Pitti 80 heats up with West Coast theme

As if Florence's searing summer sun is not already hot enough for the cadre of menswear buyers that make the trip to Pitti Uomo, the eightieth edition of the menswear trade show will be kicking off the buying roster this season with a theme dedicated to California.
With Hawaiian shirts enlivening menswear rails and pundits sensing a rebirth of surf derived looks, it seems apt. Whatever, the summer 12 show will use the West Coast city’s creative scene to form the backdrop of its usual smorgasbord of menswear brands and to highlight the theme the show’s special guest will be cult brand Band of Outsider’s designer Scott Sternberg (pictured top, above one of his catwalk looks). Pitti W_Woman, the parallel womenswear pre-collection show
will host the design duo Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the powerhouse pair behind Rodarte. The two exhibitions take place from June 14-17. And you know that will roll around in a heartbeat, so book those flights people and reserve those rooms.

Quilt it

Ah, quilting. You may have been tracking a resurgence in down filled coats for two years now. We have. It's been pushing through the cracks of menswear like an aggresive weed set to reclaim the pavement and Pitti Uomo and Bread and Butter have both seen increasing numbers of brands getting in on the Canada Goose act, not least a recently relaunched Puffa. And Milan this season bore witness to plenty of lightweight and interestingly stitched quilts. But this is one trend open to all. And so it is that brands from Pepe to Addict and Ben Sherman to G-Star have kept their production lines busy with this big ticket operation.
Here's a line up of our favourites. From top: Pepe Jeans, Pepe Jeans again, Ben Sherman Plectrum Range, Addict, G-Star, Schott, New Zealand Auckland.

Get top marks with your collegiate styling

Do not think for a second that the collegiate trend is running out of steam. According to the stands at Bread and Butter this season, this is a streetwear look that is continuing to gain in currency. Denim and chino friendly Letterman jackets looked set for more action and brand insiders tell us that the piece is picking up the pace in terms of sales. Bold colourways and authentic US detailing are  reworked for a savvy audience. Pictured above, from top: Criminal Damage, Criminal Damage, NCAA, Sir Benni Miles.

Ben Sherman's Modern Classics heats up for winter

The Fashion Buyer team first sat up and took notice of Ben Sherman's Modern Classics collection in Spring '11 when the brand rolled out a lively heritage-inspired range of casualwear based around a vintage aviation theme.

The autumn collection, collaboratively designed by Everton Campbell co-owner of directional menswear indie Hip in Leeds, takes its lead from 1950s British countrywear setting its creative tone around the daredevil World Water Record attempts of Donald and Malcolm Campbell. The wardrobes of these gutsy gentlemen provide the blueprint for a Made In England collection which includes slim-fitting Harris Tweed country jackets, a parka developed using Millerain Waxed Canvas, and an assortment of Oxford shirts and heavy knits including fishermen styles and fairisle patterns.
For more information call 020 7812 3000, or visit www.amodernclassic.co.uk.

Key autumn piece: the gilet

How much railspace have you put aside for gilets this autumn? The look is only going to get bigger and there are easy ways to interpret this bulky piece. Until now, the gilet has been all about uber youthful styles with an urban flavour or nerdy Americana menswear. These two takes are meeting in the middle.  Above you can see Marc O'Polo styling a funnel collar version with knit shirt and tie. Below Criminal Damage teams chambray and overshirt with a two-colour gilet for outdoors chic.

 Next comes Denim Development, which kinda combines the two...

Followed by Crew Clothing, New Zealand Auckland and Pride and Dignity. All underline the premium casual look of the gilet. Get 'em in brown, blue, black, olive and tan for on-trend layers this autumn and you will not regret it.

There’s a new show in town

Next stop for menswear....

It seems that there’s always someone with an idea for a new trade show brewing and for once, one of those plans has fermented. The trio of TBC founder Mark Batista, Bathing Ape agent Craig Ford and Egomark’s Andrew Parfitt have joined forces to create a menswear show set to debut this August.
Called Jacket Required, the show will lasso the trio’s brands, including Mr Bathing Ape, Gitman Bros and Calabrese along with a raft of similarly pitched premium menswear brands, so that UK buyers can shorten their London buying trips, place their orders for “around 37 brands” and get back in their store – “which is where they really want to be”, as a spokesman for the show commented. “It will be far easier for them to come to London once, see all the brands they need to see and get back to work, rather than keep coming into town to different showrooms.”
The venue has been located but is yet to be revealed. It is in Shoreditch, close to Shoreditch High Street.
And the spokesman added that while the debut show will have between 35 and 40 brands on show, the plan is to expand that to between 50 and 60 for the second edition and by the fourth show to have secured regular attendance from satisfied international buyers.
”In the first place,” says the spokesman, “it will be sixty to seventy percent UK buyers at the show and we are hopeful of a strong European and Japanese element attending too.”   
The show is designed to bring together premium, design-led brands and the most recent ones to sign up are YMC and Pointer. The brand list is racking up and is looking good. And as the trio behind the show already work with a lot of these brands' target buyers we expect the invite list to satisfy.
 

Barbour raises the design bar for autumn 11

Trawling the gems on offer in the LOCK hall at Bread & Butter I bumped into the owner of a much respected northern independent who let on that he had placed a £26,000 Barbour order for SS11 and had sold 80% of it before he boarded his flight to Berlin. That's 80% in less than a month and all this in a season which is clearly more challenging for a brand rooted in all-weather outerwear.

Barbour is clearly on fire at the moment and is one of the few brands in the UK which can accurately claim to be a license to print money. Thankfully the team at South Shields have no intention of resting on their thornproof laurels and for autumn 11 have presented one of the brand's most exciting and commercial collections to date.

Fans of the limited edition Beacon Heritage Range, as designed by Japanese design maestro Tokihito Yoshida will not be disappointed as there are plenty of sexy new detail-driven additions to the range, while much-loved styles such as the Bicycle Jacket, the Horse Riding Jacket and the Driving Jacket are clearly influencing the mainline at breakneck speed.

There's no hanging around for the team at Barbour who appeared to have quickly worked out that there is a ravenous appetite for the more challenging aspects of their directional Beacon Heritage Range, and have wasted no time in implementing the same level of design sophistication to some of the more competitively priced core pieces. Our personal favourite was the killer tweed jacket with a detachable waxed cotton hood (pictured top). Inspired.
At Bread & Butter, Barbour also underlined its aspirations to provide a full collection with an intelligently compiled range of heritage-inspired knitwear. We'll show you a few of the key pieces next week.
For more information call 0191 455 4444, or visit www.barbour.com.