I love having a nose around www.fashion156.com. My friend Sophie introduced me to it when she started styling their shoots, now I'm addicted. Not only do I love the shoot concepts, but the clothes they find and use are beyond amazing. They always manage to find the most covetable up and coming designers before a lot of websites... you know, the really interesting designers whose clothes can easily spark conversation.
Fashion156's newest shoot included some of the best swimwear I've seen in a while. The brand - We Are Handsome. I contacted the PR company, one Robinson Pfeffer, who, it turns out, represent a few incredible designers, strangely mostly Australian.
Here's what I found when I was invited to take a look at their showroom (thanks Tara!)...
WE ARE HANDSOME...
See, told you they were amazing! The website states that "each piece is made by hand" and "each of our designs is limited edition". You'll be buying into swimwear history! The creators, Indhra Chagoury and Jeremy Somers, formally of Oscar & Elvis Swimwear and People Like Us have collaborated to bring these extraordinarily printed costumes. They comment: "We know it’s ambitious, but we aim to fuse art, swimwear and fashion". Well you two, you've done a bloody good job so far!
You can buy them on their website, www.wearehandsome.com or from www.thecorner.com. Prices start at £150.
Not forgetting the boys...
ALPHA60...
When brother and sister duo Georgie and Alex Cleary designed and made t-shirts for Alex to wear as teenagers, their friends took note and soon demanded more. Years later, in fact in 2005, they launched their Melbourne based label and the rest, they say, is fashion history. Their unique prints and patterns have established them as a grounded label in Oz and now over here, often referencing its "sophisticated quirk".
Their AW10 collection is all about the mystical world of their porcelain doll collection which were rescued from a WW2 German factory. It's all about the doll's eyes, their ambiguity. With that inspiration comes tees printed with female figures and my favourite, printed rhinos and parrots onto silk.
Alpha60 is now stocked at Liberty London and on www.asos.com.
STOLEN GIRLFRIENDS CLUB...
This is what you get from three New Zealanders with a passion for all things creative, none of them with design school backgrounds which is actually strangely refreshing. This is more of a collective of thoughts, ideas and organically grown design ambition. I'm really loving both the men's and women's AW collections. Each holds it's own with signatures: the men's has fine pieces of denim and the women's is all about fringing and leather.
I don't normally do this, but cutting and pasting the press release will explain all:
"Stolen Girlfriends Club's 9th collection ‘Going Somewhere Fast’ celebrates nomads, gypsies and vagabonds from around the globe. Drawing inspiration from a variety of cultures and countries, this collection is a mish mash of existence ‐ the end result? A nomadic biker gang of Sherpa mountain climbers and their kidnapped trophy girlfriends."
So there you have it, if you want to channel a Sherpa mountain climber or one of their lovers (and I think I might want to), this is the collection for you! The heavy knits, zips, fringing and contrast with jersey and leather is keeping me VERY interested. Also their sheet music price labels are genius!
Here is a mix of my pics and some from the look book. SGC is stocked at Liberty London and on www.asos.com
Hey!
Welcome to The Very Simon G. My blog has been going for nearly a decade, but there ain’t getting away from me just yet! Come in for fashion, fun and everything in between. Enjoy!