The brain behind Mission Chinese Food Danny Bowien is moving into the fragrance sphere with the launch of a new fragrance in collaboration with Hawthorne. Designed with master perfumer Olivier Gillotin, ‘Botanic and Woody’ merges classic men’s scent-sibilities (think leather and wood) with fresh floral aromas, like blue chamomile, ambrette, rose, leathery saffron.
“Florals are commonly perceived by many as ‘feminine’, but we wanted to recontextualize these incredible ingredients as something that can beautiful, elegant, dynamic, and bold all at the same time — something that can easily be worn by men, by women, by all,” founders of Hawthorne Brian Jeong and Phil Wong said in a statement. “Fragrance is an expression of self and should not be suffocated by genderization.”
Now that cool weather has finally given way into off and on rain, and the light at the end of the tunnel—by which we mean the sun—is increasingly more visible, polynesian print never seemed so necessary. Because, let’s be honest, you can’t do whatever the opposite of rain dancing in barefoot, right? Luckily Prada‘s new release of Spring/Summer 2014 runway-inspired canvas sneakers is the best name to parade around in your favorite print. Complete with exaggerated rubber for top-of-the-line tippy-toe protection.
Image: Prada.
Image: Prada.
All styles of the Prada Printed Sneakers are available at select Prada boutiques.
Summer’s already looking bright on this post-Memorial Day Tuesday, with today’s launch of an exclusive 13 piece capsule collection by Raf Simons for MrPorter.com. The vibrant collection, which includes shirts, sweatshirts, T-shirts, shorts, a bomber jacket and high-top sneakers, features a bright floral print which speaks of “grunge, nature and softness” according to the designer. “Raf’s use of colour and Kurt Cobain-inspired floral combined to make his SS13 show one of our favourites,” says Mr Terry Betts, MR PORTER’s Buying Manager, “this exclusive project started from new, uniquely-painted watercolours which were transformed into fabric and then used to create the range for MR PORTER. We are very excited to be collaborating with one of the most creative designers currently working in the industry.” True that. And we want it all. Get the Raf Simons Mr Porter capsule collection now before it’s all gone…right here.
Like the color pink on guys, floral prints do that whole, in-your-face juxtaposition thing—a dude, in pink? Flowers? What? But unlike the former, which all too easily has the ability to look more “duh” than daring, flowers manage to spout a real deal imprecation of gender in clothing. But also, they add some ‘tude. We will never forget those flittering flower children of the 60’s or Kurt Cobain’s grunge-y flouting of strict gender roles in the early 90’s (with his now legendary flower dress look). But, we’re also men of the modern age. Sure, you’ll find the influence of said historical moments in the men’s floral looks to come, but in 2013 these new designs are less about addressing boy-girl styles and more about exploring the flower in relation to male modernity. They span from the spiritual to digital, artistic, geographical and folksy realms to trend driven street aesthetics. Your pick. The Spring 2013 runways of designers like Ann Demeumeleester, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Carven, Christopher Kane, Gucci, and Raf Simons all had new takes on men’s floral design and we’re keeping a watchful eye on those deliveries—some of which are just now starting to hit the store shelves/go up for pre-order. Find out where and also, shop some unexpected end of season Fall/Winter floral that’ll have staying power through the new year. Click though…
Actually, Y-3 will be dropping a sweet pair of floral sambas any day now, but if you can’t wait, or want everything, there’re still UK sizes 11 and 12 available in this Fall/Winter offering.
