Tag Archives: cool

karl lagerfeld paris

The Ineffable French Cool of KARL LAGERFELD PARIS

 
Few contemporary designers have so seamlessly combined ineffable Parisian cool with contemporary design functionality like KARL LAGERFELD PARIS. Since its launch in the US back in 2016, the brand, inspired by the late eponymous industry icon, has served as the premier channel to bridge the sophistication of the brand to a larger American audience.

 

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The Fall collection is a robust offering of modern men’s staples, stamped with the fingerprints of the influential designer and anchored by a strong monochrome color palette. Classic men’s outerwear pieces, including sherpa leather jackets, quilted parkas, Western-inspired tops, and overcoats, have been modernized with fitted structures and eliminating the unflattering appearance of boxiness.

 

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Elsewhere and throughout the Fall collection, layering is highly encouraged. Utility-style vests are equipped with functionally integrated pockets and hoodies are available in solid colors or a muted camouflage print. Fitted joggers and other standard black trousers are versatile for work and leisure. For footwear, the designer’s Nubuck boot is enhanced with a padded collar and tongue that provide additional foot support, while a side zipper detail warrants easy and comfortable accessibility and wear.

 

The KARL LAGERFELD PARIS Fall collection is available online now.

 

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Pierre Hardy Releases New Sneaker with Victor Cruz

This week in sneakers: Pierre Hardy is releasing a new limited-edition sneaker collection with professional football star Victor Cruz, dubbed the V. C. I. The athlete has a close relationship with the designer, frequently visiting the designer’s studio in Paris during fashion season, but the decision to officially work together occurred sometime last spring.

 

The new footwear styles are modeled after significant years in Cruz’s life: the 1996 model is a blue and orange color-blocked sneaker that represents the year the athlete “fell in love with football.” The 2006 style is a bold black-and-grey shoe that recalls Cruz’s first varsity season at the University of Massachusetts and finally, the 2012 sneaker represents Cruz’s first Superbowl victory with the New York Giants.

 
“We started from taking a pre-existing construction of a shoe in my collection, and then we emphasized it by making it stronger in appearance,” Hardy said in a statement. “The look became something performative or Olympian — a super-competitive shoe. We tried to push the aesthetic to the maximum, to make the sneakers as expressive as possible.”

The V.C.I. is available in select Pierre Hardy stores and online tonight at 6pm EST.

 

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Kenzo Celebrates Color for SS19

Kenzo brought the color for its SS19 collection, incorporating bold prints and colorways for a vibrant series of tops and accessories. The collection maintains the French label’s idiosyncratic and dynamic coolness with a fresh burst of energy in the form of pops of color sprinkled throughout the pieces — the perfect items to keep the festivities going into the new year. See for yourself below~

The Kenzo Color Celebration collection is available online now.

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Tod’s No_Code Shoeker Might Just Reinvent the Sneaker

As part of its new No_Code initiative, which aims to dismantle and reimagine everything you know about contemporary design, Tod’s has launched a new sneaker to mark this new direction. The project was officially marked by a conference in Milan, which featured some of the most exciting voices in design, including industrial designer Chris Bangle, design curator and writer Angela Rui, and chef Yoji Tokuyoshi.

The sleek and simple Shoeker (a combination of shoe and sneaker) is a lightweight monochromatic sneaker with a ribbed cuff opening and durable neoprene and leather base, incorporating technical performance materials with luxury options. The sole is made with expanded rubber, ensuring optimum comfort and sturdiness for any activity. Designed by Yong Bae Seok, a Korean designer who is helping lead the No_Code project, the new Shoeker model serves as the perfect catalyst for an exciting new direction for the Italian label. Take a look at some images below.

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The Dancing Introvert: We Talk to Aaron Maine of Porches

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Images: A. P. Kim for ESSENTIAL HOMME.
Styling: Terry Lu.

Aaron Maine sits coiled on a couch, the bleached- blonde hair he sported on the cover of his third album as Porches, The House, now back to its natural brown. It’s a particularly cold day in New York, one that elicits the very kind of painting Maine’s lyrics draw.

“I think that I’ll stay inside / If you don’t think that they’d mind / I can’t let it find me,”

Maine sings on “Find Me,” his deep-throated crooning in perfect juxtaposition to the industrial- sounding electronica that solidifies The House’s first single as the new winter dance track. This contrast is, in fact, fitting of Maine himself—he is both quiet and commanding, dainty and rough, vulnerable and powerful. He is complex and honest, qualities that have made Porches such a successful and relatable project for Maine; often speaking bluntly about anxiety, depression, and solitude—issues he confronts when creating music. “The practice of writing and making work is like a therapy or a meditation to me, and that generates a lot of happiness, peace of mind, and self worth, so I think I rely on the physical practice of making work for the cathartic aspect,” he says, his red painted fingers gracefully playing with the chain-link bracelet hanging off his wrist. “It’s kind of like a journal entry that goes public, which is an interesting part of the process each time.”

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We talk about how he feels about his personal thoughts becoming public data. “It still surprises me—it’s so personal up until it comes out.” This is the transaction of art, making what’s inside of you shareable. Maine is privy to this, and has become more wary of what he says. “After the initial vomiting of the ideas I kind of imagine, you know, does anyone need to hear this? Do I want anyone to even think about this? Sometimes it feels good. Sometimes it feels like a massive exploitation of my personal life. It’s a tricky line. When you get yourself in a position that doesn’t feel very good there are ways to do it that still feel honest but also respectful of yourself and the people around you.”

And while Maine describes The House as “a bit more personal and for myself than it has been in the past,” it also includes some noteworthy collaborations, such as Dev Hynes, Alex G (whom Maine toured with and was inspired by during the creation of his newest album. “I really admired the disparity on his records, genre-wise, sound-wise, and production quality-wise.”), and his father, Peter Maine, who is also a musician. “It just felt really good to have his voice on [the record]. It’s almost like the narrator popping in. It felt important.”

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Maine first heard his dad’s song, “Understanding,” in Westchester, New York, where he grew up. Contrary to the resentment some people have towards the suburbs they grew up in, Maine still thinks of them fondly. “I really liked it,” he says. “I always liked silence and walking around.” We share a laugh over the irony that his love of silence has nestled him in the at-times deafening chaos of New York City, but I’m left with the impression that Maine can carry a sense of silence even in the busiest of environments. Home is important for him, I can tell that much, and when I ask him what the title, The House, means, he says, “The first thing I would think about when addressing my feelings was in relation to my house or my apartment. If I was far away I would think of when I was going to be there next. If I was home I would think about feeling stuck or feeling comfortable…I could look at my relationship to this steady thing and judge myself based on that. I like how The House leaves it up to the listener and even myself to decide. The relationship is always shifting.”

For someone as creative and as versatile as Maine (both his sound and his style have undergone various transformations throughout the years), the yearning for stability, silence, and home makes sense. He fiddles with the tops of his checkered Vans, eyes glazed with a daydream as he thinks about happiness. “I like to be working…even if I’m not creating good stuff. I just like doing it all of the time.” He pauses. “I like to have all of my relationships in a good place and feel like I’m being respectful and treating people well. I want to buy a house with my girlfriend; live in Scandinavia and dip into the cities when it’s time. Something like that I guess. I want to be a little isolated in a house. Quiet.” “Instead New York,” I joke. He smiles, “Instead New York.”

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