Street Star

Any time I hear the mention of South Philadelphia—or South Philwy as the locals say—I immediately begin to think of the “yo, youz guys” in the movie Rocky.

I was just a teenager when I saw the film, but I can still see Sylvester Stallone running up the steps of the city’s art museum, where there stands a statue of him even today.

I always wondered where the “yo” came from, until I read an article in a publication, stating that it stems from the Italian immigrants from Naples, who called to one another guagliò (pronounced wahl yo), which means ‘guy’.

This little piece of trivia speaks pages of history—and so did Rocky. The movie personified the life and times of 2nd and 3rd generation Italians living in the US and, in particular, those of South Philly.

Although now home to many newcomers, South Philadelphia attracted mostly Irish and Italian immigrants, whose descendants were typically working class, often operating family businesses—owners of the American dream as portrayed by the determination of Rocky!

Born and raised in South Philadelphia, Robert Scalia was always a fashion-forward kind of guy. He got his start in the fashion business while working in his family’s screen printing store: customers kept coming in asking for custom-made t-shirts.

Rather than a fashion designer, Robert views himself as a fashion engineer as he creates each piece studded with Swarovski crystals, tattoo art, embroidery, patchwork, and catchy sayings.

Robert combines the styles of Hip Hop, Rock, Glam, Punk, and Rock & Roll into each collection. From the streets of South Philadelphia, Robert Scalia has become a start!

Street Star—urban fashion and street wear for the fashion-forward who want to stand out of the crowd.

Photo Copyright Street Star.

Seun Olubodun—the Duke of Dukes

Recently I have become acquainted with a talented young designer with an extremely diverse background. I really love his dog, Duke (photo above). So, it is my privilege to introduce you to Seun Olubodun, the Duke of Dukes!

Tell me, Seun, a little about yourself?

I was born in Nigeria and grew up in Newcastle, England, and Philadelphia, US. Growing up in three different continents gave me a unique perspective on different places/cultures and helped me interact with people from all types of different backgrounds. My parents are in the medical profession, so we’ve moved more than most.

Where do you live now?

Currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I’ve lived for about 12 years now. Finished high school in the suburbs and went to University here also. I decided to stay because most of my friends are here; I am very familiar with the entire city and I have many local business contacts here.

How did your career in fashion design begin?

I actually took a strange route to this profession as I was working in IT only about 2 years ago with no clue about the fashion industry at all. I read about and started to follow a t-shirt designer based in Boston who was just a young kid that started printing t-shirts and had turned it into a multimillion-dollar business over time. I had the good fortune of meeting him and, after realizing that this was something I could really get into as opposed to sitting in front of a computer all day, I spent a few months doing the research, quit my job, and started the line (just over a year ago).

What exactly struck you in your research?

In my research I realized that most of the small independent lines that were being launched catered to very different demographics than the one I fit into. It was either loud Ed Hardy/Affliction-style graphics or really hipster Urban Outfitter type brands. But nothing was catering to young professional (a little preppy) guys that wanted something fresher or edgier than the mall brands that currently catered to them like Polo, Banana Republic, J-Crew.

So what sets you apart from them?

Inspiration for the company is drawn from my experiences growing up in the UK, Africa, and the United States; but the line is overwhelmingly influenced by time spent growing up in England and the stuff I learned in school. Designs for the first few lines of printed apparel focus heavily on imagery and references from world history—interesting historical figures/events, motivational imagery, social classes, royalty, and my English bulldog, who the company is named after (The Duke).

How would you sum up your “look”?

Casual wear for the thinking man.

What is your opinion of the menswear scene in Philadelphia?

There isn’t much of a scene here. But there are a lot of young professionals constantly moving into the city, and there really isn’t a hometown men’s brand that caters to them, so the market is really wide open.

What has your impact been on the menswear scene?

Being one of the only local men’s lines helps a lot in getting noticed and, because Philly can be a tough crowd, I have to make sure my garments, designs, branding, and everything else can hold up to the sometimes over-the-top standards people have in the city. Trying to live up to those standards from the beginning can be very helpful, though, because you have to push yourself to do better work every time. Just in the past year, I’ve been able to get on the national radar because the line has been embraced by people locally and they’ve helped me spread the word like no other. There are now other lines popping up locally and, soon enough, we will have a collection of good brands catering to guys in the city.

How does Philadelphia stand up against its northern neighbor, New York?
People try to compare Philadelphia to New York because we are so close, but the reality is that the two cities are very different. I feel as though people here are more real and have no time for the pretentiousness you sometimes find in the NYC fashion scene. People here have other things to occupy them, so dressing up and strutting around takes a back seat, whereas that is what the NYC fashion world is all about. I think the goal is to take a little bit of that over-done NYC style and pass it on to the people in Philly in a casual way and that’s all we need here.

Photos Copyright Seun Olubodun.

Francesco's Travels: Table of Contents

Balkans/Eastern Europe
Bulgaria	Surviving in Sofia: Part 1 Basically Bulgarian: Part 2 The Turkish Touch: Part 3 One for the Ladies! The Cultural Heritage of Petar Petrov
Greece	apaptform—Where Greece Meets Japan
Macedonia	Marjan Pejoski & Kokon To Zai
Romania	Gypsies, Vampires, and Rozalb de Mura
Serbia	The Dominant Strength of Serbia's Dejan Despotović
Slovenia	SENS, Feeling the Touch of Slovenian Class!
Turkey	Turkish Anyone?
Mediterranean Isles & Coasts
Intro	The Mediterranean Isles of Italy
Western Europe
Belgium	MoutonCollet: Sometimes Silence is Silver Veronique Branquinho & the Antwerp Six...or Seven?
Portugal	Salsa Jeans Adds Some Spice to Bread & Butter Berlin
Spain	Toledo—the City of Three Cultures
Italy
Ischia	Ischia: Roots on a Rim
Macerata	Elia Maurizi & "Who Is On Next"
Naples	Ischia: Roots on a Rim
Pompeii	From the Ashes of Pompeii
San Marino	San Marino: Still Paving the Way
Sardinia	Welcome to Cagliari When in Sardinia, Eat as the Sardinians...and with them! Nora: from Phoenicia to Carthage and onto Rome The Nuraghic People, "Su Nuraxi" & UNESCO Sardinian Nuraghis Rock! Tharros: Nuraghic Foundation Tharros: from Phoenicia to Carthage & onto Rome Bauladu—Country Living in Sardinia Oristano: Its Musuem & Festivals Alghero—Sardina’s Little Catalonia Antonio Marras—the Designer from Alghero Sulcis—the Why to it All The Nuraghic “People of Bronze” Come Back to Life
Russia
Former USSR	My Romance with the Color Red Cracks in the Berlin Wall Shifting Gears: from China to Eastern Europe Calm, Cool, and...Calamity? Munching in Moscow
Siberia	Hayam Hanukaev Sets Russian Fashion Week Free
North America
Philadelphia	Matthew Izzo Presents Wrath Arcane at 1st Friday Philadelphia Fashion Week—a “First” Definitely Not to Be Missed!
China
Beijing	Happy Chinese New Year! Designer Chi Zhang's Northern Capital of Fashion
My Sojourn	Menswear—Not Just Fashion: Focus on China A Culture Vulture at Heart Trained by Trains "Trained" Foriegn Experts First Impressions Social Divide Chomping around China When in Rome.... Workers—Another Kind of Army Guizhou Minorities in the 80's Miao People—All about Fashion Zhuang Fashion Yao Men, Yao Women—the Differences Pervade Them All The Song of the Dong Yi Fashion
Southeast Asia
Thailand	Bangkok, Menswear & Darwin's Beagle

Philadelphia Fashion Week—a “First” Definitely Not to Be Missed!

Philadelphia—the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection—has definitely gone down in history as a city of the nation’s firsts!

The “now” metropolis is home to the country’s first park (1681), first brick house (1682), first printed almanac (1685), first paper mill (1690), first public school (1698), first fire engine (1719), first US flag (1777), first US Congress (1789), first Federal mint (1792), first zoo (1874)…and the list of firsts goes on and go!

While Philadelphia cannot lay claim to the first fashion week in the history of the nation, this year will mark the first full-blown fashion week in the birthplace of the US!

I am sure the nation’s first fashion designer, Betsy Ross, would be proud of the new revolution hitting the cobblestone streets of her colonial hometown!

Philadelphia Fashion Week will take place from October 8 to 10 at the 23rd Street Armory and will feature 15 runway shows, numerous concerts and dance performances, an open bar of artisan drinks, the best of Philly cuisine, and lots of shopping at your choice of 12 pop-up boutiques.

Philadelphia-based designers will include Commonwealth Proper, Delicious, Strangefruit, and SA VA.

Several guest designers have also been invited, including Triple 5 Soul, Wrath Arcane, Park & Ronen, 9 Days, Brooklyn Royalty, GAR-DE, and Love Brigade.

For more information, log onto the Philadelphia Fashion Week website. Tickets are on sale now!

This is an event not to be missed: let fashion freedom ring, Philadelphians!

Photos of Francesco, courtesy of Blue Catalog, Copyright Men’s Fashion by Francesco.

Matthew Izzo Presents Wrath Arcane at 1st Friday

On the 1st Friday of every month in Olde City, Philadelphia—literally where the nation was born—boutiques and art galleries alike open their doors to the public all evening, serving with wine and cheese, while local musicians jazz it up on the streets.

Relatively new to area but not to the city is Matthew Izzo, apparel boutique and interior design studio that has been pioneering fashion events in Philadelphia for a number of years.

Matthew and boutique manager, Michael Anderer, know exactly how to spice up a first Friday as they showcase contemporary artists upstairs and jewelry designers downstairs, such as Vincenzo Taormina from Sicily.

For the First Friday of May, Matthew Izzo featured the 2009 s/s menswear collection of Wrath Arcane—the clothing label with a message.

I was privileged to attend the event, not only to touch and feel the collection but also to meet with designer, Sean Bilovecky, who agreed to an interview with Men's Fashion by Francesco.

Congratulations on your line... So what is your impression of 1st Friday?
It was really nice to see the amount of people out on the street, even though the weather wasn't the greatest. It's nice to see any city that has foot traffic in and out of shops during the current economic situation. There seemed to be a genuine interest in supporting local businesses and seeing what everyone had to offer.

Can you compare 1st Friday to any other event that you know?
We're from Cleveland. There isn't anything like that here, maybe because we don't have a downtown? There are a few art walks, but nothing like we saw in Philly.

Could you get a feel for men’s fashion in Philadelphia?
There is definitely no shortage of boutiques there. But I would say that Philly had the look and feel of any major metropolitan that is "plugged into" what is going on.

How does the Philadelphia scene compare to Cleveland?
Take about 85% of the people out of Philly and out of First Friday, and you're in Cleveland. It's not the greatest here.

You're working in Europe now... How does men’s fashion there compare to the US?
The UK is a lot like the States. The sensibilities in dress are similar. I would say this is true for Germany and the Netherlands as well. Not so much for France and Italy, though. Things are a little crazy there.

You are a relatively new line... So to what do you attribute your fast success?
We generally tend to ignore trends. We focus inwards on the brand. I think this creates something that is unique and has a voice of its own. People respond to this.

Well, for more of Wrath Arcane sit back and enjoy the show or—better yet—drop in on Matthew Izzo. For those who live a bit farther, why not plan a trip for a 1st Friday and visit Philadelphia's Olde City for yourself?!



Slide show 2009 s/s collection Copyright Wrath Arcane.
Photo top left Copyright Matthew Izzo.