNING mill will be completely identical. Yet, we do not consider this to be a flaw with our knits, quite on the contrary. Like the knitter leaves his signature on every garment, so will the old machinery—in the sense that small imperfections in the fabrics are due to in-built limitations with the old machinery. To work with the limitations of the tools you are handed down—that is perhaps the characteristic of a true ARTISAN.

Genesis
GENERATIONS of knitters have been working at the S. N. S. HERNING mill over the last nearly
80 years. All of them have contributed towards generating the shared knowledge where all our knits stem from.

Every season, the main part of the collection of knits from S. N. S. HERNING is either complete remakes of old styles or styles that are based on knitting patterns and swatches picked up from the archives at our mill.

No knit will ever be radically new since we always limit ourselves to the path already laid out by our own history.

Evolving from this basis to make “new” knits means: to recombine the letters of a fixed alphabet into new words. To some, these words shall be meaningful, to others nonsensical, or just playful babbling. But all words will be in our own local language, and they shall all sound familiar—like the similarities within members of a family.

So, to prepare a new collection of knits is to us at S. N. S. HERNING like trying to protect a local dialect from extinction. Not that our dialect is particularly beautiful, poetic, or functional. Not at all, but preserving it just contributes towards diversity.

In fact, the collection of knits for A/W 10 is called T A G 10 11 as a hint to the reason why we tag and sign our knits, namely to show that they have a specific, local origin.

Summing all this up: We believe that you can in fact move forwards, by looking backwards. And you have to move forwards. That is why our trademark is artisan GENESIS.

See more images here.

Photo & text Copyright S.N.S Herning.

Christian Westphal: Urban Warriors

Christian Westphal´s spring 2011 collection is a looser, a little more colourful and a lot more casual chic than fall, but his formula for quirky cuts is basically unchanged. After all, even the most die-hard urban warrior needs a break from black once in a while.

After a couple of seasons of citified dressing, collectors of Westphal may well be pining for his more eclectic but wearable pieces. If so, they’ll find plenty of them: washed out coats, soft boxy jackets, wrapped pants and shorts, and jersey that looked as if they’d been sourced from a trip around the markets of 19th century America.

Westphal explains he had been thinking about recasting basics and working on a kind of primitive collage concept inspired by a visit to the 19th century Wild West. But unlike the fall’s collection, with its bohemian layer on layer vibe, spring isn’t about an overarching theme or look: It is about giving a reason to shop, and as such, there are many arguments here for a guy to unfreeze his AmEx.

New fabrics are crushed techno taffeta, draped jersey, and glove leather-like cotton, and a starched looking white poplin shirt with origami-like folds round the neck. You will also find a pair of trompe-l’oeil sequined shirts, with their graphic shapes evoking a nighttime skyline.

The jeans are no longer artfully destroyed and stained but the corporation with the Okayama denim producers have outcomed camouflage patch worked jeans with rivets in antique gold and brass, however with a flicker of irony.

Patching together Sergio Leone´s picture “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly”, the collection moves from complex jersey tanks with knots and spray dye and knit with a kind of moon-glow lightness. In the collage of elements, there are recycled fabrics and natural-looking hemp weaves, and a sidelong tribalism in the urban-warrior outerwear and accessories.

The nature-versus-man concept is for spring/summer 2011 a meld of futuristic technique and art craftsmanship.

View the collection here.

Photos & text Copyright Christian Westphal.

Henrik Vibskov: the Designer

As a fashion designer Henrik Vibskov has produced Seventeen collections since he graduated from Central St. Martin’s in 2001, and he is currently the only Scandinavian designer on the official show schedule of the Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which he has been since January 2003.

Since the beginning of his career, Henrik has frequently been invited to and participated in festivals, contests, and talks, such as Swiss Textile Awards 2003 where he ended up in the finals: Hyères Festival 2003 and 2004, Expo 2005 japan, Noovo Festival 2007 in Santiago de Compostella, Design Week 2008 in Monterrey, Mexico and NOTCH Festival 2009 in Beijing.

Henrik Vibskov’s collections are sold only through thoroughly selected shops across the globe. Seven in New York, Midwest in Tokyo, Aloha Rag in Hawaii, Spr+ in Amsterdam, Traffic in Moscow, Mue in Seoul and his own Henrik Vibskov Stores in Copenhagen and Oslo are a few of the most influential stores, but lately countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have embraced Henrik’s designs.

Through his career, Henrik’s designs have won him prizes such as Beck’s Student Future Prize 2000, Danish Design Council Award 2007,Brand of the Year DANSK Magazine Fashion Awards 2008 and Danish Art Council’s Design Award 2009

See more images here.

Photos Copyright Henrik Vibskov, Courtesy Agentur V.

Henrik Vibskov: the Man

The name Henrik Vibskov is most commonly associated not only with a fashion label but a multitude of twisted yet tantalizing universes created in relation to each collection.

Between designing new collections biannually and creating the universes surrounding them, Henrik keeps himself occupied Touring the world as the drummer for electronic musician Trentemøller, and exhibiting at art museums and galleries around the world.

Henrik has made exhibitions at PS1‚ MoMA, Palais de Tokyo, Sotheby Gallery New York, ICA,Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in collaboration with Elmgreen & Dragset, MU Gallery in Eindhoven, MAD New York, NAI in Rotterdam, Zeeuws Museum in Middelburg, Pool Gallery Berlin and Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus in Bremen just to name a few.

He is currently elaborating on the ongoing art project ‚The Fringe Project‚ in collaboration with visual artist Andreas Emenius. 10 works including fringes in different shapes, colours, amounts and motion patterns make out the overall plan for this project.

Although Henrik has a principle of never giving away clothes to celebrities for commercial purposes, people like M.I.A., Devandra Banhard, La Roux, Kanye West, Bjørk, The Arctic Monkeys, Sigur Ros, Franz Ferdinand, and Lou Reed have all been spotted in Henrik Vibskov’s designs.

Other recent activities of Henrik Vibskov have been the release of two books – The “Fringe Projects 1-10”, and “The Panda People and other works”. Henrik has also been a jury member on final exams at Central Saint Martin’s and at the Antwerp Fashion Academy.

Have a look at more photos here.

Photos 2011 spring/summer collection in Paris, Copyright Henrik Vibskov, Courtesy Agentur V.

VAN DALE by VAN DALE

Van Dale founded his eponymous label in 2007, being supported by the company Simon & Simon and its employees from the beginning. This Danish designer is grateful to them for making the first collection a reality.

The VAN DALE collection is based on the term “Androgyny” with injections of playful inputs that turns itself towards the sophisticated male adult who’s still young at heart.

The VAN DALE consumer consists of a very individual identity who, like me, appreciates being anonymous.

The designer states that, “in respect of that fact I uphold the right not to bring the so-called “Target Group” into any further segmentation in terms of a certain “box” and colour, I will merely say that he lives within each and every one of us.”

“Therefore,” he goes on to say, “it is also my distinguished wish to be and always remain 100% anonymous, based on the ideology that the contemporary consumer is the real creator of VAN DALE.”

VAN DALE is currently available at the Temporary Showroom.

View the whole collection here.

Photos Copyright VAN DALE, Courtesy Temporary Showroom.

Evolutionized by Frost Birgens

For autumn/winter 2010, Frost Birgens invites men everywhere to a new evolutionized state, free from the current connotations of prejudice.

Danish designer Jakob Birgens departs from excessive consumption as he exalts quality over quantity.

Knits abound, as well as layers; but the focus is placed on the garments that lie beneath.

Whether worker or man of leisure, be revolutionized—better yet, evolutionized— by Frost Birgens.

Click here to view the entire 2010 autumn/winter collection.

Photos Copyright Frost Birgens.

The Men behind Frost Birgens: 2011 Spring/Summer Collection

Although Jakob Birgens launched his label Frost Birgens in 2007, he began his design carrier in a workshop, in the Latin district of Aarhus as he created clothes for friends and other customers who found him.

Two years later, Jakob was joined by two savvy businessmen as co-owners: Simon Hepworth and Christian Kjaer.

Injected with renewed vision, Jakob continued to draw inspiration from his surroundings and assorted artists, such as Leonard Cohen, Rei Kawakubo, Peter Linkbergh, Hemingway, and Bob Dylan.

He has developed the knack of creating an elegant garment of knitwear based on another garment like a blazer with elbow patches.

Additional signature items include tees, jackets, pants with belt function, and large chest pockets on shirts.

Frost Birgerns—relaxed functionality for the urban male.

Click here to view the entire 2011 spring/summer collection.

Photos Copyright Frost Birgens.

Moonspoon Saloon & “Cabinet of Wound”

Created through a collaboration between Central Saint Martin’s graduate, Sara Sachs, and photographer Noam Griegst, Moonspoon Saloon weds art and fashion into a marriage of unique performance.

Each collection is staged in artistic exhibitions, experimental films, textile works, parades, ballet, and posters.

The “Cabinet of Wound” collection was inspired by the wounds of our souls.

Launch the photo gallery for Moonspoon Saloon at Copenhagen Fashion Week by clicking here.

Photo Courtesy & Copyright Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Peter Jensen: Naughty & Nice

Although currently based in London, Peter Jensen hails from Løgstør, which is a small town on the Jutland Peninsula of Northern Denmark.

In 1999, Peter graduated from Central Saint Martin’s with Distinction, going on to win multiple prestigious awards.

Skilled in graphic design, embroidery, and tailoring, Peter fashions each collection in such a way to unite mischievous humor with individuality, yet always leaning towards the wearable side of unconventionality.

Naturally fun and clever, Peter Jensen seeks to create timeless collections.

To view then entire photo gallery from Copenhagen Fashion Week, please click here.

Photo Courtesy & Copyright Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Street Heroes on the Catwalk with Simon Rasmussen

Recently this month at Copenhagen Fashion Week, Danish designer Simon Rasmussen designed a collection of showpieces taken from recycled clothing found on the streets.

The theme? “Street Heroes—the homeless, the prostitutes, the crazy people, the ones nobody wants to be around.”

Simon collaborated with Chilean artist Javier Tapia, who installed props like wagons and houses—everything collected from the streets.

The mesage? “It is an attempt to reuse materials, in order to get shelter.”

The point? For spring/summer 2011, Simon Rasmussen breathed new life into old clothes!

View the complete image gallery here.

Photos Courtesy & Copyright Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Nom de Plume by A. Naselli

Nom de Plume can translate as “pen name” or “pseudonym” in French, whereas Alberto Naselli was an actor from Bergamo, Italy, who also went by the name of a character that he invented; namely, “Zan Ganassa.”

Born 1572, Alberto Naselli developed the Italian Comedy, known as the Commedia dell’arte—one character of which was Harlequin or Arlequino.

Now, almost as if reborn, A. Naselli creates flamboyant garments in Copenhagen, having designed for the Danish Royal Ballet and other cultural events.

At Copenhagen Fashion Week, Nom de Plume put on a dramatic masquerade of Renaissance-like figures drawn from the Italian Comedy, including Harlequins, Scaramuccias, Capitanos, and Pantelones.

Please click here to see the image gallery.

Photos Courtesy and Copyright Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Soulland: Scandinavian Craftsmanship at Copenhagen Fashion Week

Born 1985, Silas Adler founded Soulland in 2002 as a t-shirt printing company, which has emerged as a recognized brand around the world.

Now as one of the main driver’s of Denmark’s menswear renaissance, Soulland is firmly rooted in the traditional craftsmanship of Scandinavia.

In 2008, Silas Adler was nominated as the best Danish up-and-coming designer by Danish Fashion Awards.

Last week at Copenhagen Fashion Week, Soulland presented the 2011 spring/summer collection, which was characterized by attention to detail, a modern twist on traditional menswear, and a combination of the classic fedora with the baseball cap.

Go to the complete photo gallery here.



Photo Courtesy and Copyright Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Wood Wood—Knocking on….Pavement!

Wood Wood was launched 2002 in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Danish designers Karl-Oskar Olsen and Brian Jensen.

Strictly a street fashion brand, Wood Wood also runs a professional cycling team!

This year, the Danish Style Counsel selected Wood Wood as Denmark’s best Danish brand.

The collections are lively, hip, and—as Didder Rønlund puts it—“pavement friendly.“

If you love hoodies, sweats, and tees, this collection is for you!

Click here to view the complete photo gallery of the 2011 spring/summer collection, which WOOD WOOD featured last week at Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Photo Courtesy and Copyright Copenhagen Fashion Week.