Fujito is the newest line from Japan to come into the No Man Walks Alone family. The clothes are beautifully made, but not precious; classic without being antiquated. The designer behind the company, Go Fujito, draws heavily from his love of the great outdoors, vintage clothing, and the skateboard and music scenes he grew up with in Japan during the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Many designers today, even those considered avant-garde, start their design process by delving into vintage archives. It’s just a question of where they take their inspiration. For Japanese designer Go Fujito, the process is as much about drawing from archival designs as it is about staying true to his personal history. As Fujito puts it, “clothes are about living,” which means style should always have some kind of contemporary relevancy.
G. Bruce Boyer’s True Style might have been the best serious #menswear book of 2015, but the Where’s Waldo? parody Where’s Karl? may have been my favorite fashion book of last year. Where’s Karl? sets out and sends up in hilarious, delirious pageantry the fanciful fleshpots flit through by the international fashion set, all as seen through the inspired pen of fictional French blogger Florence “Fleur” de la Sabine as she attempts to track down couture’s favorite cipher, Karl Lagerfeld.
This is the second part of my interview with W. David Marx. You can read part 1 here, and buy his book, Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, here.This is the second part of my interview with W. David Marx. You can read part 1 here, and buy his book, Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, here.
I’m a sucker for almost any book about clothing, but W. David Marx’s Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style is more than that. It’s a social history of post-war Japan told through the history of American influence on Japanese clothing. You’ll learn about the early adopters of Ivy style in Japan, which as a reader of this blog, you may know something about already.
Barbanera shoes have come out of Tuscan factories to party with some of the coolest cats on the fashion scene. In this interview, frontman Sergio Guardì talks about his influences, his vision, and his values.
Menswear changes slowly over time, with old classics becoming new classics through gradual cross-fertilization with close relatives. Norwegian Rain’s rainwear is one example - their raincoats are constructed using techniques usually reserved for tailored clothing, but in modern high-performance Japanese fabrics. In this interview, founders Alexander Helle and T-Michael describe what it’s like to do something new in a business that values tradition.