LOOKCITY: Thom Browne’s New Fall 2012 Men’s Collection Is Way Freakin’ Out There

(via) Just when you thought J.D. Salinger and Lewis Carroll took a bunch of LSD with Edward Scissorhands and got busy making clothes at Quentin Tarantino’s house (again), it turns out that it’s just designer Thom Browne unleashing his new menswear line for Fall 2012. Oh, fashion. More oddity/hilarity here.

Cool Thing We Want #248: Diane Eng’s Fortune Cookie Coin Bag

Available December 15th from Diana Eng (via Laughing Squid).

The Economy Hits High Fashion In The Face

From The New York Times today:

In the scope of dismal events unfolding at luxury fashion companies, the news this week that Chanel would cut 200 jobs in Paris calls to mind a certain après moi sentiment of Louis XV.

If Chanel is cutting back, what’s next?

Luxury brands were once thought of — or self-styled — as immune to economic pitfalls, but the precipitous decline in sales at retailers like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue has shown how serious an impact the global recession has had on all parts of the marketplace. Still, Chanel, with its array of tweedy clothes, quilted handbags and fruitful fragrances that approach $5 billion in annual sales, was considered the paradigm of luxury brands, so its retrenchment is seen as especially ominous.

“Everyone is looking at their business right now,” said Robert Burke, a fashion consultant, who nonetheless said he was surprised to see cutbacks at Chanel.

“What we’re seeing is not necessarily isolated just to the high-end companies or the midprice or mass,” he said. “It’s a time when everyone is re-evaluating.”

Read the whole thing here.

WWD reports on the closing of Los Angeles’ iconic Tracey Ross boutique.

Tracey Ross, the pioneering boutique owner who’s been a fixture here for almost two decades, is closing her namesake store on New Year’s Eve because of fallout from the recession.

Ross first opened her shop, on now-trendy Robertson Boulevard, in 1990 before moving to the Sunset Plaza district in West Hollywood in 1996, where her iconic, 1,600-square-foot boutique has drawn a dedicated following from celebrities such as Kate Hudson and Courtney Love.

“Of course it’s the economy,” Ross said in explaining her decision.

In the UK, it’s fancypants retailer USC that’s in trouble:

The global recession has come home to the United Kingdom clothing industry once again. In a wake of failing chain store companies, the newest victim is the 19 year old retailer USC. The company sells designer clothing ranging from polo shirts to printed t-shirts to dresses and also men’s fashion. The High Street company has announced it is going into administration. This will affect 15 stores in the 58 store chain with the remaining 48 stores being purchased by Dundonald Holdings, Ltd.

And in the US, ABC News goes nuclear on the total bummer front:

The recession and factors like bad weather over the last two weeks contributed to the slowest retail holiday season in 38 years. With such dismal shopping numbers, Strategic Resource Group estimates that 160,000 stores will have gone out of business in 2008 and 200,000 more will shut down in 2009.

“We’re going to close malls, we’re going to close chains, we’re going to close stores,” said Howard Davidowitz, the chairman of retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Associates. “The American standard of living is changing forever.”

Yikes. 2009 is going to suck hard. But whaddya do?

Buy local.

We Get Our French Underwear In The Mail

Yesterday I was all about the spa gift certificate, but today my attentions have been swayed elsewhere. Don’t misunderstand, a spa gift certificate is a good gift to give. It’s an awesome gift, really. A divine and delicious gift, to be sure. But there is another option. A sexier option. And that option is a new Vancouver company called Panty By Post.

“Panty By Post is like a panty-of-the-month club, except that the panties are beautiful, high-quality, and French.”

Panties are thoughtfully selected each season (from an established, family-owned lingerie company in Montreal) for their quality, style and sexiness. You can send a Sexy Single ($28), a Sultry Six ($128) or make a real statement with The Commitment (12 pair for $188) and Panty by Post will send you their selections of the month (way better than opening the phone bill).

The smile that 12 new pairs of knickers in the post box will put on my her face is like no other. Trust me on that. But whoa – before you get carried away – I would recommend that you take a moment to consider precisely who on your Christmas list deserves French undies. Stick to safe relationships. Boyfriend to girlfriend or girlfriend to girlfriend = cool. As a token of thanks to your kid’s Kindergarten teacher or for your auntie with the forehead mole and Watchtower subscription: maybe not.

I’m thinking of ordering some for myself (you know, for research).

Check it out at www.pantybypost.com

Dreambank And My Shoe Fetish

I have a dream.

It’s of a perfect pair: shiny and black, with scarlet soles. I’m talking about Christian Louboutin Very Privé patent leather peep-toe pumps. There are others that I similarly adore: the Peniche patent loafer pump, the C’est Moi shoe boots, but the pumps are exquisite, timeless, the brilliant soles a flash of unexpected audacity.

But at $950, it has seemed unlikely that I will slide my size 7 1/2 feet into a pair while I am still young enough to walk in them. When I dragged my husband into the Louboutin boutique in Harvey Nichols during a spring trip to London, he didn’t seem to share my unadulterated enthusiasm for the high-heeled beauties. Funny. He has some kind of hang-up about feeding and clothing our kids I guess.

But now I’ve found a better way.

DreamBank is a website founded by Vancouver entrepreneur Dawn Bowles. It is the outcome of an epiphany she had while lusting after a new roadbike and planning for a university degree at the same time. She thought it would be perfect if her friends and family had some way of contributing to her dream gift for her birthday, Christmas and other occasions.

So much nicer than showering her with loads of stuff she didn’t want or need.

Here’s how it works: dreamers visit www.dreambank.org and post a description of their dream present, why it matters to them and the amount of cash they need to make it a reality. Then they inform friends and family where to go to contribute.

Each time someone puts money towards your dream (through PayPal) DreamBank gets $2.25, which is not too bad considering the convenience of not trekking to the mall, and that there are no shipping and handling charges. According to Bowles, the average amount contributed is $50. When you cash out, DreamBank earns 2.5% — it is a business, after all. And as well as helping the environment by not accumulating more unwanted crap for Christmas, you donate to charity: 10% of net transaction revenue goes to one of six charities (you choose).

Sounds like a win-win-win to me. Red-soled shoes, here I come.

Cool Hunting At Got Craft

We made a trip to the Got Craft Sale on Commercial Drive yesterday. Approaching the venue (Royal Canadian Legion), I was bummed out to see a line up. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but on this day the length of the line was made daunting because I was traveling with three males (two kids and one husband), all of whom I had assured that this would be a short stop. Thankfully, the line moved at a comfortable pace and we were in the middle of craft sale mayhem before we would have been able to finish the coffee we didn’t get (the line up for coffee anywhere along the Drive on this sunny Sunday afternoon was even longer that the craft fair queue). But I digress. The point of this post is to alert you to some of the great, inexpensive, locally made gift ideas gathered at the Got Craft show.

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The first booth I stopped at was District Thirty. The table was uncluttered had a clam sort of aura that attracted me immediately. The clean lines cut in to District Thirty sterling sliver pendants are exactly the kind of Jewellery that I love. Everything was handmade, hand carved and hand finished. Price tags ($48-$58) might not qualify as ‘cheap’ but considering the craftsmanship and modern look of the pieces, money well spent. Have a look at the District Thirty Etsy shop or pop in to Dream, Local designer boutique at 311 W Cordova.

Sam Bradd is seriously talented. This is a guy who, among other things, draws, binds books, and prints posters, tea towels and carry bags. I was most impressed with his ‘Eat Local’ tea towels ($15). The “Hope” posters were nice too. Anything in his Eat Local ‘line’ would be a great Christmas gift.

Before I could squeeze my way through the crowd to see what was on display at her table, I was struck by the upbeat energy of jewellery designer Nicole Tirona. She was bobbing up and down – proudly chattering to the crowd about her inspired jewellery. On the table: earrings and pendants with a funky vintage feel handmade by the evervecent designer. Have a look at her work here. Again, $40 – $60 range.

I am a sucker for paper and I couldn’t resist picking up a few cards from Jeannette Ordas of The Beautiful Project. Not only does this woman have an enviable sense of style, she has a sense of humour that is sure to tickle even the tightest person on your Christmas list. The beautiful project is available on line and in person at Paper-Ya.

On a second sweep around the room I came across Little Red Caboose. Brightly coloured matryoshka dolls, mom and kid scarves, and felt crowns were well crafted with natural fabrics and fibres. Truly beautiful stuff.

The most exciting find of the afternoon was Kohana Jewellery. Kathy Milot had the greatest postage stamp and map pendants. The map pendants were a big hit with us. Made by placing small bits of maps from an outdated French atlas under a glass bead – the idea was so simple. Pendants were between $10 and $12 and earrings were $16.Her reasonable prices made it all the more easy to hand over the cash. We were taken by a pair of earings, a New York pendant for a friend and a Venice pendant for my six year old son and I to share. If you have a soft spot for a city or place and don’t see a pendant, don’t fret, the artist will do a custom job for you. An excellent gift idea.

Ever wonder why a tea cozy always has to look like it was designed by Holly Hobby and made in China? I have too. I drink tea. I would love a tea cozy. But every tea cozy I have ever seen has been sinfully ugly. That is until now. The Owl and Pussycat tea cozy is a testamant to the fact that taste and simplicity can be manifest in something as mundane as a tea cozy. But Owl and Pussycat doesn’t stop at little hats for your tea pot. They also have incredibly awesome-looking bibs ($15). Thank gawd someone out there is tuned in to the fact that it is the grown-up feeding the kid who is forced to stare at the parade of cartoon characters marching across the pastel background of the traditional bib. The kid can’t see the bib. The kid doesn’t wash the bib. The kid doesn’t scrape mushy bits from the bib. Making the fabric of a bib more aesthetically pleasing to we who must deal with the goopy stuff is a welcome advancement in the world of bib design – and all you have to fork over is $15. Deal!

Twice in one day? It was too good to believe. But it was true: Stitchella also had a hip tea cozy. Other items at this fresh looking carft booth included lavender-filled cotton eye pillows, pencil cases (quite easily used as a makeup bag, digital camera case, or a small tote instead of lugging along your regular purse), great little coffee cup sleaves (I bought one) and ipod nano cases (who buys nanos?). All items (tea cozy and eye pillow aside) appeared to have been made of wool and were adorned with a single crow, sparrow or bicycle print.

On the stage at the back of the room I was thrilled to come across the Billy Would booth. Great, familiar stuff.

And that was it. Down the stairs we went, unfurling our stashed stroller and back into the wilds, our pockets filled with cool gifts made right here.

Exhibiting Very Little Restraint At The One Of A Kind Show

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I went out with the girls last night to the One of a Kind craft fair at BC Place. We browsed wares from more than 150 creators, artists and artisans (see an earlier Scout post for more details on this event). There were loads of interesting things. I especially loved the stunning necklaces from Lemon Park (see pictures above). The Buddha Bowls were cool too. I can’t figure out why I left without buying ten of the latter, as they would make such nice gifts. I plan on hunting some down before Christmas.

I also bought some beautiful wrapping paper at the Regional Assembly of Text booth. There is no chance I will be wrapping anything with it though – this stuff is going straight in to a frame in my house.

On to the Black Drop Design booth. Black Drop has clean and elegant images of winter trees set in cast resin pendants that sell at very reasonable prices ($30/$40 range). I don’t know of anywhere in Vancouver that carries Black Drop Design, but if you like this style of jewelry and can’t make it to the one of a kind show (ends tomorrow), Black Drop is available online.

I didn’t (but desperately wanted to) buy a cute charcoal grey sweater from Hold Your Ground. Ayla MacIninch is the textile artist and creator of this distinct ‘eco-couture’ line that fashions tired sweaters into sweeter sweaters. This particular one was too expensive for me to justify while “shopping for others” ($229), but I have bookmarked Ayla’s web site and will keep an eye open for her spring creations.

I was happy to see Abeego at the fair. I picked up a few of the smaller handcrafted all natural “snack packs” for Christmas stockings. If you are looking for an alternative to plastic bags, these are great (ideal for packed lunches). Check out Abeego at Etsy.

Just before we left I broke down and bought myself a necklace at the Billy Would booth. I couldn’t help but fall in love with a simple wooden cut with a tree design and I snatched it up before my more rational self had a chance to interject. Local designer Adea Chung had stunning necklaces and earrings made from reclaimed wood, and some pretty kick-ass belt buckles made from spent skateboard decks (my husband, a skater for over 20 years, totally approves). Billy Would is available in a few key Vancouver shops (for a full list, click (here), as well as on line at Lavish & Lime.

The Dark & Beautiful Mandula

We’re in Gastown’s Mandula – a gorgeous treasure chest (ok, boutique) tucked into an 1899 heritage building on Abbott between Water and Cordova Street – and even the food the lovely sales girl eats (fluted glass of Perrier and white china bowl half fat of purple black grapes) looks perfect.

The store itself makes you feel as though you have just walked into circus tent from the late 1800’s complete with antique spotlights, heavily worn canvas curtains and an array of curiosities to pick up and play with. Antique straight razor on a heavy chain link anyone? It’s a necklace, selling for $175.00.

Mandula’s line has a definite Victorian spookiness to it with beautiful ivory cashmere bloomers hanging next to a tissue thin white tee with what appears to be a small spray of blood on the shoulder. Turns out its vegetable dye – what most of the organic and recycled fabrics here are colored with. Vests with a faint ‘straight jacket feel’ and full gauzy skirts fill the rough timber racks along the wall. The pieces have a definite romanticism to them while still seeming to be entirely wearable (and comfortable) for day or evening.

So while you’ve put away your favorite vampy dress now that Halloween is over, Mandula’s beautifully constructed, eerily pretty pieces are just the thing to add an extra touch of style and mystery to your closet this winter.

Mandula | 214 Abbott Street | 604.568.9211 | www.mandula.com